The Java Accessibility API is included in Java 1.2 and allows programs written in Java to interact well with assistive technologies, such as screen readers, refreshable Braille displays, hands-free pointing devices and other alternate input devices. Java 1.2 also marked the release of Swing, which provides programmers with a more flexible way of creating graphical user interfaces. This is important because Swing components, by default, are somewhat accessible. The accessibility API was expanded in Java 1.3 to include support for the traditional AWT components, including buttons and even the applet class itself.
In general, providing textual equivalents for components drastically increases the applet's usability - similar to providing alternative text for images when coding HTML. Although these features are helpful, accessibility is more than this. You should gear your applications towards users with several kinds of disabilities, who include but are not limited to people who have visual impairments, hearing impairments, motor skill disabilities, and/or color-blindness.
To get the most from this section on Java accessibility, you should be familiar with the concepts presented in Module 9, Making HTML Accessible. Also, if you are working with media components like video, you should be familiar with the concepts of Module 4: Making Video Accessible. Many of the accessibility techniques presented in these modules will carry over into creating accessible Applets. For example:
Scripts/Java
Applets & Java
<IMG>.<TABLE>. It is also recommended that you read over some of the design issues that relate
to interface design through the Web
Accessibility Initiative
.
Because of extreme variations in Java application behavior, this module is intended to provide guidelines that can be applied when creating Applets or Java Applications. However, it does not cover more advanced topics such as creating your own accessible components.
Although you may not be a programmer, you may still be the designated person who has the responsibility of making your site accessible. You should at least provide an alternative text for the applet as a whole, much in the same way you do for an image.
<APPLET code="MyApplet.class" width="300" height="300"
alt="An applet that ...">
This applet explains ...
</APPLET>
For some applets this may be sufficient. However, many Java applets and applications contain interactive components such as buttons and text fields that require an individual description, and there is not a way to get down to the individual component using HTML. You may have to contact the programmer that made the applet and ask if they can make it more accessible; if unfamiliar with accessibility, send them the link to this tutorial.
Another alternative may be to provide the same information the applet presents by creating a separate page.
The next page will discuss Java accessibility API.
College of Architecture (COA)
Fax: 404-894-9320
Phone: 404-894-4960 (v/tty)
User Agreement
Previous Page
