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From: Poore-Pariseau, Cindy
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 7:17AM
Subject: accessible forms
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Greetings (apologies for cross posting)

We are moving to a new website and are using Wufoo for forms, (forms such as admissions forms that students complete online and submit back to the school) however I have found these to be inaccessible (when an error is made, a message pops up asking the user to redo the parts highlighted below. Of course, someone who is blind cannot see what is highlight below)

When I point out this problem I was told "everyone on the planet" uses woofoo for forms. Do you know of other companies who support forms that are fully accessible?

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.


Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he [or she] was born in another time.
Rabindranath Tagore (the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913)


Cindy Poore-Pariseau, Ph. D.
Bristol Community College
Coordinator of Disability Services
Office of Disability Services, L115
Fall River, MA 02720
phone: 508-678-2811 ext. 2470
Fax: 508-730-3297
aim: poorepariseau

From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 7:37AM
Subject: Re: accessible forms
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Cindy - I never heard of wufoo before today, so I would say whoever told
you that seems to just be a fan of the tool. They may like it because you
throw together a form, paste in a chunk of code, and the submissions are
auto-sent to you. WebAIM has an article about forms:
http://webaim.org/techniques/forms/.

--
Ryan E. Benson


On Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 9:17 AM, Poore-Pariseau, Cindy <
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Greetings (apologies for cross posting)
>
> We are moving to a new website and are using Wufoo for forms, (forms such
> as admissions forms that students complete online and submit back to the
> school) however I have found these to be inaccessible (when an error is
> made, a message pops up asking the user to redo the parts highlighted
> below. Of course, someone who is blind cannot see what is highlight below)
>
> When I point out this problem I was told "everyone on the planet" uses
> woofoo for forms. Do you know of other companies who support forms that
> are fully accessible?
>
> Any suggestions would be most appreciated.
>
>
> Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he [or she] was born in
> another time.
> Rabindranath Tagore (the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in
> Literature in 1913)
>
>
> Cindy Poore-Pariseau, Ph. D.
> Bristol Community College
> Coordinator of Disability Services
> Office of Disability Services, L115
> Fall River, MA 02720
> phone: 508-678-2811 ext. 2470
> Fax: 508-730-3297
> aim: poorepariseau
>
>
>
> > > >

From: Karlen Communications
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 8:16AM
Subject: Re: accessible forms
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I agree, I've never heard of this forms tool.

Cheers, Karen

From: Whitney Quesenbery
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 8:20AM
Subject: Re: accessible forms
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There is a lot to like about Wufoo for everything from registrations to
conference submissions to ecommerce. It's very popular in small ecommerce
sites. They are more than just a way to create a form, and include some
very good features like sending an entry back to the submitter in an email,
easily being able to manage the forms data, great analytics, integrated
payments, and how easily they embed into other sites.

I met them on a conference where they were used for submissions. They said
the developer did a lot of work to make them accessible. You can edit the
CSS and essentially use them as an API, which they were forced to do.
(Sorry, I don't know any more about the technical details than that.)

I'd like to encourage people on this list to write to them, especially if
you can explain specific accessibility bugs that need to be fixed, or just
to enquire whether they are accessible if you are considering using them.

Like so many other startups, I suspect (hope?) that they simply don't
understand the problems, and don't hear from people who want to use them
but can't because of the accessibility barriers. They are new enough that
some positive reinforcement might have an impact.

Whitney Quesenbery
www.wqusability.com | @whitneyq

Books:

- A Web for Everyone: Designing Accessible User
Experiences<http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/a-web-for-everyone/>;
- Storytelling for User
Experience<http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/storytelling>;
- Global UX: Design and research in a connected
world<http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/012378591X/>;




On Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 9:37 AM, Ryan E. Benson < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >wrote:

> Cindy - I never heard of wufoo before today, so I would say whoever told
> you that seems to just be a fan of the tool. They may like it because you
> throw together a form, paste in a chunk of code, and the submissions are
> auto-sent to you. WebAIM has an article about forms:
> http://webaim.org/techniques/forms/.
>
> --
> Ryan E. Benson
>
>
> On Tue, Dec 10, 2013 at 9:17 AM, Poore-Pariseau, Cindy <
> = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> > Greetings (apologies for cross posting)
> >
> > We are moving to a new website and are using Wufoo for forms, (forms such
> > as admissions forms that students complete online and submit back to the
> > school) however I have found these to be inaccessible (when an error is
> > made, a message pops up asking the user to redo the parts highlighted
> > below. Of course, someone who is blind cannot see what is highlight
> below)
> >
> > When I point out this problem I was told "everyone on the planet" uses
> > woofoo for forms. Do you know of other companies who support forms that
> > are fully accessible?
> >
> > Any suggestions would be most appreciated.
> >
> >
> > Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he [or she] was born in
> > another time.
> > Rabindranath Tagore (the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in
> > Literature in 1913)
> >
> >
> > Cindy Poore-Pariseau, Ph. D.
> > Bristol Community College
> > Coordinator of Disability Services
> > Office of Disability Services, L115
> > Fall River, MA 02720
> > phone: 508-678-2811 ext. 2470
> > Fax: 508-730-3297
> > aim: poorepariseau
> >
> >
> >
> > > > > > > >
> > > >

From: Poore-Pariseau, Cindy
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 8:24AM
Subject: Re: accessible forms
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Thank you for this information. We did contact the company and the following was their reply:

" We are aware of the error message and color issue with accessibility. For the most part we are 508 compliant. But you're right, there's areas that could be improved. I'll pass this along to our development team to research. I don't think it's anything we'll be able to develop out in the very near future, but please know we're interested in making Wufoo as accessible as possible."

Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he [or she] was born in another time.
Rabindranath Tagore (the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913)


Cindy Poore-Pariseau, Ph. D.
Bristol Community College
Coordinator of Disability Services
Office of Disability Services, L115
Fall River, MA 02720
phone: 508-678-2811 ext. 2470
Fax: 508-730-3297
aim: poorepariseau

From: Lucy Greco
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 8:54AM
Subject: Re: accessible forms
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Hello:
I have only seen that tool used for surveys and when we ranked it as part
of a survey of surveys it was the 4th out of 5 tools. They have been
saying they would fix access problems for over 5 years now and I find they
just keep adding more stuff that does not work.

Lucia Greco
Web Access Analyst
IST-Campus Technology Services
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 289-6008 skype: lucia1-greco
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
Follow me on twitter @accessaces

From: Poore-Pariseau, Cindy
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 8:58AM
Subject: Re: accessible forms
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Thank you Lucy. What were the top rankings? And, may I ask what tool your school uses for forms?

Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he [or she] was born in another time.
Rabindranath Tagore (the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913)


Cindy Poore-Pariseau, Ph. D.
Bristol Community College
Coordinator of Disability Services
Office of Disability Services, L115
Fall River, MA 02720
phone: 508-678-2811 ext. 2470
Fax: 508-730-3297
aim: poorepariseau

From: Rabab Gomaa
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 9:02AM
Subject: Re: accessible forms
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Hello Cindy,=20
=20
For accessible forms, I would think of (AcroForms) using Adobe Acrobat Pro =
and (XFA forms) using Adobe LiveCycle .=20
=20
Last Wednesday, I attended a seminar on accessible PDF forms in which both =
softwares where mentioned for creation of WCAG 2.0 AA compliant forms.=20
=20
Here are the notes of the seminar with some information on each
http://eliquo.ca/common/downloads/Eliquo-Accessible-PDF-Forms-Notes.pdf
=20
Rabab

From: Poore-Pariseau, Cindy
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 9:36AM
Subject: Re: accessible forms
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Thank you; I am forwarding the information on.

Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he [or she] was born in another time.
Rabindranath Tagore (the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913)


Cindy Poore-Pariseau, Ph. D.
Bristol Community College
Coordinator of Disability Services
Office of Disability Services, L115
Fall River, MA 02720
phone: 508-678-2811 ext. 2470
Fax: 508-730-3297
aim: poorepariseau

From: Bourne, Sarah (ITD)
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 11:06AM
Subject: Re: accessible forms
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We were looking at Wufoo a few months ago. I've pasted in our testing notes after my signature stuff below; we never produced a full report because we decided there were too many defects to bother testing further. There were also significant accessibility issues with the interface for creating forms. This is what we sent Wufoo about that:
"As far as the interface to build and manage forms, the accessibility lab did some preliminary testing and found some fundamental problems that prevented them from going deeper. Basically the interface is not keyboard accessible for users with motor impairments. You cannot tab through it to get to the various links. Certain options require hover. In our experience, we have found that any interface that is not keyboard accessible has no chance of being screen reader accessible either. Here is one example: when you have multiple forms, you see the action choices (entries, edit, view, analytics, notifications, rules, payment, code, protect) for the top form only and you have to hover over the other forms to see their action options. Blind users who require a screen reader have no way to get to these options."

sb
Sarah E. Bourne
Director of Assistive Technology &
Mass.Gov Chief Technology Strategist
Information Technology Division
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1 Ashburton Pl. rm 1601 Boston MA 02108
617-626-4502
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.mass.gov/itd

Testing notes for public facing forms

JAWS V14.0.6005 with IE 10.x
JavaScript Enabled

There are three frames on the page

Problems / Observations

1. Single Line Text field, char limits

JAWS only reads the information below the field, i.e. Maximum Allowed: 100 characters. Currently Used: 0 characters..
And not the label above the field.

Comments to the side of the field are not spoken by JAWS, ie These are instructions specific to this field telling you how to fill it out.

2. Single Line Text field, required *

When I tabbed into theis field from the precvious fiend, JAWS read the comments from the precious field, ie These are instructions specific to this field telling you how to fill it out..
And not the label above the current field.

3. Paragraph of Text

When I tabbed into this field from the precvious fiend, JAWS read the comments from the precious field, ie This field requires a number.
And not the label above the current field.

Therefore it would seem that you cannot use the comments to the right for a field.

4. When you press the Submit button, but have not filled out the required firlds, an error occurs whuch is not read by JAWS since it was / is enbedded on the page ie below the Test Form 1 heading with the message "There was a problem with your submision, errors have been highlighted below" all surrounded with a red highlight.

But even when you tab to the affected field you have no idea that there is a problem becasuse the label above the fieldie for the " Single Line Text field, required" is highlighted in red with the error messasge (in red too) below the affected field ie "This field is required. Please enter a value." But that information is not read by JAWS.


5. But even when there are no errors, the embedded message that again appears below the Test Form 1 heading with the messages " Great! Thanks for Fillig Out My Form" is not read by JAWS.


JAWS V14.0.6005 with Firefox 23.0.1
Javascript Enabled

Overall JAWS encountered less problems using Firefox than was experienced using IE. For example, JAWS now reads all the displayed information associated with a field, including the lavbel / fiend nasme above the field, and requirements displated below the field and the instructions that are often displayed to the right of the fiend.

But it is not always the case since in a few instances such as Paragraph of Text, there are still some problems

1. Paragraph of Text

When I tabbed into this field from the precvious fiend, JAWS read the comments from the precious field, ie This field requires a number.
And not the label above the current field.

2. Firefox is a little better with the errors that occur. You have to allow JAWS read farv enough and it will read the Test Form 1 heading and the message "There was a problem with your submision, errors have been highlighted below" all surrounded with a red highlight.

But as was the case with IE, JAWS doesn't indicate the field with the error(s) or read the error message below the affected field, ie

But even when you tab to the affected field you have no idea that there is a problem becasuse the label above the field for the " Single Line Text field, required" is highlighted in red with the error messasge (in red too) below the affected field ie "This field is required. Please enter a value." But that information is not read by JAWS.

3. But when the first form is successfully submitted, the fields are cleared off the page and an embedded message appears below the Test Form 1 heading with the messages " Great! Thanks for Fillig Out My Form" is t read fine by JAWS.


More testing results to come ...

From: Karen Sorensen
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 12:51PM
Subject: Re: Accessible forms
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For surveys, we use the very accessible Qualtrics tool.
I've also never heard of Wufoo forms.

From: John E Brandt
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 1:09PM
Subject: Re: Accessible forms
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WuFoo is apparently a subsidiary of SurveyMonkey. This is interesting
because SurveyMonkey claims their forms are "almost" Section 508 compliant.
http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/Are-your-surveys-508-complian
t-and-accessible

For accessible on-line forms I have been using SurveyGizmo for years and
have been pleased with the quality of their product. They were one of the
first to embrace accessibility. http://www.surveygizmo.com/accessibility/

~j

John E. Brandt
jebswebs: accessible and universal web design,
development and consultation
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
207-622-7937
Augusta, Maine, USA

@jebswebs

From: Poore-Pariseau, Cindy
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 1:34PM
Subject: Re: Accessible forms
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Very Interesting! Thank you.

Don't limit a child to your own learning, for he [or she] was born in another time.
Rabindranath Tagore (the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913)


Cindy Poore-Pariseau, Ph. D.
Bristol Community College
Coordinator of Disability Services
Office of Disability Services, L115
Fall River, MA 02720
phone: 508-678-2811 ext. 2470
Fax: 508-730-3297
aim: poorepariseau

From: Akshi Kakar
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 4:24PM
Subject: Re: Accessible forms
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Apart from labelling and adding titles to form fields (that are editable) if I have one form field on the page should I move my focus to that form field by default such that when the page loads the focus is within that field?

I am confused because this may be a case where we want to make the form usable by taking the user directly to that field instead of having the user navigate to it but it seems to be causing the screen reader to read only the editable field and nothing else on the page because the focus is set there.

For users with motor disabilities, would it be easier to maintain focus on the form field or will they be able to use keyboard shortcuts and move to the required field easily?

Thank you for your help!

Akshi Kakar
Design and Development
Hawkes Learning Systems, Inc.
http://hawkeslearning.com/

From: deborah.kaplan
Date: Tue, Dec 10 2013 4:57PM
Subject: Re: Accessible forms
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Akshi Kakar wrote:

> should I move my focus to that form field by default such that when the page loads the focus is within that field?

Please don't!

As a user with a motor disability, this practice makes life much more difficult for me. For those of us who control computer via keyboard or keyboard-emulation (eg. voice), grabbing the focus means that before we do anything else we have to blur the focus (which is non-trivial in many browsers without extra tools). Even if you have only one formfield, grabbing the focus prevents me from navigating to your home page, your sitemap, your help page -- or even back to the page I came from.

> For users with motor disabilities, would it be easier to maintain focus on the form field or will they be able to use keyboard shortcuts and move to the required field easily?

It is much easier to move to the field by choice than to move out of the field we didn't expect to capture us!

Deborah Kaplan
Accessibility Team Co-Lead
Dreamwidth Studios

From: Morin, Gary (NIH/OD) [E]
Date: Wed, Dec 11 2013 12:35PM
Subject: Re: Accessible forms
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does anyone have knowledge or experience with the administration side of surveys being accessible (whether in Survey Monkey, Survey Gizmo, or other)? it's great when the survey is accessible to all (IF formatted correctly by the survey coordinator), but it's even greater when a person with a disability and who uses assistive technology can construct and coordinate the survey as well. of course, we're not just talking about screen reader users but also speech recognition software users.

Gary

http://help.surveymonkey.com/articles/en_US/kb/Are-your-surveys-508-compliant-and-accessible

From: Bourne, Sarah (ITD)
Date: Wed, Dec 11 2013 2:46PM
Subject: Re: Accessible forms
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Gary,

We've looked at dozens of Software-as-a-Service, web-based form creation services and not yet found any that have accessible interfaces for form creation and administration. The most common problems are with their "user friendly" drag and drop features, with no alternative way to add or move form fields. Coming in second are problems with AJAX-y features, where critical information and/or functions are invisible to screen readers and oft-times impossible to use with keyboard only.

The products that passed enough criteria to make it into our comparison phase included Caspio, FormSmarts, Wufoo, JotForm, ZoHo Creator, Formsite, and FormStack. I don't have a list of the rest of the ones that were looked at.

Our focus was on looking at products to support simple forms. Some also support survey functions, so our findings would be relevant for that, but we didn't look specifically at survey services. If asked to do look into survey, I would not hold my breath that the results would be any better. Just sayin'.

sb
Sarah E. Bourne
Director of Assistive Technology &
Mass.Gov Chief Technology Strategist
Information Technology Division
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1 Ashburton Pl. rm 1601 Boston MA 02108
617-626-4502
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.mass.gov/itd