Accessibility in Web Dynpro ABAP Applications

Tooltip

An important prerequisite for accessibility is the availability of a tooltip for each UI element. Each UI element provides a tooltip.

A tooltip must be defined for a UI element to support accessibility in the following cases:

The UI element does not have a header
No label is assigned to the UI element
Elements with a text property have neither set nor bound it (with the exception of the Caption, for which no tooltip is checked). For example, a Button or Link has no text.

For some more complex UI elements a tooltip must always be defined, examples are UI elements Tree or ProgressIndicator.

When you activate your component, you are notified that the content of the tooltip property is missing, provided that this would have been necessary for accessibility of your application. You do however have the option to define a value for your tooltip property dynamically. This option is not included in the syntax check.

AccessibilityDescription

Almost all UI elements additionally provide the property accessibilityDescription. This can be used to include a title, as an alternative, whenever the UI element should not or cannot carry a visible title (Header). In contrast to the case with the tooltip, which should contain a semantic description of the purpose of the UI element, only a short, title-like expression is entered in the accessibilityDescription.

Integration

When developing Web Dynpro ABAP applications, you can specify that you want to follow the accessibility rules. The procedures in pure WDA applications and in WDA applications integrated in the portal are different.

Pure WDA Applications

You can activate accessibility mode in the following ways:
- You enter the accessibility mode in the URL with parameter ?sap-accessibility=X (see Application Parameters and URL Parameters):
  
  The accessibility mode is also specified in the System Logon.
- You enter the accessibility mode in your user parameters in the system.
  
  In transaction SU01 select for your user name parameter ACCESSIBILITY_MODE with the value X.
- You enter the accessibility mode in the application parameters for your Web Dynpro application (see Application Parameters and URL Parameters). To do this, on the tab page Parameters in your Web Dynpro application choose WDACCESSIBILITY with the value X.
- You call the accessibility mode in the Web Dynpro runtime:
  
  Method GET_IS_ACCESSIBLE in IF_WD_APPLICATION is provided for this.
  
  You can find more information about IF_WD_APPLICATION and the relevant methods in the system documentation.
  
  This option sets an internal flag in the runtime, which can be used by applications to output additional information in the HTML output stream, so that screen reader programs can present the visual information on the screen more clearly.
  
  You can query this flag to check whether accessibility is a requirement. If the accessibility provided by Web Dynpro ABAP is not sufficient (for example, for displaying graphics), you can offer special help.
WDA applications integrated in the portal

If your WDA application is integrated in the portal (see also Portal Integration), you can specify and call the accessibility mode in the portal too.

To do this, in your user profile in the portal, under General Information choose option Activate Accessibility (Screen-Reader erforderlich), and save your entries. This specification is evaluated by Web Dynpro ABAP.

Checks During Design Time

During design time, accessibility checks are carried out automatically as part of the syntax checks.

By double-clicking on any component you can reach the properties and the indicator Accessibility Checks Active. If you deactivate this option, the development environment does not carry out any design time accessibility checks for the relevant component and its views. However, this is not possible if the component in transaction SACC is flagged as accessible.

In principle, no semantic checks can be carried out as the system cannot determine whether or not, for example, the content of a tooltip is useful within a given context. Instead, the system checks whether a specific property is set and filled. If this is not the case, the system checks whether any related properties are set.

The following is a list of the checks that are carried out for the specified UI elements.

UI Element Checks

UI Element	Type of Check
Button ButtonChoice LinkToAction LinkToURL ToggleButton ToggleLink ToolBarButton ToolBarButtonChoice ToolBarLinkToAction ToolBarLinkToURL ToolBarToggleButton BreadCrumbStep MultipleBreadCrumbStep LegendItem MultipleLegendItem TextView TreeNodeType TreeItemType MenuActionItem	If the text property was not set, the system checks for the tooltip property. An error message is displayed if, for example, a button or link with an icon has neither the text nor the tooltip property.
CheckBox RadioButton FileDownload TriStateCheckBox	If the properties text and label were not set, the system checks for the tooltip property. An error message is displayed if, for example, a CheckBox has neither the text, label, nor tooltip property.
Group Tray	If the caption property has not been set, the system checks for the accessibilityDescription property. An error message is displayed if, for example, a group has neither the caption nor the accessibilityDescription property.
Image	If the label and isDecorative properties have not been set, the system checks for the tooltip property. An error message is displayed if a tab-enabled image has an empty tooltip.
InputField DropDownByIndex DropDownByKey ItemListBox TextEdit ToolBarDropDownByIndex ToolBarDropDownByKey ToolBarInputField FileUpload	The system checks whether the label property has been specified. If no label has been set, and no descriptive text has been specified for the appropriate bound context element in the ABAP Dictionary, the tooltip property is checked. An error message is displayed if, for example, a TextEdit does not have a corresponding label or if a DropDownByKey does not have an assigned label and no description was entered in the ABAP Dictionary.
Table	If the caption property has not been set, the system checks for the accessibilityDescription property. Furthermore, the system checks whether the aggregation header is set for columns or whether the aggregation header is visible. The tooltip property is not checked. An error message is displayed if a table has neither a caption nor an accessibilityDescription or if a column does not have a (visible) header.
CheckBoxGroup RadioButtonGroupByIndex RadioButtonGroupByKey RoadMap DateNavigator PhaseIndicator TabStrip ToolBar GeoMap	If the tooltip property has not been set, the system checks for the accessibilityDescription property. An error message is displayed if, for example, a CheckBoxGroup has neither the tooltip nor the accessibilityDescription property.
TransparentContainer	If the layoutContainer property was not set, the system checks for the accessibilityDescription property. An error message is displayed if a TransparentContainer has the property layoutContainer=false and does not have an accessibilityDescription.
Legend	The system checks whether the property legendId of the Legend element (Calendar, DateNavigator, Table) was set.
ProgressIndicator ValueComparison BusinessGraphics GeoMap IFrame	The system checks whether the tooltip property has been specified.
MenuActionItem	If the imageSource property has not been set, the system checks for the text property.
Phase MultiplePhase RoadMapStep	If the description property was not set, the system checks for the tooltip property.
Tab	The system checks whether the caption.text property has been set. If not, the system checks whether caption.tooltip is set.

UI Element

Type of Check

MultipleBreadCrumbStep

If the text property was not set, the system checks for the tooltip property.

An error message is displayed if, for example, a button or link with an icon has neither the text nor the tooltip property.

If the properties text and label were not set, the system checks for the tooltip property.

An error message is displayed if, for example, a CheckBox has neither the text, label, nor tooltip property.

Group

Tray

If the caption property has not been set, the system checks for the accessibilityDescription property.

An error message is displayed if, for example, a group has neither the caption nor the accessibilityDescription property.

Image

If the label and isDecorative properties have not been set, the system checks for the tooltip property.

An error message is displayed if a tab-enabled image has an empty tooltip.

ToolBarDropDownByIndex

ToolBarDropDownByKey

ToolBarInputField

FileUpload

The system checks whether the label property has been specified. If no label has been set, and no descriptive text has been specified for the appropriate bound context element in the ABAP Dictionary, the tooltip property is checked.

An error message is displayed if, for example, a TextEdit does not have a corresponding label or if a DropDownByKey does not have an assigned label and no description was entered in the ABAP Dictionary.

Table

If the caption property has not been set, the system checks for the accessibilityDescription property. Furthermore, the system checks whether the aggregation header is set for columns or whether the aggregation header is visible.

The tooltip property is not checked.

An error message is displayed if a table has neither a caption nor an accessibilityDescription or if a column does not have a (visible) header.

CheckBoxGroup

RadioButtonGroupByIndex

RadioButtonGroupByKey

If the tooltip property has not been set, the system checks for the accessibilityDescription property.

An error message is displayed if, for example, a CheckBoxGroup has neither the tooltip nor the accessibilityDescription property.

TransparentContainer

If the layoutContainer property was not set, the system checks for the accessibilityDescription property.

An error message is displayed if a TransparentContainer has the property layoutContainer=false and does not have an accessibilityDescription.

Legend

The system checks whether the property legendId of the Legend element (Calendar, DateNavigator, Table) was set.

The system checks whether the tooltip property has been specified.

MenuActionItem

If the imageSource property has not been set, the system checks for the text property.

Phase

MultiplePhase

RoadMapStep

If the description property was not set, the system checks for the tooltip property.

Tab

The system checks whether the caption.text property has been set. If not, the system checks whether caption.tooltip is set.

Automatic Forwarding of Accessibility Flag

You can start another Web Dynpro application from a Web Dynpro ABAP application. This is done using an exit or suspend plug. To run the new application also in the accessibility mode, you do not have to transfer the accessibility flag itself in the URL for the application. Instead, if the URL is intended for another Web Dynpro ABAP application, the field can be transferred automatically (notation of the application is in curly brackets: {App}). The optional parameter IN_FORWARD_ACCESSIBILITY_FLAG in method CONSTRUCT_WD_URL of class CL_WD_UTILITIES is provided for this.

You can also append the field when the URL is generated.

Accessibility in Web Dynpro ABAP Applications

Use