New Firefox browser bulks up on 508 compliance

Featured eBooks
Changes in State and Local Government Workforces
NASCIO Special Report 2024
A New Era of Social Media Regulation
Insights & Reports
Unlocking digital potential: Strategies for modernizing government services
Presented By Adobe
Download Now
Unlocking public sector potential
Presented By NTT DATA
Download Now
By Joab Jackson
 

Connecting state and local government leaders

By Joab Jackson

|

The Mozilla Foundation has posted a Section 508 accessibility compliance checklist for version 1.5 of its Firefox Web browser.

Leventhal pointed out that Firefox is the first browser with a VPAT. Although Microsoft Corp. has VPATs for a number of its applications, Internet Explorer is not among them. Various versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system, which include the IE browser built-in, do have VPAT templates though. And according to Laurel Abbott, lead program manager for Internet Explorer accessibility, the current version of IE has 508-compliant features.In addition to VPAT specifications, Firefox developers also worked to ensure that the browser offers to dynamic web pages, in particular those Web applications rendered with Asynchronous JavaScript and Extensible Markup Language (AJAX). AJAX pages allow users to manipulate data on the browser without executing server calls.'Up until now, there has been no way to make those kinds of Web applications accessible,' Leventhal said. 'We did an analysis of the gaps of what you can do with applications today that you can't do with the Web, and we filled all of those pieces in.'For this endeavor, IBM is working on a World Wide Web Consortium's Dynamic Web Content Accessibility . That group has set out to address what it calls on its Web page the 'JavaScript Accessibility Problem,' or the challenge of making JavaScript widgets as accessible as standalone applications.'The 508 requirements for Web pages might be a little bit too specific to ordinary HTML, and may not consider this possible future world where we're moving away from documents and to real applications available on the Web,' Leventhal said.

The Mozilla Foundation has posted a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) for the newest version of its Firefox Web browser, the first Section 508 compliance checklist ever posted for a browser, according to Aaron Leventhal, web accessibility architect for IBM Corp.

'Every item [applicable to browsers] is supported 100 percent, or is supported with some exceptions,' Leventhal said. The Firefox browser also has a number of features to help disabled users navigate dynamic Web pages'features not available in Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Leventhal added.

The Mozilla Foundation, which manages the volunteer-based development of Firefox, released version 1.5 of the browser last week. IBM contributed about 50,000 lines of code to enhance the accessibility of the browser, according to the company.

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires agencies to make their information technologies accessible to those with disabilities.

An industry consortium of application vendors issued the access template as a voluntary statement of compliance that vendors can use to easily show agencies what aspects of Section 508 their products meet, said David Baquis, accessibility specialist for the United States Access Board, the independent federal agency that issued the Section 508 Standards.

Leventhal admitted that earlier versions of Firefox had pretty poor accessibility, a trait that the new release rectifies. The Firefox VPAT describes a number of new features, including:

  • The ability to run a program entirely from a keyboard without the help of a mouse

  • A method of alerting assistive technologies which part of the program has the operating system's focus

  • A method to provide information about the user interface so that an assistive technology application can represent that interface to users and

  • Product documentation in alternate formats.

posted

accessibility



workgroup


Accessibility Case Studies
Powered By
Browse The Atlas full case study database or read more case studies about Accessibility.
EV Car Share Network Increases Access to Clean Transportation in Minneapolis-Saint Paul
St Paul, MN
Orlando, FL Addresses ADA Compliance and Inclusivity in Records Requests
Orlando, FL
Iowa Streamlined Communications Across All State Agencies, Improving Compliance & Records Management
Iowa
BROWSE LOCAL GOV CASE STUDIES

NEXT STORY: CIO Council gives agencies 'chapter 1' for IPv6 implementation

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.