Lotus Notes checklist

This checkpoint only applies to Lotus Notes applications viewed through the Notes client.

Note: Applications that support both the Notes client interface and the Web interface must complete both the Web checklist and the Lotus Notes checklist. When completing the Web checklist, related techniques and examples for Domino developers are found in Web checkpoint 1.3d – Forms.

Many applications provide action buttons or navigator links to enable users to create new documents. Someone using the keyboard cannot access navigator links. Action buttons are difficult to access through the keyboard for someone who is accessing the database for the first time, or someone who does not use the database frequently. By including forms in the Create menu or Actions menu, users can easily access them through the keyboard or with a screen reader. Forms that are not used to create documents by end users do not need to be in the Create or Actions menu. Forms that are only used on the Web and not the Notes client may be hidden. Those hidden forms also do not need to be in the Create menu.

One or more of the following techniques are required to meet Checkpoint 5.1 from the Lotus Notes Application Accessibility Checklist:

Forms that are used by end users to create documents must be included in the Create or Actions menu. Hidden forms do not need to be in the Create menu.

1. To add a form to the Create menu:
• Select the form and open the Form Properties box.
• Select the option "Include in menu" and select Create Menu as the menu where the form will be included. The Create menu sorts form names in alphabetical order. If you want the form to appear in a different order you can number the forms. To display the most frequently used form at the top, precede the form name with a number. For example, to display the memo form first in the Create menu list, name the form "1.Memo".
2. To add a form to the Action menu:
• Identify the view(s) where users need to create new documents using the form.
• Open that View in design mode and choose Create-Action.
• In the Actions Properties box, enter a name for the action in the Title field. The name should be descriptive of the task like "Create Badge Request".
• Select the option "Include in Action menu". In the formula window, enter the formula to create the new document.

The techniques above are required; the following technique is recommended to enhance accessibility:

1. If the application has multiple forms starting with the same letter, Notes will assign a default shortcut key using the first letter not already in use by another form. To ensure the shortcut key to access the form is meaningful, you can change the name of the form or force the use of a specific key. To force the use of a specific key, select the action and open the Action Properties box. In the Name field, type an underscore before the letter you want to use as the shortcut. For example, to make V the shortcut key for the Interview form enter "Inter_view" in the Name field.

Test the application to ensure that it complies with accessibility requirements.

Tools

No tools are required to test this checkpoint.

Techniques