MERLOT Accessibility Policy

MERLOT is working to support accessibility on our website. MERLOT has completed the second phases of accessibility work to improve the experience on the site.  The following is a summary of Accessibility changes completed to date:

• Tables used to display the front page design were written so that they could be read correctly in later versions of JAWS.
• Images and submit buttons have been coded in html tags that contain descriptive alt attributes. Other images have alt text which matches what the image says (for example, sort button has alt text of Sort)
• There are no style sheets.
• Image maps were coded in html tags that contain descriptive alt attributes.
• The client-side, drop-down menu, written in javascript proved difficult to navigate with a screen reader, and has been removed. Go buttons are provided with the remaining javascript drop-down menus, which makes the links accessible to a screen reader.
• The ability to sort materials by title, author, date entered, rating and item type can be accomplished with a go button as well as by clicking on the headings. It is always good to provide alternate methods of navigation (alternate routes) to accommodate users with various disabilities.
• Discipline Communities can now be reached from the Communities tab in the header bar.
• While the header bar colors may be hard to distinguish by some visually impaired viewers, they are not needed to navigate the site. The navigation links are text that is accessible by a text reader and screen reader.
• Allow navigation and keystrokes/mouse using the keyboard.
• Added tab indices to pages with forms for easier keyboard navigation.
• Added alt tags for images, to enable screen readers to read them.
• MERLOT home page redesigned, changing images to text links, and including alt tags.
  • Changed Links have a consistent look and feel.
  • Images are not links are now text links.
• Added labels to fields for more descriptive forms when using a screen reader.
• Made headers and lists use HTML header and list tags. This helps screen readers to navigate the pages easier. .
• Form field labels are tied to the fields they describe. This is done with special HTML tages for this purpose. Allows screen readers to tell a user what a field is for when they go to that field.
• All images have good alt text.
• Decorative images have blank alt text
• Image links do not have both a title attribute in the link and an alt attribute in the image.
• Modified images and buttons so it is clear what is a link and what where the cursor is on the page.
• Improved accessibility navigation on the MERLOT Communities page
• Links are made to look like links
  • Text links are underlined or become underlined when rolled over and are a different color from regular text.
  • Image links change when rolled over
• Image buttons have text that matches their action. For example, a button that causes a sort to happen, says "sort" instead of "go."
• Use CSS for all colors and fonts rather than outdated HTML attributes
• Links are unique in their description. For example, in the material hitlist page, a category name mimght be the same as a material in the search results. Categories on hitlists now have titles for links that say "Limit search to items in xxx category."

MERLOT is not responsible for the ADA compliance of sites whose links are listed in MERLOT. MERLOT has also completed a VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) to outline our progress and status on making accessibility changes to the merlot.org site. You can also view a VPAT for the MERLOT Content Builder. Accessibility changes that MERLOT has made are outlined at http://taste.merlot.org/AccessibilityChanges.html.

MERLOT is in the process of being compliant with ADA priority one standards as mandated by TITLE IV, SECTION 508, of REHABILITATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1998. MERLOT is undergoing testing for accessibility compliance. CSU Chancellors Office has an Accessibility Technology Initiative site available at http://www.calstate.edu/accessibility/resources. We welcome your comments or questions to the Webmaster at webmaster@merlot.org

revised 11/29/12 - bbs