Sounds like the same site where I filled out the FAFSA. Could you please go to the bottom of that page just after entering the desired School year and look for the fields to enter the School information. This was one of the worst with JAWS. I am curious how Windowize handles these controls. First there will be a combo box to select the state where the School is located. This works fine with JAWS. After closing this control, it must populate the next control of School names. This may take a little while, and I could not find the control until I waited a few seconds then refreshed the screen with Insert + Escape.I think on this page the control is a list box so it is possible to select more than one. On the loan pages it is a combo box. I was able to select my daughter's School, but was not successful leavinng the list without deselecting the School. The only way I could accomplish selecting the School and continueing, was to use the JAWS cursor to find the button to move on!
Don Marang -------------------------------------------------- From: "RicksPlace" <ofbgmail@xxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2010 6:34 PM To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: ADA Section 508 Compliance on StudentLoans.gov?
Hi Jamal and Don: Jamal:Here is the process I just tested out with Windoweyes with perfect results. using Windoweyes 7.2:I googled and went to the first page at: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/index.htm I tabbed down to a link only labeled link2 and clicked it: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/complete001.htm came up: I tabbed and cursored down and clicked Start in the following text links: What would you like to do? Fill Out My FAFSA Start: The following page came up: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/complete013.jsp I tabbed down to a ComboBox and selected 2010-2011 FASFA Tabbbed to Next Page and clicked that link: https://fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/fotw1011/FFOTWServlet came up with focus on the Students Social Security Number EditBox: I entered the number. Tabbed and entered it again in the verification box.Finished filling out the student name, date of birth and a password with it's verification.Tabbed and clicked next and the next page came up...I Tabbed all over the place and all boxes and labels read well. Focus never was lost during the process. I did have to go into and out of Browse Mode as necessary when entering data or if I wanted to cursor around but it worked either way. Check your url to see if this sounds like the same pages you used. Do not post your url on list since it might contain query fields that you might not want to share. My guess is you are using another page, likely the one with the PIN. If, however, it is the same page but only carrying a PIN or other data in the Query String you should have good access if you use WindowEyes. Jamal might be able to verify the above accessibility test steps since I think he might have a copy of WindowEyes floating around. For now it looks like either a JAWS problem or you are on a diferent website.Rick USA----- Original Message ----- From: "Jamal Mazrui" <empower@xxxxxxxxx>To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: "Donald Marang" <donald.marang@xxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2010 12:48 PM Subject: Re: ADA Section 508 Compliance on StudentLoans.gov?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 tofill 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 tofill 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 asecond column to make the correction appears if you click to change thatpiece of data. Again, the focus is a major issue on this page. I wasvery careful about just changing the number in household number. I foundout later that night when calling their hotline a completely differentquestion, 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 partof 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 ofthe 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 federalgovernment. However, Social Security was recently required to send blind people letters on CD or large print if requested. That was the result ofsome type of legal action. 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