Accessibility Features of SAS Visual Analytics

Overview
Documentation Format
Landmarks
User Interface Layout
Themes
Keyboard Shortcuts
Exceptions to Accessibility Standards
Accessibility Workarounds for SAS Visual Analytics Explorer
Accessibility Workarounds for SAS Visual Analytics Designer
Accessibility Workarounds for SAS Visual Analytics Viewer
Accessibility Workarounds for SAS Visual Data Builder

Overview

SAS Visual Analytics has been tested with assistive technology tools. It includes accessibility and compatibility features that improve the usability of the product for users with disabilities. (Some accessibility issues remain and are noted below.) These features are related to accessibility standards for electronic information technology that were adopted by the U.S. Government under Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (2008 draft proposal initiative update). Applications are also tested against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, part of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C). For detailed information about the accessibility of this product, send e-mail to accessibility@sas.com or call SAS Technical Support.

Documentation Format

Please contact accessibility@sas.com if you need this document in an alternative digital format.

Landmarks

Landmarks are references to the primary areas of an application’s user interface. They provide a quick and easy way for keyboard users to navigate to these areas of the application.
To access the list of landmarks that are available for a specific context, press Ctrl+F6 to open the Landmarks window. Use the arrow keys to select a landmark, and then press Enter to navigate to that area of the application.

User Interface Layout

SAS Visual Analytics contains the following interfaces:
  • The SAS Visual Analytics home page contains three main sections:
    • The top of the home page contains the menu bar, which contains menus, a Search field, and a Log Off button.
    • The center of the home page contains the workspace. In the workspace, you can create content, view your content, or view content created by other users.
    • The right side of the home page contains a Common Actions pane, which provides an alternate way to create reports, explore data, and manage your environment or favorites. The Links pane links you to the introductory video for SAS Visual Analytics or to other pages that you have bookmarked. The SAS Resources pane links you to resources on the SAS website and to social media.
  • SAS Visual Data Builder enables you to perform analytic data preparation operations. The application window contains four main sections:
    • The top of the window contains the application name and an application bar that includes a menu bar and a Log Off button.
    • The left side of the window contains a collapsible navigation pane. This pane contains a view of the SAS Folders tree. You can navigate the tree to select a table (one table at a time) for use in preparing data for analysis.
    • The center of the window (the workspace) contains tabs that you use for designing queries. Each query is designed on a tab.
    • The bottom of the window contains a series of tabs that you use for creating calculated columns and for filtering data.
    • The right side of the window contains a Properties tab that you use for managing the properties of queries and tables. The information is dynamic and shows the properties of the item that is selected in the workspace.
  • SAS Visual Analytics Explorer enables you to explore data. The application window contains four main sections:
    • The top of the window contains the Home bar, the menu bar, and the toolbar. The Home bar contains a Home button that enables you to return to the SAS Visual Analytics home page. The menu bar contains menus and a Log Off button. The toolbar contains icons that enable you to manage your explorations and visualizations.
    • The left side of the window contains the data pane. The data pane contains all of the data items in your visual exploration. A table at the bottom of the data pane enables you to modify the properties of the data item that is currently selected.
    • The center of the window (the workspace) contains the visualizations (charts, tables, histograms, and maps) for your visual exploration. A dock bar at the bottom of the workspace enables you to manage your visualizations.
    • The right side of the window contains the Roles, Filters, Ranks, Properties, and Comments tabs. The Roles tab enables you to manage data roles for the current visualization. The Filters tab enables you to create filters to subset your data. The Ranks tab enables you to create ranks to select data based on the greatest or least aggregated values for a category. The Properties tab enables you to manage properties for the current visualization. The Comments tab enables you to view and create comments for the current visualization.
  • SAS Visual Analytics Designer provides a framework for working with data and reports. The application window contains four main sections:
    • The top of the window contains the Home bar and the menu bar. The Home bar contains a Home button that enables you to return to the SAS Visual Analytics home page. The menu bar contains menus and a Log Off button.
    • The left side of the window contains the Objects, Data, Imports, and Shared Rules tabs. These tabs enable you to select report objects, to select data sources, or to import other reports or report objects. A table at the bottom of the Data tab enables you to modify the properties of the data item that is currently selected. The Shared Rules tab enables you to create a new display rule for a gauge, which is used by other gauges to designate intervals and colors for ranges.
    • The center of the window is the canvas on which you design reports. Above the canvas, there is an area where you can drop a filter control and a category data item to create section prompts.
    • The right side of the window contains a pane with multiple tabs. The Properties tab enables you to manage the properties for the currently selected report object. The Styles tab enables you to specify styles for the data, frame, and text, and to specify colors for the data. The Display Rules tab enables you to populate or add intervals for the report object that is currently selected in the canvas. The Comments tab enables you to view and create comments for the report after you save it. The Filters tab enables you to create filters for the selected report object. The Ranks tab enables you to add rankings to report objects. The Interactions tab enables you to create or update filter or brush interactions for the report objects in a section. The Roles tab enables you to manage data role assignments for the selected report object.
To customize the application window and its features, select Filethen selectPreferences. On the SAS Visual Analytics home page, click either edit preferences icon or Edit Preferences to open the Preferences window. For more information about the layout and features of SAS Visual Analytics, see Your First Look at the SAS Visual Analytics Home Page.

Themes

An application’s theme is the collection of colors, graphics, and fonts that appear in the application. The following themes are provided with this application: SAS Corporate, SAS Blue Steel, SAS Light, and SAS Dark. To change the theme for the application, select Filethen selectPreferences and go to the Global Preferences page. On the SAS Visual Analytics home page, click either edit preferences icon or Edit Preferences to open the Preferences window. For more information about the layout and features of SAS Visual Analytics, see Your First Look at the SAS Visual Analytics Home Page.
You can use keyboard shortcuts to magnify the contents of the browser window or to invert the application colors. For more information, see Keyboard Shortcuts.
Note: If you have special requirements for your themes, then contact your system administrator or visual designer about using the SAS Theme Designer for Flex application to build custom themes. SAS Theme Designer for Flex is installed with SAS themes. For more information about this tool, see SAS Theme Designer for Flex: User's Guide.
Custom report themes are now automatically created when a coordinating custom application theme is created in SAS Theme Designer for Flex. These custom report themes can then be used in SAS Visual Analytics reports.

Keyboard Shortcuts

The following table contains the keyboard shortcuts for the application. In the user interface, the shortcuts are displayed within parentheses in tooltips and menu labels.
Note: Some application-level keyboard shortcuts do not work when you first open an application. When that happens, press Tab to place the focus on the application, and then try the keyboard shortcut again.
Note: When you use a keyboard shortcut to activate a button, first give the focus to the field or section that the button is associated with before you use the keyboard shortcut. For example, if a table has an associated Help button, you must first move the focus to the table before you press Ctrl+?.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Task
Keyboard Shortcut
Open a Help pop-up window from the Help button.
Ctrl+?
Note: This shortcut does not work on some keyboards (for example, the Italian keyboard).
Zoom in.
Ctrl+plus sign
Zoom out.
Ctrl+minus sign
Reset the zoom state.
Ctrl+0
Maximize view (collapses the category pane and the tile pane, and hides the status bar and the application bar, which includes the menu bar and the workspace bar).
or
Exit maximized view (expands the category pane and the tile pane, and shows the status bar and the application bar).
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M
Note: This keyboard shortcut does not work when the focus is on the workspace bar.
Open a pop-up menu.
Shift+F9 (if a menu is available in that context)
Note: If you use Shift+F9 to display the pop-up menu, then it is always displayed in the top left corner of the user interface control that you are using.
Open the Landmarks window.
Ctrl+F6
Temporarily invert or revert application colors (for the current session only).
Note: You can set the Invert application colors preference in the Preferences window if you want the color change to persist across sessions.
Ctrl+~
Rename the selected tab.
Make sure that focus is on the tab. Press F2 and specify the new name. To commit your changes, press Enter. To cancel your changes, press Esc.
Close the selected tab.
Make sure that focus is on the tab, and then press Delete.
Note: Some tabs cannot be closed.
Switch in and out of Edit mode for a table cell.
To enter Edit mode, select a cell and press F2.
To exit Edit mode, press Esc.
Navigate between table headings and table content.
For a two-dimensional table, first make sure that focus is on the table and that you are not in Edit mode. Press Ctrl+F8 to switch focus between column headings and table cells. Use the arrow keys to navigate from heading to heading.
For a multidimensional table, first make sure that focus is on a table cell and that you are not in Edit mode. Press Ctrl+F8 to switch focus between column headings, row headings, and table cells. Use the arrow keys to navigate from heading to heading.
Navigate the content rows of a table.
When table cells are in Edit mode:
  • Press Tab and Shift+Tab to move from cell to cell horizontally across columns.
  • Press Enter and Shift+Enter to move from cell to cell vertically across rows.
When table cells are not in Edit mode, use the arrow keys to move from cell to cell.
Sort columns in a table.
To sort a single column, navigate to the column heading of the column that you want to sort. Press spacebar to sort the column.
To sort additional columns, navigate to the column heading of each additional column that you want to sort. Press Ctrl+spacebar.

Exceptions to Accessibility Standards

Exceptions to accessibility standards are documented in the following table.
Note: The JAWS issues occur when JAWS is used with Internet Explorer. Other browsers were not tested with JAWS, unless noted.
Exceptions to Accessibility Standards
Accessibility Issue
Workaround
Sometimes, you cannot use the keyboard to sequentially navigate through the interface and move the focus in a meaningful order.
No workaround is available.
The SAS High Contrast theme has a few unresolved focus and contrast issues.
For contrast issues, select a different theme and then press Ctrl+~ to invert the colors.
The SAS Light theme and SAS Dark theme might not provide sufficient color contrast for some users.
Use the SAS Corporate theme or the SAS High Contrast theme.
JAWS cannot read some of the controls in the application, such as images, icons, and buttons.
No workaround is available.
JAWS cannot read the tooltips of items in trees, lists, and menus.
No workaround is available.
JAWS refers to table controls as list boxes.
When JAWS reports that a control is a list box, keep in mind that it might actually be a table.
JAWS can sometimes read controls that have been disabled.
No workaround is available.
Sometimes, JAWS does not correctly work with the controls in the Preferences window.
While you are in Virtual PC cursor mode, traverse the entire window to familiarize yourself with its contents before you change any of the settings. You might need to switch between Forms mode and Virtual PC cursor mode to access all of the controls.
JAWS does not correctly read the states in a tri-state check box tree if JAWS is not in Forms mode.
Disable the JAWS Virtual PC cursor when you work with the check box tree. Tab to the tree, and press Insert+Z to disable the Virtual PC cursor. When you finish interacting with the tree, press Insert+Z to re-enable the Virtual PC cursor.
The keyboard shortcuts that are used to interact with editable tables can conflict with keyboard shortcuts for the JAWS forms mode.
As a best practice, disable the JAWS Virtual PC cursor when you work with tables. Tab to the table, and press Insert+Z to disable the Virtual PC cursor. When you finish interacting with the table, press Insert+Z to re-enable the Virtual PC cursor.
JAWS cannot read two-column property tables.
No workaround is available.
JAWS does not correctly read the information in a table:
  • JAWS cannot read the column headings of a table.
  • When table cells are not editable and the focus is on the body of the table, JAWS reads an entire row at a time instead of cell by cell.
  • When table cells are editable, and the focus is on the body of the table, JAWS reads only the first row of the table. If you use the arrow keys to select a cell or row, then JAWS does not read anything. If you press Enter to edit a cell, then JAWS reads the row that contains the edited cell.
No workaround is available.
When you are in a table cell, if you press Home, End, Page Up, or Page Down, the selected cell will change to be one in the first column of the currently displayed columns for the table.
Use the arrow keys to navigate through the cells of the table.
You cannot use the keyboard to scroll to the left and the right in some tables.
No workaround is available.
You cannot use the keyboard to activate the links within how-to topics and Help pop-up windows.
Use the Help menu to access the linked documents.
You cannot use Shift+F10 to open a pop-up menu.
Use Shift+F9 to open pop-up menus that are created for the SAS application. The generic menu that is provided by the Flash player cannot be opened by Shift+F9.
Note: If you press Shift+F10 in Internet Explorer and no context menu is available, the browser will move the focus to the File menu for the browser tab. To return focus to the application area of the browser window, press Esc.
You cannot use the keyboard to access the close (x) button that is in the top right corner of a tab.
Make sure that the focus is on the tab, and then press Delete to close the tab.
You cannot use the keyboard to access the close (x) button that is in the top right corner of a tile in the tile pane.
Make sure that the focus is on the tile, and then press Delete to close the tile. (The object that is displayed in the tile is not deleted.)
Visual focus for the menu bar is indicated with an outline around the entire menu bar instead of around individual menus.
To select individual menus, use the left or right arrow key.
Sometimes, you cannot use the Tab key to move the focus to the application area of a web browser (that is, the part of the browser window that is controlled by the Flash player).
The following workaround is applicable to Internet Explorer only.
Press Ctrl+number, where number is the ordinal position of the application’s tab in the set of tabs that are open in your browser window. Then press Tab to move the focus into the application area.
You cannot use the Tab key to move the focus outside of a code or expression editor. Pressing Tab within the editor only inserts tabs.
For Internet Explorer, press Shift+F10 and then press Esc to move the focus outside of the editor.
For Firefox, press Alt+Tab to switch to another application. When you switch back, the focus will be outside of the editor.
You cannot use Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M to minimize or maximize the view if the focus is on the workspace bar.
No workaround is available.
If you tab to an item that is partially or entirely off-screen, the item is not automatically scrolled back into view.
Sometimes, you can use the arrow keys or the Tab key to scroll the item back into view.
When you use the Ctrl+plus sign keyboard shortcut to zoom in, some portions of the interface can become hidden from view.
Use the keyboard to access the hidden parts of the interface.
The Ctrl+plus sign and Ctrl+minus sign keyboard shortcuts for zooming in and out do not work on some menus unless the menus are first opened.
Open the menu before you use the keyboard shortcut.
The Ctrl+plus sign and Ctrl+minus sign keyboard shortcuts for zooming in and out do not work on all elements in the application window (for example, tooltips and button labels).
No workaround is available.
If you maximize a tile in the Home workspace and then use the Tab key to navigate, the focus appears to be lost after you tab away from the Log Off button.
After you maximize the tile, press the Tab key 10 to 25 times, and eventually, the focus will return to the maximized tile.
You cannot use the keyboard to navigate in the Layout section because it is a Read-Only interface that is used for the visual verification of the elements that have been created.
Use the test button that is in the Layout section to preview your elements in a secondary window. The items that are displayed in the secondary window are identical to the items that are displayed in the Layout section, but unlike the items in the Read-Only Layout section, you can interact with the items in the secondary window.
Note: After the application opens the secondary window, press Tab to place the focus in the window.
JAWS cannot read the labels for the Red, Green, and Blue fields in the Custom Colors window.
No workaround is available.
You cannot use the keyboard to access the color blocks in the Recently used section of the color selection control.
No workaround is available.
JAWS does not explain how to open a drop-down menu or drop-down list.
Press Ctrl+down arrow to open the control.
When JAWS reads the control names in a breadcrumb, it does not distinguish between the breadcrumb buttons that contain drop-down menus and those that do not.
Check for a drop-down menu by pressing Ctrl+down arrow on a breadcrumb button. A drop-down menu will open if one exists for that button.
When you use the down arrow to scroll through the items in a "combo box," any item that opens a secondary window will do so when you arrow down to it and will prevent you from navigating to items that are farther down in the drop-down list.
Press Ctrl+down arrow to scroll through the items in the drop-down list and then press Enter or Tab to make a selection.
When you add a date value to the predefined list for a date element, you cannot use the keyboard to access the date-selection button in the table cells in the Customize Data window for the predefined list.
Enter the date value in the field that is next to the date-selection button.
JAWS cannot read the contents of a tree table (that is, a table that contains a tree) unless the table is in Edit mode.
Make sure that the focus is in the tree table, and press F2 to enter Edit mode.
JAWS cannot read the content selection tree.
No workaround is available.
Sometimes, after you close a tab to hide it from view, you can still use the keyboard to access the contents of the tab.
No workaround is available.

Accessibility Workarounds for SAS Visual Analytics Explorer

Exceptions to accessibility standards for SAS Visual Analytics Explorer (the explorer) are documented in the following table:
Exceptions to Accessibility Standards for the Explorer
Accessibility Issue
Workaround
JAWS cannot read the diagram in the decision tree visualization.
No workaround is available.
JAWS cannot read values for a visual filter in the Filters tab.
No workaround is available.

Accessibility Workarounds for SAS Visual Analytics Designer

Exceptions to accessibility standards for SAS Visual Analytics Designer (the designer) are documented in the following table:
Exceptions to Accessibility Standards for the Designer
Accessibility Issue
Workaround
You cannot access the list of tabs in the right panel of the designer using only the keyboard.
Use the View menu to give focus to the tabs in the right panel. You can select the Comments, Display Rules, Filters, Interactions, Properties, Ranks, Rules, or Styles tab.
When JAWS is running, the Page Up and Page Down keys do not switch tabs properly.
No workaround is available.
The drop-down lists in the designer do not have labels. They are read by the screen reader as “combo box.”
No workaround is available.
JAWS does not read the labels for collapse and expand panes correctly. They are read by the screen reader as “splitter button zero.”
Use the View menu to select either Maximize View or Exit Maximized View.
You cannot re-position a report object on the canvas in the tiled report layout.
Use the precision report layout and then use the Properties tab to adjust the size and position of the report objects. Under the Size and Position heading, you can adjust the Left, Top, Depth, Width, and Height properties.
JAWS cannot read the diagram for creating filter and brush interactions in the interactions view.
No workaround is available.

Accessibility Workarounds for SAS Visual Analytics Viewer

Exceptions to accessibility standards for SAS Visual Analytics Viewer (the viewer) are documented in the following table:
Exceptions to Accessibility Standards for the Viewer
Accessibility Issue
Workaround
You cannot access links in reports using only the keyboard.
No workaround is available.

Accessibility Workarounds for SAS Visual Data Builder

Exceptions to accessibility standards for SAS Visual Data Builder (the data builder) are documented in the following table:
Exceptions to Accessibility Standards for the Data Builder
Accessibility Issue
Workaround
When you use the keyboard to view the table properties from the Properties tab, the application loses focus and you can no longer navigate using the keyboard only.
No workaround is available.
When you use the keyboard to select a check box on the Properties tab, the application loses focus and you can no longer navigate using the keyboard only.
No workaround is available.
When the application prompts you for a user ID and password to access data, you cannot navigate to the window using the keyboard only.
No workaround is available.
When you schedule a query, and tab to the Select one or more triggers for this query radio button, the New Time Event does not become enabled. You cannot schedule a new query using only the keyboard.
No workaround is available.
When you schedule a query, you cannot tab to the radio buttons in the Grouping conditions area.
Press the Tab key to move forward to the OK button, and then press Shift+Tab to move backward to the Grouping conditions radio buttons.
When you schedule a query, and specify a new time event, you cannot use the Tab key to access all of the radio buttons.
No workaround is available.
JAWS cannot read the diagram for building queries.
No workaround is available.
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