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Chart for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0) and Cynthia Says Validation Functionality

Priority One
W3C WCAG 1.0 Priority 1 Guidelines	Cynthia Says Online handles as Programmatic or Visual	Explanation
Checkpoint 1.1 Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element (e.g., via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). This includes: images, graphical representations of text (including symbols), image map regions, animations (e.g., animated GIFs), applets and programmatic objects, ascii art, frames, scripts, images used as list bullets, spacers, graphical buttons, sounds (played with or without user interaction), stand-alone audio files, audio tracks of video, and video.	Programmatic	Programmatic accessibility compliance verification using Cynthia Says. *The desktop solution, Cynthia Says allows the user to edit the HTML code to make corrections, for files located locally, over a network drive, or over an FTP site.
Checkpoint 1.4 For any time-based multimedia presentation (e.g., a movie or animation), synchronize equivalent alternatives (e.g., captions or auditory descriptions of the visual track) with the presentation.	Programmatic	Ensuring that a time based multimedia presentation is synchronized can only honestly be done visually. Programmatic detection to locate a captioning file does not mean that the file is synchronized with each track of the presentation Cynthia Says will locate the multimedia objects under 508 Rules A and M. *HiSoftware Hi-Caption SE, a desktop software solution, allows for creating and testing of existing of captioned files to make the captioning for your multimedia files or to validate captioning is accurate.
Checkpoint 2.1 Ensure that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup.	Manual	This is visual because some testing requires human interaction. For example, if your page has text that says, “Click on the red button to go to the home page”, a programmatic tool that did not read and comprehend the page the way a human would would falsely pass this failing page. Color can both be associated with images, objects, applets, and with text
Checkpoint 6.1 Organize documents so they may be read without style sheets. For example, when an HTML document is rendered without associated style sheets, it must still be possible to read the document.	Programmatic	This is visual/programmatic because some testing requires human interaction. Whether a document is readable can be opinion and Cynthia Says will indicate if style sheets are used to alert the user to this required visual check.
Checkpoint 1.2 Provide redundant text links for each active region of a server-side image map.	Programmatic	This is a visual/programmatic process because some testing requires human interaction. Cynthia Says will effectively note if the checkpoint is N/A. Cynthia Says identifies all maps and flags for visual verification if no maps are found then the system will mark the checkpoint N/A Locations are cited for IMG or INPUT elements using the “ismap” attribute.
Checkpoint 9.1 Provide client-side image maps instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape.	Programmatic	Cynthia Says can programmatically determine location of Server Side maps or lack there of and programmatically designate if visual review is necessary. Programmatic accessibility
Checkpoint 5.1 For data tables, identify row and column headers.	Programmatic	Cynthia Says can programmatically locate data tables, assist in repair and visual verification.
Checkpoint 5.2 For data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers, use markup to associate data cells and header cells.	Programmatic	Cynthia Says can programmatically locate data tables, assist in repair and visual verification.
Checkpoint 12.1 Title each frame to facilitate frame identification and navigation.	Programmatic	Programmatic accessibility compliance verification using Cynthia Says.
Checkpoint 7.1 Until user agents allow users to control flickering, avoid causing the screen to flicker.	Programmatic	Programmatic accessibility compliance verification using Cynthia Says, including a custom report specifically for locating components of a page that may cause flickering. Users should check objects, applets, etc for customized flickering.
Checkpoint 11.4 If, after best efforts, you cannot create an accessible page, provide a link to an alternative page that uses W3C technologies, is accessible, has equivalent information (or functionality), and is updated as often as the inaccessible (original) page.	Programmatic	This is not configured to be run on the Cynthia Says portal because Text Only pages are to be used only when all other options to make the page accessible fail. Users of the desktop version, Cynthia Says, have the option of configuring this.
Checkpoint 6.3 Ensure that pages are usable when scripts, applets, or other programmatic objects are turned off or not supported. If this is not possible, provide equivalent information on an alternative accessible page.	Programmatic	Programmatic and assisted manual accessibility compliance verification using using Cynthia Says.
Checkpoint 4.1 Clearly identify changes in the natural language of a document's text and any text equivalents (e.g., captions).	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint.
Checkpoint 14.1 Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site's content.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint.
Checkpoint 1.3 Until user agents can automatically read aloud the text equivalent of a visual track, provide an auditory description of the important information of the visual track of a multimedia presentation.	Programmatic	This is a manual checkpoint. *HiSoftware Hi-Caption SE, a desktop software solution, allows for creating and testing of existing of captioned files to make the captioning for your multimedia files or to validate captioning is accurate.
Checkpoint 6.2 Ensure that equivalents for dynamic content are updated when the dynamic content changes.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint.

Priority 2
W3C WCAG 1.0 Priority 2 Guidelines	HiSoftware handles as Programmatic or Visual	Explanation
2.2 Ensure that foreground and background color combinations provide sufficient contrast when viewed by someone having color deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested visually with Cynthia Says.
3.1 When an appropriate markup language exists, use markup rather than images to convey information.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested visually with Cynthia Says.
3.2 Create documents that validate to published formal grammars.	Programmatic - Manual	Identify if a page does not use the !DOCTYPE tag and fail or warn as configured. This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested visually with Cynthia Says.
3.3 Use style sheets to control layout and presentation.	Programmatic	Cynthia Says will note the use of style sheets and the use of bold and italic elements.
3.4 Use relative rather than absolute units in markup language attribute values and style sheet property values.	Programmatic	Cynthia Says points out if a page uses style and the Height or Width attributes in HR, I-FRAME, TABLE, TD, and TH elements
3.5 Use header elements to convey document structure and use them according to specification.	Programmatic	Cynthia Says points out if a page uses H1-H6 elements
3.6 Mark up lists and list items properly.	Programmatic	Cynthia Says points out if a page uses UL/OL/DL elements
3.7 Mark up quotations. Do not use quotation markup for formatting effects such as indentation.	Programmatic	Cynthia Says points out if a page uses QUOTE and BLOCKQUOTE elements
6.5 Ensure that dynamic content is accessible or provide an alternative presentation or page.	Programmatic	refer to 6.3 & 1.1
7.2 Until user agents allow users to control blinking, avoid causing content to blink (i.e., change presentation at a regular rate, such as turning on and off).	Programmatic	refer to 7.1
7.4 Until user agents provide the ability to stop the refresh, do not create periodically auto-refreshing pages.	Programmatic	Verifies that page is in compliance.
7.5 Until user agents provide the ability to stop auto-redirect, do not use markup to redirect pages automatically. Instead, configure the server to perform redirects.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested visually with Cynthia Says.
10.1 Until user agents allow users to turn off spawned windows, do not cause pop-ups or other windows to appear and do not change the current window without informing the user.	Manual- Programmatic	Visual Check, No clear programmatic process to accomplish checkpoint. Programmatically locates suspect Event Handlers
11.1 Use W3C technologies when they are available and appropriate for a task and use the latest versions when supported.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says.
11.2 Avoid deprecated features of W3C technologies.	Programmatic	Identify if a page uses deprecated elements or attributes and fail or ward as configured.
12.3 Divide large blocks of information into more manageable groups where natural and appropriate.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says.
13.1 Clearly identify the target of each link.	Programmatic	Repeated Link Text is shown in the report.
13.2 Provide metadata to add semantic information to pages and sites.	Programmatic	Cynthia Says will test for metadata in the page.
13.3 Provide information about the general layout of a site (e.g., a site map or table of contents).	Programmatic	This is not configured in the Cynthia Says portal because each site could have a different link to the site map. Users of AccVerify Cynthia Says edition can configure this checkpoint to test for their site map.
13.4 Use navigation mechanisms in a consistent manner.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says.
5.3 Do not use tables for layout unless the table makes sense when linearized. Otherwise, if the table does not make sense, provide an alternative equivalent (which may be a linearized version).	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says.
5.4 If a table is used for layout, do not use any structural markup for the purpose of visual formatting.	Manual	refer to 5.3 This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says.
12.2 Describe the purpose of frames and how frames relate to each other if it is not obvious by frame titles alone.	Programmatic	Validates for use of Longdesc attribute within FRAME elements
10.2 Until user agents support explicit associations between labels and form controls, for all form controls with implicitly associated labels, ensure that the label is properly positioned.	Programmatic	Identifies the existence of all label and form elements
12.4 Associate labels explicitly with their controls.	Programmatic	Every non-hidden input element Identifies and validates for explicit label, Text Areas, Select and Object also refer to 6.3
6.4 For scripts and applets, ensure that event handlers are input device-independent.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says. refer to 6.3
7.3 Until user agents allow users to freeze moving content, avoid movement in pages.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says. refer to 7.1
8.1 Make programmatic elements such as scripts and applets directly accessible or compatible with assistive technologies.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says. refer to 6.3
9.2 Ensure that any element that has its own interface can be operated in a device-independent manner.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says. refer to 6.3
9.3 For scripts, specify logical event handlers rather than device-dependent event handlers.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says. refer to 6.3

Priority 3
W3C WCAG 1.0 Priority 3 Guidelines	HiSoftware handles as Programmatic or Visual	Explanation
4.2 Specify the expansion of each abbreviation or acronym in a document where it first occurs.	Programmatic	Program detects if page is using ABBR and Acronym
4.3 Identify the primary natural language of a document.	Programmatic	Program checks for meta name = language and the LANG Attribute in the root HTML Element
9.4 Create a logical tab order through links, form controls, and objects.	Programmatic	Checks for TabIndex Attribute in all anchor, area, button, input, object, select and text area.
9.5 Provide keyboard shortcuts to important links (including those in client-side image maps), form controls, and groups of form controls.	Programmatic	Checks for AccessKey Attribute in all anchor, area, button, input, Label, Legend, and text area.
10.5 Until user agents (including assistive technologies) render adjacent links distinctly, include non-link, printable characters (surrounded by spaces) between adjacent links.	Programmatic	Cynthia Says verifies Compliance to this check and points out errors.
11.3 Provide information so that users may receive documents according to their preferences (e.g., language, content type, etc.)	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says.
13.5 Provide navigation bars to highlight and give access to the navigation mechanism.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says.
13.6 Group related links, identify the group (for user agents), and, until user agents do so, provide a way to bypass the group.	Programmatic	This is not configured in the Cynthia Says portal because each site could have a different link to the site map. Users of AccVerify Cynthia Says edition can configure this checkpoint to test for their site map.
13.7 If search functions are provided, enable different types of searches for different skill levels and preferences.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says.
13.8 Place distinguishing information at the beginning of headings, paragraphs, lists, etc.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says.
13.9 Provide information about document collections (i.e., documents comprising multiple pages.).	Programmatic/Interview	While visual you can accomplish this checkpoint programmatically by requiring a document-group meta tag. Refer to 13.2
13.10 Provide a means to skip over multi-line ASCII art.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says.
14.2 Supplement text with graphic or auditory presentations where they will facilitate comprehension of the page.	Manual	Visual Check, No clear programmatic process to accomplish checkpoint
14.3 Create a style of presentation that is consistent across pages.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says. Refer to 6.1, 3.3, and 3.4
1.5 Until user agents render text equivalents for client-side image map links, provide redundant text links for each active region of a client-side image map	Programmatic	Cynthia Says identifies all map elements that use the area element to note whether or not visual verification is required.
5.5 Provide summaries for tables.	Programmatic	Refer to 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3
5.6 Provide abbreviations for header labels.	Programmatic	Refer to 5.1 and 5.2
10.3 Until user agents (including assistive technologies) render side-by-side text correctly, provide a linear text alternative (on the current page or some other) for all tables that lay out text in parallel, word-wrapped columns.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says. Refer to 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3
10.4 Until user agents handle empty controls correctly, include default, place-holding characters in edit boxes and text areas.	Manual	This is a manual checkpoint that needs to be tested manually with Cynthia Says. Refer to Previous Checkpoints for more information

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