[Koha] Koha and 508 Compliant

[Joe Atzberger]

On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 11:13 AM, Sébastien Hinderer <
Sebastien.Hinderer at snv.jussieu.fr> wrote:

> > Joe Atzberger wrote:
> >
> > >This depends entirely on the "assistive technology" that you care about.
>  If
> > >you mean something ancient, like JAWS 2.0 then it is easy to say that no
> > >modern website is compliant.
>
> As far as I undrstand it, accessibility does _not_ depend on which
> assistive technology is used.
>

Abstractly yes, but the question was specifically 508-compliance.  As a
practical matter that depends on what assistive technology is the benchmark
for sections 1194.22 l and n.  The spec takes a very broad definition for
assistive technology, namely:

Any item, piece of equipment, or system, whether acquired commercially,
> modified, or customized, that is commonly used to increase, maintain, or
> improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities


So it really isn't possible to test against that level of abstraction and
declare one's code compliant.  Certainly not with anything like the
concreteness found in the HTML or XHTML specs.

Having worked with (broadcast) radio reading services back in the 90's, I am
familiar with the older generations of screenreaders, but Sébastien perhaps
you can tell us what software is "commonly used" today?

Regarding javascript, I don't think that is a dealbreaker per se.  For
example, our use of YUI to make drop-down buttons out of lists or links
should be compliant.
-- 
Joe Atzberger
LibLime - Open Source Library Solutions
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