Although I would be surprised if this is a JAWS-specific problem, that is possible. I think a screen reader user, however, should not have to conduct such an investigation and comparison. If a user of a popular screen reader, particularly one who is clearly a competent user (as is currently the case), experiences such major accessibility problems, then I think it would be good for the agency to investigate the matter. If the conclusion is that this is a JAWS-only problem, then Freedom Scientific should be informed of it so it can take corrective action.
Jamal On 7/17/2010 11:13 AM, Jamal Mazrui wrote:
Don, As far as I can tell, the the web site you tried to use does not comply with regulations of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The DirectLoans.gov site appears to be run by the U.S. Department of Education, which describes its 508 policy on the following page: Assistive Technology Program: Testing For Web Accessibility http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/assisttesting.html The page includes the following 508 rule: “(n) When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line, the form shall 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.” The page states that this rule is "designed to assist the blind because it impacts their ability for accurately filling out forms on the web." Although the U.S. Government can be sued under various laws, only administrative complaints are permitted under Section 508. I can assure you, however, that federal agencies currently take such complaints seriously. In fact, federal officials interested in proper implementation of such laws often appreciate receiving a complaint that illustrates their importance, as I think yours does. For your information, the National Federation of the Blind filed a complaint against the Department of Education about another of its web sites, described here: National Federation of the Blind Files Complaint with United States Department of Education http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=491 Although the NFB used a law firm, that is not necessary. I think the Section 508 coordinator at the Department of Education is Don Barrett (a helpful guy). His email address is don.barrett@xxxxxx A complaint like yours presents a compelling personal story about the need for 508 enforcement. It could have significant impact on web site practices, not only at the Department of Education, but at other agencies as well. Even though you may have completed the form with telephone assistance, I encourage you to follow up with a written complaint. Best, Jamal On 7/17/2010 2:52 AM, Donald Marang wrote:Today I attempted to sign a Master Promissory Note on StudentsLoans.gov for my daughter. It was one of the most important on-line transactions and worst experience I ever had! This is a US Government site and as of July 1st, became a monopoly because all of these loans are now directly serviced by the government, not a variety of commercial banks. The entire site is what I would call unusable for screen readers! The site and its sister site for filling out the student's financial aid needs (FAFSA)require you to fill out forms. The forms are nearly impossible to fill out! The biggest problem is a focus issue. After filling out a field and pressing Tab, the focus moves randomly around the page! Even signing in requires you to enter Social Security number, first two letters of last name date of birth, and PIN. Both SSN and DOB require you not to enter dashes or slashes and fill them in for you in a semi-secure password field. The example says to enter in mm/dd/yyyy format, but if you do the log in fails! Again, it is impossible to fill out more than two of these fields without losing focus and returning to the top of the page or elsewhere. I had someone from the hotline on the phone for two hours to simply electronically sign a document! I has similar and worse experiences on the site to create the PIN and to fill out the long FAFSA application. For instance, there were at least three definitions for how to calculate the number in your household. I needed to go back into the FAFSA after completing and submitting the application. The page to correct the form is very bizarre and has the information as previously entered in a column and then a field in a second column to make the correction appears if you click to change that piece of data. Again, the focus is a major issue on this page. I was very careful about just changing the number in household number. I found out later that night when calling their hotline a completely different question, that the agent told me that there was no longer a last name on the application! Since the last name and Social Security number are part of the sign in process, it was impossible to correct on-line and had to be handled by snail mail! I thought all government sites had to be accessible by ADA law. These sites are particularly Important to the blind! Is there a department of the government to report such sites? What are the relevant regulations / laws in this circumstance? What are the possible actions / reparations that can be taken? I thought it was impossible to sue the federal government. However, Social Security was recently required to send blind people letters on CD or large print if requested. That was the result of some type of legal action. Don Marang__________ View the list's information and change your settings at //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
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