Guidelines

Checklist for Software Operating Systems

P:	Physical impairments	no significant problems
SP:	Severe physical impairments	minor problems
V:	Impaired vision (inc. colour blindness)	moderate problems
B:	Blind persons	severe problems
H:	Slight to moderate hearing impairments
D:	Deaf (persons with profound to severe hearing impairments)
C:	Cognitive impairments
O:	Other (inc. left handed, different language, ...)

	Impairment Type
	P	SP	V	B	H	D	C	O
Assistive Technologies
Is there the possibility to emulate the keyboard and/or the mouse using a Morse-like button?
Can voice recognition be used to control the operating system?
Can the accessibility features be easily turned on and off?
Do the operating system provide services for the applications to be accessible?
Can the user select input/output devices?
Can the user switch input/output alternatives?
Can the user perform the task effectively with any single input device?
Do the operating system provide user preference profiles?
Do the operating system inform the user of accessibility feature on/off status?
Do the operating system provide navigation to task appropriate groups of controls?
Do the operating system retain input focus?
Keyboard access
Are all the operating system functions (including navigation) accessible by keyboard?
Is there the possibility to use a mouse-controlled keyboard simulator?
Do the operating system provide well documented accelerator keys?
Is there a sequential alternative to simultaneous keyboard action?
Can the state of control keys (Shift, Alt, ...) be locked?
Can the operating system provide visual and audible notification about toggle key status?
Can the key repeat rate be customised and/or turned of?
Can the delay before key acceptance be customised?
Can a delay for keystroke rejection time be customised?
Can same key double-strike acceptance be customised?
Can the post-keypress delay of repeat onset be customised?
Can the keyboard functions be re-mapped?
Is the keyboard map protected from changes without user control?
Are accessibility key-mappings reserved?
Is keyboard navigation separate form keyboard activation?
Is there a method for distinguishing macro input from keyboard Input?
Pointing Devices
Is there the possibility of using a keyboard-based mouse emulator?
Is the direction of mouse movement customisable?
Is the speed of pointer movement customisable?
Are there alternatives for speeding up pointer movement?
Can a delay of pointer button press acceptance be defined?
Is the multiple-click interval and target area customisable?
Is the location of pointing device button functions adjustable?
Is there the possibility to enable button hold with a single button press and release?
Is there the possibility to enable multiple clicks with single key press and release?
Can a delay of pointer movement acceptance after mouse down be defined?
Are there alternatives to chorded pointer-key presses?
Object Information
Is there a well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus?
Is semantic information about user interface objects provided?
Are labels associated with controls, objects, icons and images?
If electronic forms are used, is people using assistive technologies allowed to use the forms?
Is the system menu and window navigation circular?
Does the OS provide text or sign language - and fingerspelling - based help systems?
Is event notification available to assistive technologies?
Are object attributes available to assistive technologies?
Are implicit designators (underlined letters in menus, buttons, ...) provided?
Sounds and Multimedia
Does the speech output take place immediately after the event that generated it occurs?
Are there functions that offer the possibility of sending any text information to speech output?
Is there the possibility of adjusting the sound frequency of audio warnings?
Can auditory warnings of alerts be provided in visual form?
Are there accessible alternatives to significant audio and video?
Is there an option to adjust the sound volume?
Display
Is textual information provided through operating system functions for displaying text?
Is there an option to display animation in a non-animated presentation mode?
Are there alternatives to the use of colour as the sole source of information?
Are there colour configuration schemas designed for people who have visual impairments?
Has every displayed text the possibility of having a cursor to navigate the text?
Is it possible to switch working windows using the keyboard?
Is it possible to adjust the size and position of the icons and other objects displayed by the operating system?
Do all icons have an attached text label, and can the user chose to display the label only?
In forms, are component labels placed on the left and horizontally aligned with the first line of the corresponding component?
Is it possible to adjust the size and position of the windows on the screen?
Are there options to minimise, maximise and close windows?
Does the operating system support settings for high contrast for all user interface controls and client area content?
Do the operating system windows inherit system settings for font, size, and colour for all user interface controls?
Can the fonts be customised to obtain better legibility?
Is the scale and layout of objects adjusted when font size changes?
Does the system provide access to information displayed in "virtual" screen regions?
Does the system allow "always on top" windows?
Does the system provide user control of multiple "always