Cognos Author Responsibility
As a Cognos Analytics report author, it is your responsibility to create content that is digitally accessible. For example, this includes prompt pages, dashboards, report output run interactively, and report output delivered via email.
Per Brown’s digital accessibility website, it is also your responsibility to remediate existing content.
For content in a Team content folder that is no longer in use, move it to an Archive sub folder (you may have to create one) or delete it.
The federal regulations provide a narrow exclusion for archived material, meaning it does not have to be made accessible. This refers to content created prior to the effective date of the federal mandate, that is no longer being actively updated, and is no longer being used for active university courses, programs, or services, and is instead maintained exclusively for reference or research.
(source: Brown Digital Accessibility FAQs)
Cognos Accessibility Resources
Use these resources to create accessible reports and remediate existing reports.
IBM Cognos Analytics Accessibility Guide | IBM online documentation
IBM Cognos Analytics Version 12.1.x: Accessibility Guide | PDF
Sample accessible report
In Cognos Analytics, search Team content for the report Employee Satisfaction. The report output was designed by IBM specifically to be the "gold standard" for accessibility. Open it in Edit mode and look at its properties to see how they handled the charts and tables. This report does not include a prompt page.Cognos Accessibility Guide | Purdue University
Web Accessibility Training
Brown University Web Accessibility Training | 11 minutes
This general accessibility training applies to content consumed through a web browser, which applies to the Cognos Analytics application itself and content created in the application, such as reports.
Web Accessibility Testing Tools
The OIT Business Intelligence Team has identified a few testing tools that you may find helpful. We are not yet familiar enough with any to formally endorse them; we’ll update this article as we learn more. We welcome your feedback on how they work for you.
Accessibility checkers (web browser extensions)
- WAVE—
WAVE can identify many accessibility and Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) errors. A noteworthy feature includes a high contrast color picker tool. - IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker—
This checks accessibility on a web page. It scans the page and visually shows the screen reader tab order and flags accessibility issues.
Screen readers
- Windows Narrator
To enable: Ctrl + Windows key + Enter - JAWS Screen Reader Software | Enabling Digital Accessibility for Blind Users
The free version allows you to use the software for 40 minutes at a time. After 40 minutes you’ll need to restart your computer to begin another session.
Color testing
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