Summon: Accessibility Compliance

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Product: Summon

How does the Summon service provide mechanisms to help visually impaired users?

The Summon 2.0 interface provides mechanisms that can make Summon more effective for visually impaired users. The following lists the aspects of Summon that support accessibility compliance and users of screen reader technology. Summon 2.0 is fully compliant with WCAG 2.0 and Section 508.

To view Summon's VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template), see the Summon entry in ProQuest's Accessibility Directory.

Skip Navigation

Summon users with screen-reader technology are able to utilize navigational elements at the top of the page known as skip navigation to allow the focus of the page to go directly to the search results avoiding the navigation, search box and filters elements.

There is nothing that a library needs to configure; it is available for all users but is only visible to screen readers. This link is available on both the Summon search page and the Summon results page.

ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) alerts exist to announce to a screen reader when events on the screen happen that do not include a page reload. For example, events being activated such as the right-side Topic pane and the Saved Items folder.

Summon 2.0 also provides HTML <label> tags defining input elements such as the keyword search box, the date slider, and Advanced Search.

Keyboard Navigation

A user can navigate through Summon by using a keyboard:

Keystroke	Action
Left Arrow	Moves the focus left between the Facets pane, Results pane, and Explorer pane.
Right Arrow	Moves the focus right between the Facets pane, Results pane, and Explorer pane.
Down Arrow	Moves the focus down through the items in the results set (focus initially must be on Results pane).
Up Arrow	Moves the focus up through the items in the results set (focus initially must be on Results pane).
Tab	Functions as a regular tab key. Tabs through all clickable items on the screen. Note that users on a Mac with Firefox or Safari need a particular system setting in order for tab ordering to function properly: Go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts tab. Select "All Controls" from the "Full Keyboard Access" section.
Enter	Executes the associated action when focused on a clickable event. Opens/closes expandable menus.
Space	Opens/closes expandable menus.
Escape	Moves the focus to the search box if no supplemental panes (Preview pane, More Facets pane) are open. Closes supplemental panes.

Date Created: 9-Feb-2014
Last Edited Date: 31-Oct-2018
Old Article Number: 8734