Learning Management Systems Accessibility Evaluation

In the Spring of 2008, the CSU Chancellor's Office issued an RFP for a Master Enabling Agreement for Learning Management Systems to be used on the CSU campuses. Accessibility was one of the criteria used to evaluate the proposals. An independent accessibility evaluation was conducted on each of the five finalists bidding on the RFP.

This standards-based protocol was used to evaluate each LMS candidate site; it is provided as a historical record only. It is a condensed and focused version of the full "Manual Accessibility Evaluation" procedure that was adopted by the CSU-ATI Web Community of Practice, posted on the CSU-ATI web site, and used by all 23 campuses for the first-year evaluation of their own administrative web presence. Tools used are the Firefox browser with version 1.3 of the Illinois accessibility extensions toolbar (firefox.cita.uiuc.edu/).

The steps contained here evaluate the relevant guidelines of Section 508, paragraphs 1194.22 (a), (d), (f)-(j), (l), and (n)-(o). Paragraph (c), color, was not evaluated since campuses are free to modify the color scheme as they choose. Paragraphs (b), multimedia; (e), server-side image maps; (k), text-only counterpart pages; and (m), plug-ins, were not evaluated as none of the products supplied contained these features. Paragraph (p), timed response, does not have a specific check but was documented where encountered.

The purpose of each check is to verify equally effective access for all readers, not simply rote compliance with Section 508 (or WCAG).

1. Visual check: All text should be easily legible to fully-sighted readers. Enlarge/reduce text in browser; all text should respond and nothing should overlap or be hidden. Make sure nothing is flickering or flashing.
   
   
   • How: Ctrl+ two or three times; Ctrl- to reduce.
   • Addresses 508 paragraphs: (d),(j).



2. Semantic check:
   1. Headings: headings should match the actual semantic structure of the document, and should be properly nested by level. Headings should also be used to identify and navigate between groups of related links.
      
      
      • How: Navigation -> Headings.
      • Addresses 508 paragraphs: (d),(o).
   
   
   
   2. Forms: Each form control must have an associated label that describes its purpose. Tab order between form controls must match the order in which a user would normally complete them. Complex forms benefit from grouping controls with the fieldset element. (Click a control name in the form list to identify these if present.) The form title is optional if the purpose of the form can be determined from context. "Placeholder" text inside text boxes is no longer needed for screen readers.
      
      
      • How: Navigation -> Forms.
      • Addresses 508 paragraph: (n).
   
   
   
   3. Frames: Frames should never be used in new development. For legacy sites that do use them, each frame must have a descriptive title to facilitate navigation between them. Frames must be re-sizable to accommodate low-vision users.
      
      
      • How: Navigation -> Frames.
      • Addresses 508 paragraph: (i).



3. Links: all links must have text; each link's text should describe its destination clearly; if link titles are present, they should not duplicate the link text; duplicate link text should not point to different destinations; no link should have "javascript" as the target.
   
   
   • How: Navigation -> Links.
   • Addresses 508 paragraphs: (a),(l).



4. Images: with images replaced by their text equivalents, no information or navigation should be lost to any visitor to the page. Purely decorative images should not have text equivalents. (Image maps, if present, were checked under "Links" above.)
   
   
   • How: Text Equivalents -> Show Text Equivalents. (Leave checked)
   • Addresses 508 paragraph: (a).



5. Styles: with CSS off, the semantic structure of the page content should be readily understandable from the browser's default rendering (of headings, lists, and so on) and navigable by assistive technologies. No content should appear that was made visible by CSS solely with mouse action (hover).
   
   
   • How: Style -> uncheck Author CSS; Style -> uncheck Tag Styling. (Leave these settings)
   • Addresses 508 paragraphs: (d),(o).



6. Tables: with layout tables removed, the page should read in logical order from top to bottom. Remaining data tables should have each data cell associated with its column (and row, if appropriate) header(s).
   
   
   • How: Style -> uncheck Table Layout; if data tables remain, Navigation -> Show Data Table Headers.
   • Addresses 508 paragraphs: (d),(g),(h).



7. JavaScript: without JavaScript, all content and functionality should still be available to any visitor to the page, with or without use of the mouse and without user intervention such as changing browser settings.
   
   
   • How: Options -> Reset styling and settings; Scripting -> Disable Scripting; reload the page. (The code was examined to determine what functionality the JavaScript provides on each page.) To restore JavaScript, again use Options -> Reset styling and settings and reload the page.
   • Addresses 508 paragraph: (l).