Userforms: 508 Compliance question

K

Keith

I normally don't crosspost, but this is an obscure question so I've
intentionally crossposted this to the three groups that I think would be the
most likely to have someone who might know the answer. I apologize in
advance for any inconvenience.

Section 508 is a government regulation that "requires that when Federal
agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information
technology, Federal employees with disabilities have access to and use of
information and data that is comparable to the access and use by Federal
employees who are not individuals with disabilities".

I'd like to know the extent to which Userforms built in the various office
applications do (or don't) support section 508. For example, a web page
might have text for pictures, figures, etc. so that a blind person can still
navigate and use the page.

Does anyone know if Userforms do or don't support whatever technologies are
used by the disabled? I'm not familiar with the technology, nor with what
Microsoft might have done 'under the hood' to address access for the
disabled, and I'm not sure where to find out.

Bottom line, I have some code and userform I'd like to provide to a
government organization (for free) but I have to determine whether they
would be allowed to use it. While the section 508 allows for some
exceptions, I'll be more likely to have support if I can actually describe
the extent to which the userforms are compliant (if they are). All of my
code is written in Office97 for backward compliance (and I haven't worked
out what to do about Office2007 yet).

Many thanks,
Keith
 
T

Tom Ogilvy

Only light experience in this area, but if no one else jumps in:

I think userforms operate pretty much the same as the office products
themselves. You can look at these links:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...ibility+office+site:microsoft.com&btnG=Search

This is for Sharepoint server - but shows you a good list of what to look
for in 508 compliance - see Section 1194.21 Software Applications and
Operating Systems - Detail, Section 508 Voluntary Product Accessibility
Template


http://download.microsoft.com/downl...7355ff91e8/WindowsSharepointServices_VPAT.doc

I know DoD is extensively using Office, so I would expect that something
built in office should share that compliance. Your design/development would
have to be cognizant of the accessibility features and make those available.
 

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