To meet this commitment, we will comply with the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 794). Section 508 requires that electronic and information technology (EIT) allow federal employees with disabilities to “have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of information and data by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities,” unless an undue burden would be imposed on DTS.
This DoD website is undergoing a redesign to ensure that it meets or exceeds the requirements of Section 508 per the 1998 Amendments, 29 United States Code (U.S.C.) 794d, and the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board’s Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards at 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §1194. Many of our pages now meet these standards but we are continually working to make all pages accessible.
The following DTS Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) details all the regulations of the Section 508 accessibility standards under §1194 and explains how DTS software complies or has considerations within each provision.
Section 1194.21 Software Applications and Operating Systems
| Criteria |
Supporting Features |
Remarks |
| (a) When software is designed to run on a system that has a keyboard, product functions shall be executable from a keyboard where the function itself or the result of performing a function can be discerned textually. |
Supports |
DTS supports general keyboard navigation. |
| (b) Applications shall not disrupt or disable activated features of other products that are identified as accessibility features, where those features are developed and documented according to industry standards. Applications also shall not disrupt or disable activated features of any operating system that are identified as accessibility features where the application programming interface for those accessibility features has been documented by the manufacturer of the operating system and is available to the product developer. |
Supports |
DTS does not interfere with or deactivate the accessibility features of the operating system. |
| (c) A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes. The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that Assistive Technology can track focus and focus changes. |
Supports |
DTS supports visual indication of current focus for interactive elements. |
| (d) Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to Assistive Technology. When an image represents a program element, the information conveyed by the image must also be available in text. |
Supports |
WAI-ARIA is used to expose role and state information. |
| (e) When bitmap images are used to identify controls, status indicators, or other programmatic elements, the meaning assigned to those images shall be consistent throughout an application’s performance. |
Supports |
Images are used consistently within DTS. |
| (f) Textual information shall be provided through operating system functions for displaying text. The minimum information that shall be made available is text content, text input caret location, and text attributes. |
Supports |
Textual information is available to assistive technology in DTS. |
| (g) Applications shall not override user selected contrast and color selections and other individual display attributes. |
Supports |
DTS does not interfere with or deactivate the accessibility features of the operating system. |
| (h) When animation is displayed, the information shall be displayable in at least one non-animated presentation mode at the option of the user. |
Not Applicable |
DTS does not use animated presentations. |
| (i) Color coding shall not be used as the only means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element. |
Supports |
DTS uses color to distinguish alerts, but that information is also available in text and available to assistive technology users. |
| (j) When a product permits a user to adjust color and contrast settings, a variety of color selections capable of producing a range of contrast levels shall be provided. |
Not Applicable |
DTS does not support color customization options built-in. DTS does not interfere with or deactivate the accessibility features of the operating system. |
| (k) Software shall not use flashing or blinking text, objects, or other elements having a flash or blink frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz. |
Supports |
DTS has no flashing or blinking text, objects or other elements. |
| (l) When electronic forms are used, 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. |
Supports |
DTS announces all form controls and allows navigating between them. |
Section 1194.22 Web-based Internet Information and Applications
| Criteria |
Supporting Features |
Remarks |
| (a) A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided (e.g., via “alt”, “longdesc”, or in element content). |
Supports |
Images and other graphical elements have a text alternative. |
| (b) Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall be synchronized with the presentation. |
Supports with exceptions |
Most DTS multimedia presentations, such as Training movies, have text alternatives available. |
| (c) Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup. |
Supports |
DTS uses color to distinguish status, but that information is also available in text and available to assistive technology users. |
| (d) Documents shall be organized so they are readable without requiring an associated style sheet. |
Does not support |
DTS is a web-based application, and so requires style sheets to work correctly. |
| (e) Redundant text links shall be provided for each active region of a server-side image map. |
Not Applicable |
DTS does not use server-side image maps. |
| (f) Client-side image maps shall be provided instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape. |
Not Applicable |
DTS does not use client-side image maps. |
| (g) Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables. |
Supports with exceptions |
Most data tables are correctly identified by row and column headers. |
| (h) Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers. |
Supports with exceptions |
Most known data tables have no more than one logical level of column or row headers in DTS. |
| (i) Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame identification and navigation. |
Supports |
There are no frames designed for interaction in DTS core functionality. |
| (j) Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz. |
Supports |
DTS does not cause the screen to flicker. |
| (k) A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality, shall be provided to make a web site comply with the provisions of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way. The content of the text-only page shall be updated whenever the primary page changes. |
Not Applicable |
Accessibility provisions in DTS can be provided without requiring a separate text-only version. |
| (l) When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to create interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be identified with functional text that can be read by Assistive Technology. |
Supports with exceptions |
Some elements such as notifications may not be announced correctly to assistive technology. |
| (m) When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with §1194.21(a) through (l). |
Supports |
DTS’s will link to any required applet, plug-in or other application that must be present for core functionality. |
| (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. |
Supports |
DTS announces all form controls and allows to navigate between them. |
| (o) A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links. |
Supports |
DTS makes good use of headings, navigation skiplinks, and return-to-top functionality. |
| (p) When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required. |
Supports |
DTS allows for notification well before a user is security-timed out for inactivity. |
Section 1194.31 Functional Performance Criteria
| Criteria |
Supporting Features |
Remarks |
| (a) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user vision shall be provided, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are blind or visually impaired shall be provided. |
Supports |
DTS doesn’t require user vision and supports assistive technology. |
| (b) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require visual acuity greater than 20/70 shall be provided in audio and enlarged print output working together or independently, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are visually impaired shall be provided. |
Supports |
DTS supports screen magnifiers. |
| (c) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user hearing shall be provided, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are deaf or hard of hearing shall be provided |
Supports |
DTS does not require user hearing. |
| (d) Where audio information is important for the use of a product, at least one mode of operation and information retrieval shall be provided in an enhanced auditory fashion, or support for assistive hearing devices shall be provided. |
Supports |
DTS does not require user hearing. |
| (e) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user speech shall be provided, or support for Assistive Technology used by people with disabilities shall be provided. |
Supports |
DTS does not require user speech. |
| (f) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require fine motor control or simultaneous actions and that is operable with limited reach and strength shall be provided. |
Supports |
Any parts of DTS that cannot be operated using the keyboard alone have significantly large target areas that would not cause problems for people with fine motor control or limited reach and strength. |
