Using applets

When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must provide a link to an appropriately accessible applet, plug-in, or other application.

The bulleted items below are guidelines for appropriately accessible applets, plug-ins, and applications.

• When software is designed to run on a system that has a keyboard, product functions should be executable from a keyboard where the function itself or the result of performing a function can be discerned textually.
• Applications should not disrupt or disable activated features of other products that are identified as accessibility features, where those features are developed and documented according to industry standards. Applications also should not disrupt or disable activated features of any operating system that are identified as accessibility features where the application programming interface for those accessibility features has been documented by the manufacturer of the operating system and is available to the product developer.
• A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus should be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes. The focus should be programmatically exposed so that assistive technology can track focus and focus changes.
• Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element should be available to assistive technology. When an image represents a program element, the information conveyed by the image must also be available in text.
• When bitmap images are used to identify controls, status indicators, or other programmatic elements, the meaning assigned to those images should be consistent throughout an application's performance.
• Textual information should be provided through operating system functions for displaying text. The minimum information that should be made available is text content, text input caret location, and text attributes.
• Applications should not override user selected contrast and color selections and other individual display attributes.
• When animation is displayed, the information should be displayable in at least one non-animated presentation mode at the option of the user.
• Color coding should not be used as the only means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.
• When a product permits a user to adjust color and contrast settings, a variety of color selections capable of producing a range of contrast levels should be provided.
• Software should not use flashing or blinking text, objects, or other elements having a flash or blink frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.
• When electronic forms are used, the form should allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues.
• When embedded into web pages, few plug-ins are currently directly accessible. Some of them (e.g. RealPlayer) are more accessible as standalone products. It may be better to invoke the whole program rather than embed movies into pages at this point, although this may change in the future.
• Acrobat Reader 5.0 allows screen readers to access PDF documents. However, not all users have this version installed, and not all PDF documents are text-based (some are scanned in as graphics), which renders them useless to many assistive technologies. It is recommended that an accessible HTML version be made available as an alternative to PDF.
• PowerPoint files are currently not directly accessible unless the user has a full version of the PowerPoint program on the client computer (and not just the PowerPoint viewer). It is recommended that an accessible HTML version be provided as well.