TimeTap now offers a way for you to make your account Section 508 compliant. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act is a federal law that requires U.S. Government agencies to make their information and communication technology accessible to all individuals, regardless of disability.
There is a configuration flag that must be turned on for your account in order for it to use accessibility features. Please reach out to our support team if you would like this turned on for your account!
In this help doc we'll cover -
- How to Turn on Use Accessibility Features
- Section 508 Rules
- What Section 508 Accessibility Affects on Your TimeTap Account
How to Turn on Use Accessibility Features
Once you get the proper configuration flag turned on for your account, to turn accessibility on you'll need to click on your name in the upper right corner of the page and then select Account Settings from the dropdown menu that appears -
Here you'll want to check the box next to Use Accessibility Features and then click on the green Save Changes to Backoffice button.
Section 508 Rules
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that websites used by federal agencies meet the following standards -
Sync captioning and ensure audio, video or multimedia files include captions, transcripts or audio descriptions.
Ensure keyboard-friendly navigation throughout the website, app or menu with no mouse required.
Every file and form must be accessible, fillable and submittable, including online documents and PDFs.
Include Skip Navigation links so that users can bypass repetitive elements and reach the main content faster.
Avoid special characters that trigger encoding errors.
Reduce or eliminate special effects applied to text.
Eliminate flashing or blinking text.
Use image alt text for every graphic or visual element, including images, diagrams and photos.
Ensure that all page headings follow a logical order (H1, H2, H3).
Make all links visible, underlined and descriptively labeled.
Define the language of each web page in the page code.
Ensure that web forms have a logical layout, clear instructions, required data formats and labeled fields.
Keep page titles brief and descriptive so that users can distinguish between pages.
Ensure that text remains readable and does not overlap when enlarged.
Maintain sufficient color contrast between text and background elements - WCAG 2.1 requires a minimum ratio of 4.5:1. Use a color contrast checker to verify.
Allow users to adjust or extend time limits on timed content.
Include clear error messages that identify what went wrong, where and how to fix it.
Section 508 mandates conformance with WCAG 2.0 Level A and Level AA success criteria for web content and electronic documents, with agency compliance required from January 18, 2018.
What Section 508 Accessibility Affects on Your TimeTap Account
TimeTap performed a full accessibility review using a 3rd party vendor to determine if the app was accessible. Various tools were used in this process, including the following -
- JAWS 2023
- ANDI
- Axe
- Wave
- Color Contrast Analyzer
This review found some aspects of the app to be inaccessible, so to make it meet the standards outlined in Section 508 we had to make the following changes -
- Corrected the color contrast to ensure accessibility by the visually impaired.
- Added a label to the Search icon to make it accessible for screen readers.
- Added roles to menu items so that they no longer appeared as "link" to screen readers.
- Corrected missing visual focus for Save Appointment button and side menu items to make them accessible for screen readers.
- Added various labels to help visually impaired users interact with different buttons, checkboxes, help icons, form labels, group labels and calendar buttons.
- Discontinued use of color alone to convey meaning (as on the calendar filter).
- Altered calendar table to make it accessible for screen readers.
Some of these changes were applied to all TimeTap accounts, while others may be toggled on with the Use Accessibility Features setting.