List of Checkpoints for User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0

Abstract

This document is an appendix to the W3C "User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0". It provides a list of all checkpoints from the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, organized by concept, as a checklist for user agent developers. Please refer to the Guidelines document for introductory information, information about related documents, a glossary of terms, and more.

This list may be used to review a tool or set of tools for accessibility. For each checkpoint, indicate whether the checkpoint has been satisfied, has not been satisfied, or is not applicable.

A tabular version of the list of checkpoints is also available (e.g., for printing).

Status of this document

This document is an appendix to a Working Draft. It is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use W3C Working Drafts as reference material or to cite them as other than "work in progress". This is work in progress and does not imply endorsement by, or the consensus of, either W3C or Members of the WAI User Agent (UA) Working Group.

Please send comments about this document to the public mailing list: w3c-wai-ua@w3.org.

This document has been produced as part of the Web Accessibility Initiative. The goal of the WAI User Agent Guidelines Working Group is discussed in the Working Group charter.

A list of current W3C Recommendations and other technical documents can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR.

Priorities

Each checkpoint in this document is assigned a priority that indicates its importance for users.

[Priority 1]

This checkpoint must be implemented by user agents as a native feature or through compatibility with assistive technology, otherwise one or more groups of users with disabilities will find it impossible to access information. Satisfying this checkpoint is a basic requirement for some individuals to be able to use the Web.

[Priority 2]

This checkpoint should be implemented by user agents as a native feature or through compatibility with assistive technology, otherwise one or more groups of users will find it difficult to access information. Satisfying this checkpoint will remove significant barriers to accessing Web documents.

[Priority 3]

This checkpoint may be implemented by user agents as a native feature or through compatibility with assistive technology, to make it easier for one or more groups of users to access information. Satisfying this checkpoint will improve access to the Web for some individuals.

Priority 1 checkpoints

In General (Priority 1)

• 3.1 Ensure that all product documentation conforms to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
• 3.2 Ensure that all user agent functionalities that promote accessibility are documented.
• 5.5 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of captions.
• 7.1 Ensure that the user has access to document content, including alternative representations of content.
• 7.2 For dependent user agents. Ensure that the user has access to the content of an element selected by the user.

User Interface (Priority 1)

• 5.6 Allow the user to turn on and off animated or blinking text.
• 5.7 Allow the user to turn on and off animations and blinking images.
• 5.9 Allow the user to turn on and off support for user style sheets.
• 5.10 Allow the user to turn on and off support for author style sheets.
• 5.11 Allow the user to turn on and off support for spawned windows.
• 6.1 Allow the user to control font family.
• 6.2 Allow the user to control font size.
• 6.3 Allow the user to control foreground color.
• 6.4 Allow the user to control background color.
• 6.5 Allow the user to control selection highlighting (e.g., foreground and background color).
• 6.6 Allow the user to control focus highlighting (e.g., foreground and background color).
• 6.14 Allow the user to control speech playback rate.
• 8.1 Allow the user to navigate views (notably those with frame viewports).
• 8.2 Keep track of the user's point of regard in each view and restore it when the user returns to the view.
• 9.2 Provide a mechanism for highlighting and identifying (through a standard interface where available) the user selection.
• 9.3 Provide a mechanism for highlighting and identifying (through a standard interface where available) the current focus.

Keyboard Support (Priority 1)

• 2.1 By default and without additional customization, ensure that all functionalities offered by the user agent are accessible using the keyboard.
• 2.2 Provide documentation on default keyboard commands and include with user agent documentation and/or user help system.
• 2.3 Provide information to the user about the current keyboard configuration.

Device Independence (Priority 1)

• 1.1 Ensure that all functionalities offered by the user agent interface are available through all supported input devices.
• 1.2 Ensure that the user can interact with all active elements of a document in a device-independent manner.
• 1.3 Ensure that the user can install the user agent software in a device-independent manner.
• 1.4 Ensure that the user can configure the user agent in a device-independent manner.
• 1.5 Ensure that the user can access user agent documentation in a device-independent manner.
• 1.6 Ensure that all messages to the user (e.g., warnings, errors, etc.) are available in an output device-independent manner using any supported output devices.

For Tables (Priority 1)

• 8.3 For dependent user agents. Allow the user to navigate among table cells of a table (notably left and right within a row and up and down within a column).
• 9.21 For dependent user agents. Provide access to header information for a table cell selected by the user.

For Frames (Priority 1)

• 9.1 Provide a mechanism for highlighting and identifying (through a standard interface where available) the current view.

For Images, animations, and image maps (Priority 1)

• 5.1 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of images.
• 5.2 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of background images.

For Multimedia (Priority 1)

• 5.3 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of video.
• 5.4 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of sound.
• 6.8 Allow the user to control video frame rates.
• 6.9 Allow the user to control the position of captions.
• 6.11 Allow the user to control audio playback rate.
• 7.6 If a technology allows for more than one caption or description track for audio, allow the user to choose from among tracks.
• 7.7 Allow the user to specify that captions for audio be rendered at the same time as the audio.
• 7.8 If a technology allows for more than one caption or description track (e.g., text, video of sign language, etc.) for video, allow the user to choose from among tracks.
• 7.9 If a technology allows for more than one audio track for video, allow the user to choose from among tracks.
• 7.10 Allow the user to specify that text descriptions of video be rendered at the same time as the video.
• 7.11 Allow the user to specify that auditory descriptions of video be rendered at the same time as the video.

For Events, applets, and scripts (Priority 1)

• 5.8 Allow the user to turn on and off support for scripts and applets.
• 10.1 Provide information about document changes (to the user and through programming interfaces).

For Standards and Conventions (Priority 1)

• 11.1 Implement the accessibility features defined for supported technologies.
• 12.1 Use and provide accessible interfaces to other technologies.
• 12.2 Provide programmatic read and write access to user agent functionalities and user interface controls (including selection and focus) by using operating system and development language accessibility resources and conventions.
• 12.3 Notify dependent user agents of changes to the document and user interface controls (including selection and focus) by using operating system and development language accessibility resources and conventions.
• 12.4 For desktop graphical browsers. Comply with W3C Document Object Model specifications and export interfaces defined by those specifications.

Priority 2 checkpoints

In General (Priority 2)

• 3.3 Describe product features known to promote accessibility in a section of the product documentation.
• 7.3 For dependent user agents. Support marked-up changes in natural language of content. For unsupported languages, notify the user of the change.
• 7.4 When no alternative text representation has been specified, indicate what type of object is present.
• 8.4 Allow the user to navigate among all active elements in the document.
• 8.5 Allow the user to search for rendered text content, including alternative text content.
• 8.6 Allow the user to navigate the document structure.

User Interface (Priority 2)

• 4.1 Allow the user to configure the user agent in named profiles that may be shared (by other users or software).
• 6.15 Allow the user to control speech volume, pitch, gender and other articulation characteristics.
• 9.5 Ensure that when the selection changes, it is in the viewport after the change.
• 9.6 Ensure that when the focus changes, it is in the viewport after the change.
• 9.8 For dependent user agents. Allow the user to view a document outline constructed from its structural elements (e.g., from header and list elements).

Keyboard Support (Priority 2)

• 2.4 Allow the user to configure the keystrokes used to activate user agent functionalities. Wherever possible, allow single key activation of functions.
• 2.5 Allow the user to turn on and off author-specified keyboard configurations.
• 2.6 Indicate the keyboard access method to activate a user agent function using platform conventions.

For Frames (Priority 2)

• 5.12 Allow the user to turn on and off rendering of frames.
• 6.16 When new windows or user interface components are spawned, allow the user to control window size and position.
• 9.4 For dependent user agents. Provide the user with information about the number of viewports.
• 9.7 Identify a frame selected by the user.

For Forms (Priority 2)

• 9.24 Provide the user with access to any label explicitly associated with a form control.

For Images, animations, and image maps (Priority 2)

• 6.7 Allow the user to control animation rate.

For Multimedia (Priority 2)

• 6.10 Allow the user to start, stop, pause, and rewind video.
• 6.12 Allow the user to control audio volume.
• 6.13 Allow the user to start, stop, pause, and rewind audio.

For Standards and Conventions (Priority 2)

• 11.2 Support appropriate W3C Recommendations.
• 12.5 For desktop graphical browsers. Provide programmatic exchange of information in a timely manner.
• 12.6 Follow operating system conventions and accessibility settings. In particular, follow conventions for user interface design, default keyboard configuration, product installation, and documentation.

Priority 3 checkpoints

In General (Priority 3)

• 7.5 When alternative text has been specified explicitly as empty (i.e., an empty string), render nothing.
• 8.7 Allow the user to configure structured navigation.
• 9.9 Make available the primary language of a document's content.
• 9.14 Make available what portion of the document has loaded.
• 10.3 Notify the user when enough of the document has loaded in order to begin to browse.
• 10.4 Notify the user when document loading has stalled.

User Interface (Priority 3)

• 4.2 Allow the user to configure the visual arrangement of user interface controls.
• 5.13 Allow the user to turn on and off author-specified page forwards that occur after a time delay and without user intervention.
• 5.14 Allow the user to turn on and off automatic page refresh.
• 9.25 Maintain consistent user agent behavior and default configurations between software releases. Consistency is less important than accessibility and adoption of system conventions.

Keyboard Support (Priority 3)

• 2.7 Provide a default keyboard configuration for frequently performed operations.

For Links (Priority 3)

• 7.12 Provide a mechanism (e.g., through style sheets) to distinguish visited links from unvisited links.
• 7.13 Allow the user to specify (e.g., through style sheets) that images used in links must have borders.
• 9.10 Make available the number of links (to distinct targets) in a document.
• 9.11 Make available the number of visited links (to distinct targets) in a document.
• 9.15 Identify a link selected by the user.
• 9.16 Make available whether a chosen link (target) has already been visited.
• 9.16 Make available whether a chosen link (target) has already been visited.
• 9.17 Make available whether a chosen link (target) is local to the document.
• 9.18 Make available whether following a link will involve a fee.

For Tables (Priority 3)

• 9.12 Make available the number of tables in a document.
• 9.19 Identify a table selected by the user.
• 9.20 Make available the dimensions of a chosen table.
• 9.22 Identify the table containing a table cell selected by the user.
• 9.23 Make available the coordinates in the current table of a selected table cell.

For Forms (Priority 3)

• 9.13 Make available the number of form controls in a document.
• 10.5 Allow the user to request to be prompted before a form is submitted.

For Events, applets, and scripts (Priority 3)

• 10.2 Allow the user to configure the user agent for notification of certain types of document changes only.