CGI Federal is committed to ensuring that Vendor Self Service (VSS) is accessible to people with disabilities and strives to meet or exceed the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended in 2018.
VSS officially supports Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge (Chromium based), and Mozilla Firefox.
In order for VSS to work properly, your web browser must be configured to allow JavaScript. JavaScript is allowed by default in all major web browsers so it is unlikely that you will encounter this issue unless you have intentionally turned it off. If you do have JavaScript disabled, then a message will display at the top of the page letting you know that you will need to enable it and refresh the page in order for VSS to work properly.
VSS officially supports Microsoft Windows 10 and most accessibility features provided by the operating system such as high contrast themes for users with low vision and color filters for users with color deficiencies. Currently, VSS is evaluated for accessibility using Microsoft Windows 10. For documentation and guidance on the available accessibility features Windows has to offer, refer to the Accessibility in Accessibility in Microsoft Products page and select your operating system.
VSS is evaluated for screen reader support using the latest versions of JAWS and NVDA paired with the latest version of Google Chrome, as well as the latest version of NVDA paired with the latest version of Mozilla Firefox, both while using Microsoft Windows 10.
The accessibility of both browser and screen reader software continues to improve over time and, barring any new problems introduced with newer versions, it is typically recommended that newer versions are used for a more optimal experience.
For guidance on how to use the JAWS and NVDA screen readers, including a comprehensive list of keystrokes, refer to the JAWS support documentation and NVDA user guide.
The Settings page in VSS offers a variety of user preferences that can be specified for your account. It is important to note that some of these settings will negatively impact the accessibility of the system and below you will find recommendations to ensure the most accessible user experience.
Keep the “Enable Expert User Tabbing” setting unchecked. Enabling this setting changes the tab order of each page and may cause confusion if you navigate using a keyboard.
Keep the “Enable Auto Tabbing” setting unchecked. Enabling this setting will automatically move focus to the next element on the page when you reach the character limit of a field you are typing in.
Check the “Enable Section Links” setting. Enabling this setting will provide a “Jump to Section” field at the top of pages with sections, allowing keyboard users to easily move focus to each section.
Check the "Enable Help Information" setting. When enabled, it will display several pieces of information throughout the application that offer more context such as a character counter for text area fields and, for screen readers, a live region will announce this information when you focus the field along with additional announcements upon reaching the 50%, 75%, and 100% milestones.
VSS has the option to modify the font size on the Settings page, which gets saved and associated with your account. This is the officially supported method of resizing text in VSS.
This setting is not applied outside of the system where you are not logged in and, in those instances, browser zoom may be used to increase the size of text as needed.
VSS was designed with consideration for both accessibility and usability. It accounts for things such as keyboard users needing to track their focus and perform all actions using a keyboard, screen reader users needing alternative text for images and properly defined section headings for navigation, and vision-impaired users needing appropriate contrast between elements on the page in order to read and distinguish the information. In addition to following these types of basic accessibility principles, VSS provides some additional features such as the following:
Pages throughout the application follow a consistent structure that allow easy navigation and location of information.
A “Skip to Main Content” link is provided on every page to easily jump to the main content. This link is the first element on every page and is visually hidden until it receives keyboard focus. Refer to the Focus Management section of this page for more information.
A “Go to top of Main Content” link is provided at the bottom of the main content area on every page to easily allow keyboard users to return to the beginning of the section. Refer to the Focus Management section of this page for more information.
A custom focus indicator is provided to more prominently show which element currently has keyboard focus.
A red asterisk is placed next to certain fields to denote they are required. To avoid confusion, this can only be done on pages where there is a single task that can be completed. Pages containing multiple tasks do not have their corresponding required fields denoted because we do not know which task you intend to perform when visiting the page and denoting required fields for other tasks creates more confusion than helpfulness.
VSS supports the ability to lock or group columns in data tables through a menu exposed by right clicking on the column header. Keyboard users can access this functionality by moving keyboard focus to a column header and using the keyboard to perform a right click action, which is handled a few different ways depending on the keyboard. Full size keyboards often have a dedicated key that performs this action and is typically located between the right Alt and right Ctrl keys. Other keyboards that do not have a dedicated key typically perform this action by holding the Shift key and then pressing the F10 key. Condensed keyboards such as laptop keyboards use the same Shift + F10 shortcut, but may also require use of the function (Fn) key.
Keyboard operability and navigability has been provided for data tables that allow certain cells to be edited. Refer to the Editing Content in Data Tables Using a Keyboard section of this page for more information.
Modal dialogs contain a focusable body that permits the use of the Up and Down Arrow keys to scroll the dialog. This is necessary for viewing long content in modal dialogs where there are no focusable elements and a vertical scrollbar is present.
The preferred format for date fields is announced to screen reader users when a date field is focused. This formatting guidance will also appear for sighted users when the Enable Information Help setting is checked on the user's Settings page. The formatting guidance is visually displayed above the date entry field when the field receives focus.
VSS utilizes access keys to benefit keyboard users as well as power users. Access keys function pretty consistently across browsers; however, there is a known issue where Google Chrome will allow you to trigger the access key of a control that is not currently displayed on the page, which can be confusing.
An Auto-complete feature can be enabled on the Settings page to assist with data entry for reference backed fields. The auto-complete dialog will pop up automatically as you type if the "Enabled" setting is used and will require a key press if you use the "User-Initiated" setting. In both cases, keyboard and screen reader users will need to press the Down Arrow key while focusing the field to move the keyboard focus inside of the dialog. Additional instructions and feedback are provided on these fields for screen reader users.
VSS is an application heavily used for providing data input through its various workflows. As such, we made the decision in an effort to improve productivity by strategically placing visual and programmatic keyboard focus on a particular element when a page is loaded instead of placing it at the very top of the page. While the primary goal was focused on productivity, consideration for keyboard and screen reader users were both factored into this logic. In addition to the scenario of on page load, both the Skip to Main Content and Go to Top of Main Content links follow this logic to move visual and programmatic keyboard focus.
The logical hierarchy for determining programmatic focus is as follows:
If new server messages (errors, warnings, or information messages) appear when a page is loaded, then focus is set to the System Messages heading so that you are aware of these messages.
Failing the previous criteria, the application focuses the level 1 heading at the top of the page.
If you would like to opt out of this logic and utilize a traditional focus placement on page load, then you can navigate to the Settings page and enable the “Start at Top of Page” setting.
Some data tables in VSS may contain rows with editable cells. For pointer-based input devices such as mouse and touch, the values can provided or edited by clicking or touching the cell. Keyboard users (both sighted and non-sighted), on the other hand, need to use a particular set of keyboard commands.
To edit the cells of a particular row:
Set focus to the checkbox or radio button that appears in the first column of the table.
Hold down the Shift key and then press the Right Arrow key on your keyboard. This will move your focus away from the radio button/checkbox and place it on the first editable field in that row.
Once you are on that first editable field, you can use the Tab key to navigate to the next editable field in the row and Shift + Tab to navigate to the previous editable field in the row.
Once you are done editing fields in that row, hold the Shift key and then press the Left Arrow key on your keyboard to return focus to the radio button/checkbox in the first column of the row.
Notes:
There is a known issue that pressing Shift + Left Arrow while focus is placed on a combobox control does not return focus to the radio button/checkbox in the first column of the row. The workaround is to Tab to a different type of control within the row and then press Shift + Left Arrow to exit from that field instead.
The NVDA screen reader requires the Alt key to be held down in addition to Shift when navigating between the radio button/checkbox in the first column and the editable fields in the row.
Screen readers need to be in Forms Mode in order for the Shift + Right Arrow and Shift + Left Arrow commands to work properly.
Selecting a checkbox in a data table using the NVDA screen reader requires being in Forms Mode, which can be triggered using Insert + Spacebar.
Tree grids in VSS are navigated using the Tab key to move to a focusable icon button for each row. Expandable nodes are indicated by a traditional plus/minus icon set along with the proper ARIA markup for screen readers. End nodes are indicated by a leaf icon. While either of these icon buttons are focused, pressing the Spacebar key will select that row in the tree grid. When the expandable icon buttons are focused, pressing the Enter key will toggle the expand and collapse state.
Note: If you are using a screen reader, then you will need to be in Forms Mode in order for these keyboard commands to work.
Many fields throughout VSS require a date as input. These date fields display formatting guidance when they receive keyboard focus and are also accompanied by a calendar icon button that displays a date picker dialog.
Date picker dialog keyboard interaction:
Left Arrow: Moves focus to the previous day of the month. If focus is on the first day of the month, the view will change and focus the last day of the previous month.
Right Arrow: Moves focus to the next day of the month. If focus is on the last day of the month, the view will change and focus the first day of the next month.
Up Arrow: Moves focus to the same day of the week for the previous week. If the day of the week for the previous week is in the previous month, the view will change to the previous month.
Down Arrow: Move focus to the same day of the week for the next week. If the day of the week for the next week is in the next month, the view will change to the next month.
Ctrl + Down Arrow OR Ctrl + Right Arrow: The view changes to the next year while retaining focus on the same month and day.
Ctrl + Up Arrow OR Ctrl + Left Arrow: The view changes to the previous year while retaining focus on the same month and day.
Shift + Up Arrow OR Shift + Left Arrow: The view changes to the previous month while retaining focus on the same day of the month.
Shift + Down Arrow OR Shift + Right Arrow: The view changes to the next month while retaining focus on the same day of the month.
Enter: Selects the highlighted date and closes the dialog.
Esc: Closes the dialog without making changes to the corresponding date field.
Notes:
The date picker dialog is not currently accessible by screen readers. The current workaround is for screen reader users to enter a date manually into the field using the provided formatting guidance. The guidance for this workaround is also provided as part of the accessible name of the calendar icon button.
While CGI Federal is committed to ensuring that VSS is accessible to people with disabilities, it is not always possible to do so in all areas of the application. If you cannot access any part of this application, please let us know by contacting us at Momentum.Support@cgifederal.com or by contacting your Momentum software maintenance provider. If applicable, please include the URL of the page and describe the issue you are having.
Last Updated: July 2023
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PROPRIETARY AND CONFIDENTIAL
This commercial computer software is delivered with Restricted Rights to the Government. Use, reproduction, or disclosure is subject to the restrictions set forth in the FAR, DFAR, or other license provisions referenced in the contract. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Companies, names, and data used in examples herein are fictitious unless otherwise noted.
COPYRIGHT
© 1997-2023 CGI Federal Inc. All rights reserved.
The Momentum® software is the copyrighted work of CGI Federal Inc., its related entities and/or its suppliers. Use of the software is governed by the terms of the end user license agreement, if any, which accompanies or is included with the software.
Unless CGI Federal explicitly gives you permission within a license agreement accompanying the software, you may not copy, modify, distribute, display, license, or sell the software or any of its components.
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of CGI Federal.
PATENT
The software is protected by United States Patent Nos. 6,343,279; 6,532,450; and 6,910,021.