Background

§1194.21(d) of Section 508 states that:

"Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to assistive technology. When an image represents a program element, the information conveyed by the image must also be available in text."

Imagine that you have a visual disability and are using a screen reader to read a document in a software application, such as Microsoft Word. If the software has not been coded properly, the screen reader cannot inform the user of the existence, location and status of the controls available (such as checkboxes, menus, and toolbars). For example, ToolTips are provided by different applications for tool bar button identification, which allows assistive technology the ability to interpret any displayed graphics by using the text information.

Let’s take a look at another example. Imagine that you have a severe motor disability and must use speech input to interact with your computer. Without knowledge of the existence, location, and status of the onscreen controls, you would not be able to tell the speech input software to perform certain tasks, such as “check the ‘out of office’ check box”.

Select the Next button to find out how to assess whether your application conforms to this provision.