DARS Web Site Accessibility Policy

The Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services is committed to making this Web site accessible to all users, regardless of physical status, cognitive ability, or technology. We strive to meet this goal by conformance to W3C accessibility guidelines and through testing and validation efforts.

Accessibility Guideline Conformance

DARS complies with the HHS Accessibility Policy which can be found on the HHS Accessiblity Center Web site.

DARS Accessibility Coordinator Contact Information:
Mike Moore
(512) 424-4159
accessibility@dars.state.tx.us

Accessibility Features

We have included several features designed to improve accessibility for users with disabilities. In particular, we strive to:

  • Include descriptive text equivalents for images and other non-text elements.
  • Make hyperlink text meaningful and descriptive.
  • Identify table row and column headers for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or columns.
  • Design style sheets to allow the resizing of text by web browsers that support this feature. Also, to ensure that web pages are readable without the associated style sheet.

Portable Document Format (PDF) Publications

Publications on the DARS website are generally available in HTML format. Major reports and other special publications may be published using Adobe® Portable Document Format (PDF). When posting PDF files, we provide a link to an HTML conversion of the PDF document from the Adobe Systems Incorporated Web site. Please refer to Adobe's Web site for further information on tools enabling access to PDF files for the visually impaired.

Validation of Standards

To improve the accessibility of our Web site, we test individual pages with screen readers and other Web tools. Tools used include:

  • W3C HTML Validation Service
  • W3C CSS Validation Service
  • Web Design Group WDG HTML Validator
  • Watchfire® Bobby™ 5.0 Accessibility Validator
  • JAWS Screen Reader
  • ZoomText Screen Magnifier
  • Various versions of different Web browsers

User Comments

We welcome your comments on how to improve the Web site’s accessibility. If you use assistive technology and the format of any material on our Web site interferes with your ability to access the information, please contact us at webmaster@dars.state.tx.us for assistance. To enable us to respond in a manner most helpful to you, please indicate the nature of your accessibility problem, the preferred format in which to receive the material, the web address of the requested material, and your contact information.

Additional information about accessibility programs in Texas is available from the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities at www.governor.state.tx.us/disabilities/.