Accessibility Implementation - WAI ruleset

User Experience
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1

I am looking for recommendation for making the application Accessibility compliant.

  1. Is it needed to add Pega WAI ruleset in the Access Groups and Application, even in Pega 8.5.2?

  2. If we need to add WAI ruleset, Is it recommended to create separate Access Groups for accessible users , or can we have common access groups for all?

2

@Bhavya Pega WAI rulesets contains notable style changes for accessible users, though Pega generated Aria labels and narrations for accessibility, it’s totally depends on you whether you want to use WAI ruleset or not.

and yes If you want to add WAI Ruleset, you need to enable an option in Runtime configuration for the certain access group. You need to re-login with that access group to see the effect.

configuration image.png
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3

@karma1

We do not recommend using the PegaWAI ruleset in applications as of Pega Infinity (8.1). Pega has decided to approach accessibility by building the features directly into the product platform. Creating special user groups just for accessibility access was not inline with our current approach of creating an inclusive user experience for all users.

The WAI ruleset was primarily focused on blind, screen reader users and did not give adequate accommodations for other disabilities or consideration to sighted screen reader users. Also, many of our components have been updated and no longer work with the WAI ruleset. Such updates already in the platform as of latest release include:

  • Adding appropriate ARIA roles to components such as dialogs, multi-select, expand/collpase, menus, lists etc
  • Optimizing tables for responsive design and basic keyboard navigation based on WCAG guidelines for grid role
  • Optimizing hierarchy data tables for WCAG grid navigation
  • Adding Skip To links at beginning of application to orient users to main content of page
  • Date picker dropdown labels for screen readers and improved navigation for calendar
  • Rich text editor instructions for keyboard navigation
  • Accessible helper text options such as Smart tips or Helper icon on focus
  • Inline error validation consistent with server side validation
  • Visible focus indicator
  • Loading indicator live announcements

For more guidance on configuring an accessible user experience, check out our accessibility content on Pega Community or our Pega Essentials academy mission. You can also reach out to [email protected].

Jill Power

Senior Program Manager, Accessibility Experience

Pegasystems