JavaTM Accessibility Helper Using Accessibility Reports

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The Java Accessibility Helper examines applications based on the Java Foundation Classes (JFC) and creates reports offering a concise list of potential accessibility issues for each examined application. The following sections provide brief explanations of reported items. For more in-depth discussion about developing accessible Java-based programs, see Developing Accessible JFC Applications.

An accessibility report sorts problems by priority level and identifies the component and the type of problem. Priority levels vary depending on both the prominence of the component and the type of problem.

Priority levels include:

• P1: These items are serious and must be fixed.
• P2: These items may cause problems and should be evaluated.
• P3: These probably are not serious, but warrant some attention.

The Helper reports the following potential problems:

• Does not implement Accessible
• No accessible name
• No accessible description
• LABEL_FOR not set on label
• Has no mnemonic
• Could not tab to component

Does Not Implement Accessible

To be accessible, all components must implement the interface javax.accessibility.Accessible. This interface allows assistive technologies such as screen magnifiers and screen readers to retrieve information needed to present the component to a user with a disability.

No Accessible Name

This report item indicates that the javax.accessibility.AccessibleContext.accessibleName field has not been set. The accessible name of an object is often the key to making it usable by a person with a disability. The name often identifies an object's purpose, and an assistive technology usually presents the name of each object encountered by a user.

No Accessible Description

This report item indicates that the javax.accessibility.AccessibleContext.accessibleDescription field has not been set. An accessible description should be assigned if the accessible name is not enough to fully explain an object's purpose. The accessible description is provided to the user when he or she requests more information, and should not be longer than 150 characters. If the component has a tooltip, the tooltip text automatically becomes the accessible description and there is often no need to set this value directly.

LABEL_FOR Not Set on Label

This report item indicates that the javax.swing.JLabel.labelFor field has not been set. If this field is set, the accessible name of the labelled object is automatically set to the same value. This value is set by invoking javax.swing.JLabel.setLabelFor().

Has No Mnemonic

Mnemonics are the underlined letters seen in menus and on most other controls in dialog boxes. They are activated by holding the Alt key while pressing the letter. For example, if the mnemonic for the File menu is the letter F, pressing Alt-F brings up that menu. For components that perform an action, such as menu items and buttons, invoking the mnemonic activates that action. For other components such as text fields, invoking the mnemonic moves the input focus to the component.

For greater accessibility, all application components that can receive the input focus should have assigned mnemonics. Mnemonics remove the need for precise positioning of the pointing device and reduce the need to press the TAB key repeatedly to move the focus to the desired component.

Could Not Tab to Component

This report item indicates that a component cannot receive the focus. Such a component may be invisible to assistive technologies, particularly screen readers.

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Copyright © 2005 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Please send comments to: jaccesshelper@sun.com