The default Ares web pages and the Ares web DLL were updated in Ares v4.6 to comply with Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 (level AA) guidelines for accessibility. These changes span the Ares web pages, their CSS style sheets, and some of the elements generated by the web DLL.
General Changes
- The page titles were updated to better reflect the content of the page.
- A "Skip to Main Content" link was added to the top of each page.
- Many bold elements (<b>), which define a style, have been replaced with strong elements (<strong>), which have a semantic meaning.
- Different page sections have been annotated with the appropriate aria role.
- Links on the pages no longer open in a new tab or window.
- Heading elements were added and changed to provide a more structured document.
- The color used to style some elements has been changed to conform to contrast requirements.
- Aural notifications have been added when javascript makes dynamic changes to a page's content.
Ares DLL Change
- The way the web DLL generates tables has changed. Tables no longer allow row clicks, and specific links in the left-most "action" column must be clicked in order to perform any actions.
Tag Changes
- The OPTION tag has been updated for situations where an element does not have a selected option. In these cases, an option reading "Choose an Option" will be added. See Ares OPTION Tag for more information.
- The new "NotEmpty" attribute can be used with the #CONDITIONAL Tag. See Ares CONDITIONAL Tag for more information.
Component Changes
- The chat feature was removed.
- The TinyMCE rich text editor was removed and was replaced with the CKEditor for all rich-text edits.