Section 508 for Software Development Coding Examples

COBOL/CICS

As a developer, you may also work with COBOL/CICS. The COBOL/CICS development approach as it pertains to Section 508 is identical across all provisions.

COBOL/CICS Development and Section 508

Due to the fact that most COBOL/CICS applications are running on terminal emulators and are text-based, these applications are inherently accessible. In a text-based language such as COBOL, there are very few options available to the developer to allow them to add in accessibility support. On these types of legacy systems, the use of keyboard controls and colors, as it relates to Section 508 accessibility concerns, may be controlled through the use of Extended Attributes. Information regarding the use of Extended Attributes is provided in the following pages.

Using Extended Attributes
The current COBOL/CICS accessibility options include keyboard controls and colors. Let's take a look at each.

Keyboard Controls—Keyboard controls are implemented primarily to provide shortcuts for application functions. Navigation is controlled via the application and is generally straightforward (i.e. via the Tab key, normally navigation is from left to right and top to bottom of the screen).

Highlighting and Color—Intensity can be either normal or bright and colors can be blue, white, green, or red. With extended color, a developer can specify blue, red, pink, green, turquoise, yellow, or white for a field. In addition to intensity, extended highlighting provides three ways to highlight data (i.e. blinking, reverse video, and underlining). The extended color and highlighting options are included in the Common User Access (CUA) guidelines¹ for creating easy-to-use screens.

Although the use of the extended attributes can provide an application with additional features that conform to Section 508, extended attributes work only if the terminal accepts the extended attributes (which is not always the case). The developer must check the extent to which the current terminal accepts extended attributes.

¹ Common User Access SAA (System Application Architecture) specifications for user interfaces, including character-based formats of 3270 terminals. It is intended to provide a consistent look and feel across platforms and between applications.

Techniques
Using the extended attributes involves two assembler commands and three basic mapping support (BMS) macros. The three macros required are:

• DFHMSD — provides values that apply to the entire mapset.
• DFHMDI — provides values that apply to one mapset.
• DFHMDF — for each screen field provides position, length, and attributes.

This coding example² shows how to provide for extended color and highlight attributes in both the physical and symbolic mapsets, which, through the use of BMS, define the screens used by the COBOL program and manage terminal input and output.

TTRSET1 DFHMSD TYPE=&SYSPARM,
			LANG=COBOL,
			MODE=INOUT,
			TERM=3270-2,
			CTRL=FREEKB,
			STORAGE=AUTO,
			TIOAPFX=YES,
			DSATTS=(COLOR,HILIGHT),
			MAPATTS=(COLOR,HILIGHT)

DSATTS specifies which extended attributes are supported in the symbolic maps; MAPATTS, which are supported in the physical map. In the example, both color and highlighting extended attributes will be supported by programs using this map set. In this code, DSATTS and MAPATTS apply to a single map.

MNTMAP1 DFHMDI	SIZE(24,80),
			LINE=1,
			COLUMN=1,
			DSATTS=(COLOR,HILIGHT),
			MAPATTS=(COLOR,HILIGHT)

The attribute in the DFHMDF macro for field color can be set to blue, red, pink, green, turquoise, yellow, or white, e.g. COLOR=YELLOW. Also in the DFHMDF, the field highlight attribute can be set to blinking, reverse video, or underlining, e.g., HILIGHT=REVERSE.

² The CICS Programmer’s Desk Reference, Second Edition, Doug Lowe, 1992.