Accessibility features for IBM Business Process Manager

Accessibility features help users who have a physical disability, such as restricted mobility or limited vision, to use information technology products successfully.

Accessibility features

The following list describes major accessibility features in IBM® Business Process Manager. The product supports the following functions:
  • Features for vision-impaired users:
    • Supports interfaces commonly used by screen readers that run on Microsoft Windows.
    • Supports customization of screen magnification.
    • Supports customization of display attributes such as color, contrast, and font size.
    • Can be operated using only the keyboard in most cases.
    • Does not have timed responses in the interface.
    • Communicates information independently of color in most cases.
    • In most cases, fields that require user inputs have associated labels or instructions that are provided through assistive technology.
    • Uses consistent layouts to help navigation.
  • Features for users with mobility impairments or limited hand use:
    • Can be operated using only the keyboard in most cases.
    • Does not have timed responses in the interface.
  • Features for deaf and hard-of-hearing users:
    • Does not have audio features in the interface.
  • Features for cognitively impaired users:
    • Uses consistent layouts to help navigation.
    • In most cases, fields that require user inputs have associated labels or instructions that are provided through assistive technology.
    • Does not have timed responses in the interface.
  • Features for users with photosensitive epilepsy:
    • Allows the user to access the interfaces without inducing seizures that are due to photosensitivity.

The Information Center included with IBM Business Process Manager is accessibility-enabled.

This product uses WAI-ARIA to comply with accessibility checkpoints. WAI-ARIA is supported using Firefox version 3.6 or later and JAWS version 12 or later.

You can request a U.S. Section 508 Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) on the IBM Product accessibility information web page at www.ibm.com/able/product_accessibility.

Keyboard navigation

This product supports standard web browser navigation keys for its web interface and Microsoft Windows navigation keys for its Eclipse rich-client interface and command-line interface.

For information about supported web browsers, see

For information about keyboard navigation with Internet Explorer, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc939835.aspx.

For information about keyboard navigation with Mozilla Firefox, see http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/keyboard-shortcuts-perform-firefox-tasks-quickly?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=Keyboard+shortcuts.

For information about keyboard navigation with Apple Safari, see http://www.apple.com/safari/features.html#accessibility.

For information about keyboard navigation with Google Chrome, see https://support.google.com/chrome/topic/25799?hl=en&ref_topic=14678

Additional keyboard navigation details for specific product features are at these locations:

Interface information

The following are general interface characteristics for installing and administering IBM Business Process Manager:

  • Installation

    You can install IBM Business Process Manager either in graphical or silent form. The silent installation program is recommended for users with accessibility needs.

    For instructions, see Installing IBM Business Process Manager silently on Windows.

  • Administration
    The administrative console is the primary interface for managing applications that are deployed with Process Server. The Process Admin Console is the primary interface for managing Process Servers in your runtime environments and for managing the Process Center server that is part of the Process Center. The Process Center console provides a convenient location for administrators to create and maintain high-level library items, such as process applications and toolkits. All three consoles are displayed within a standard web browser. By using an accessible web browser, such as Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer, administrators are able to:
    • Use screen-reader software and a digital speech synthesizer to hear what is displayed on the screen.
    • Operate most features by using the keyboard instead of the mouse.

You can also configure and administer some of the product features, such as managing the server profile, by using command-line interfaces instead of the graphical interfaces.

Interface characteristics for business analysts and developers

Business analysts and developers can model and implement new business processes, design user interfaces for business processes, and visualize process data, with Process Designer. They can also use the Process Center Console to create and manage process applications and toolkits they created.

For information on how to navigate Process Designer with the keyboard, see Process Designer tips and shortcuts.

For information about keyboard accessibility features for the human services editor in Process Designer, see Keyboard accessibility for client-side human services

Process Designer and Process Center Console have the following limitations:
  • In Process Designer, when you use the Process Designer desktop editor installed on your local computer:
    • Some icons do not display properly in high contrast.
    • In some cases, the visual focus indicator that responds to user input is not available to assistive technology.
    These limitations apply only to the Process Designer desktop editor. They do not apply to the Process Designer web editor. For details about when to use each type of editor, see Where to edit Process Designer artifacts.
  • In Process Center Console:

Interface characteristics for end users

The accessibility features of Process Portal are described in Accessibility in Process Portal.

Starting in IBM Business Process Manager 8.0.1, Coaches are accessible. However, Heritage Coaches are not designed to be accessible.

The distinctions between different types of Coaches are described at Difference between coaches and heritage coaches.

For Coaches and Coach Views, the following accessibility notes apply:
  • When you are using JAWS to read the Date Time Picker control and you use Ctrl+Page Up or Ctrl+Page Down to change the year in the calendar, JAWS does not announce this change. However, when you complete setting the date, JAWS announces the date, which includes the updated year. This behavior is part of the underlying technology for the Date Time Picker. For more information, see "Screen Reader Issues" at http://dojotoolkit.org/reference-guide/1.7/dijit/Calendar.html#dijit-calendar.
  • When you are using JAWS to set the time in the On Click Date Time Picker, JAWS announces the following instructions: To set the value use the arrow key or type the value. JAWS users should type the time value and ignore the instructions to use the arrow keys. JAWS does not announce changes when you use the arrow keys. This behavior is part of the underlying technology for the On Click Date Time Picker. For more information, see "Accessibility" at http://dojotoolkit.org/reference-guide/1.7/dijit/Calendar.html#dijit-calendar.

Vendor software

This product includes certain third-party software not covered under the IBM license agreement. IBM makes no representation about status of these products regarding the Section 508 of the U.S. Federal Rehabilitation. Contact the vendor for information about the Section 508 status of its products.

Information Center

The information center included with IBM Business Process Manager is accessibility-enabled. The information center includes the following additional features to aid accessibility:

  • The documentation is available in HTML formats to help users apply screen-reader software technology.
  • Images in the documentation are provided with alternative text so that users with vision impairments can use the contents of the images.

IBM and accessibility

See the IBM Accessibility Center for more information about the commitment that IBM has to accessibility.

Parent topic: Reference information for IBM Business Process Manager