SuperSMITH(TM) Section 508 Compliance

Section 508 refers to a statutory section in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (found at 29 U.S.C. 794d). Congress significantly strengthened this regulation in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. Its primary purpose is to provide access to and use of Federal executive agencies electronic and information technology (EIT) by individuals with disabilities. The statutory language of section 508 can be found at http://www.section508.gov. Section 508 Standards includes details for:
1. Software applications and operating systems (Subpart B 1194.21)
2. Web-based intranet and internet information and systems (Subpart B 1194.22)
3. Telecommunication products
4. Video and multimedia products
5. Self contained, closed products
6. Desktop and portable computers
Section 508 requirements are separate from, but complementary to, requirements in sections 501 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act that require, among other things, that agencies provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities, provide program access to members of the public with disabilities, and take other actions necessary to prevent discrimination on the basis of disability in their programs.

SuperSMITH software contains SuperSMITH Weibull probability plotting software and SuperSMITH Visual general X-Y plotting and Crow-AMSAA reliability growth software and SuperSMITH Ybath(TM) software for advanced mixture analysis. The software conforms to the requirements Section 508 1194.21 which is consistent with the Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990 as shown highlighted in parenthesis in the comments sections for each item:

(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. (Yes, text is provided)

 

(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. (Yes, applications do not interrupt accessibility features)

 

(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. (Yes)

 

(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. (Yes)

 

(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. (Yes)

 

(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. (Yes)

 

(g) Applications shall not override user selected contrast and color selections and other individual display attributes. (Yes, applications do not interrupt accessibility features)

 

(h) When animation is displayed, the information shall be displayable in at least one non-animated presentation mode at the option of the user. (Yes--Animation is not used.)

 

(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. (Yes, visual clues are provided)

 

(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. (Yes, color selections are available with contrast ranges)

 

(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. (Yes, no blinking features used.)

 

(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. (Yes, no electronic forms are used.)

Send comments/questions to Wes Fulton.

Last revised 2/29/17