Operation Manual

Creating Accessible Reports
Improving report accessibility
C
Crystal Reports User’s Guide 541
Text
The most common accessibility issue encountered by report designers is also
one of the easiest to resolve: providing text-only versions of non-text objects.
A non-text object is an object that conveys meaning through a picture or
sound. Non-text objects include pictures, charts, graphical buttons, graphical
representations of text, sounds, animations, and audio or video clips.
People who use assistive technologies are accustomed to text-only substitutes
and, therefore, will respond well to the text-only alternatives you provide.
There are a number of ways you can use text to substantially improve your
reports’ accessibility:
• Provide text equivalents for objects in reports.
• Provide text alternatives for reports.
• Ensure that text is written and formatted clearly.
Text is a useful tool for creating accessible reports. Most assistive
technologies require text input, including screen readers, speech
synthesizers, and Braille displays. You can easily resize and format text, and
text is the most flexible medium for import and export.
Providing text equivalents
When you create reports, there are many opportunities to use text equivalents
to clarify non-text objects.
• Place a descriptive text object next to a non-text object, and be sure to
add them to the report in consecutive order (for more details see “Placing
objects in order” on page 539).
Whenever possible, a text equivalent should communicate the same
information as its corresponding object in the report. If a report displays
data in a pie chart, for example, include a text box next to the chart that
summarizes its contents.
Describe the purpose of the non-text object. For example, if an image
performs an action when you click it, describe the action. For a button that
opens your web site, provide a text box labeled “Click to view our web site”.
• If a report includes audio links, provide a transcript for significant audio clips.
• If a report links to a multimedia or video presentation, provide a transcript.
You may also want to provide captioning for the audio portion and an
audio description of the visual portion. Captioning should be
synchronized with the audio.