Accessible Web client forms

The accessible mode of the Web client allows users that require different levels of accessibility to apply personal preferences to improve their user experience. The accessible Web client also enables accessibility tools, such as screen readers, to work with Service Manager. The accessible Web client omits the graphical workflow feature, and thread navigation links, which are the tabs that identify open forms in the Windows client.

If you are designing forms for accessible use, these are the most important design requirements:

  • High-contrast color graphics
  • Larger default fonts
  • Larger form spacing (more white space)
  • Simplified navigation (fewer buttons, objects and icons)
  • Browser settings must be able to control
    • Resizing fonts
    • Foreground and background color selection

A visually impaired user might want a well–designed form that reads left to right with labels announcing the name of the subsequent form object and tables with row labels that read horizontally (not by column). This user might also want to specify a black background with white text in a 14–point bold font, instead of the default color and font combinations.

Putting the HTML Editor on accessible forms

The HTML Editor must be the last widget in its form for reverse tabbing to work properly. Widgets placed under it cannot be tabbed.

The Accessible Web client ignores the tab stop information set in the Form definition. Instead, the tabbing always moves from left to right and top to bottom so that the tabbing order matches the order in which the widgets are described by a screen reader.

For complex editing requiring 508 compliance, edit the text in a 508 compliant HTML Editor and then paste it into the HTML Editor.

Related concepts

Creating and editing forms
Forms Designer best practices
Accessibility
Web client views
Using the web client in accessible mode
Web client forms
Building accessible forms

Related tasks

Access Forms Designer
Create a form using the Form Wizard
Update a form

Related references

Forms Designer controls and tools