Capabilities: Stata Section 508 compliance statement

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended by Congress in the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, requires that electronic and information technology used by Federal agencies be accessible to people with disabilities.

Stata is covered under section 1194.21 (Software Applications and Operating Systems) of Section 508 and is fully compliant with the guidelines set forth in Section 508. This page provides information about Stata’s compliance, including a complete Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) documenting compliance.

All of Stata’s capabilities are accessible to persons with disabilities through Stata’s command line interface and plain ASCII output options. In addition, Stata is interoperable with common assistive technologies for vision-impaired users.

Federal employees or individuals requiring more information on Stata’s Section 508 compliance or with questions about Stata with regard to Section 508, should contact StataCorp’s dedicated Section 508 response center at section508@stata.com.

Summary Table Voluntary Product Accessibility Template
Criteria	Supporting Features	Remarks and explanations
Section 1194.21 Software Applications and Operating Systems	Supported	See section 1194.21 detail table below
Section 1194.22 Web-based internet information and applications	Not Applicable
Section 1194.23 Telecommunications Products	Not Applicable
Section 1194.24 Video and Multimedia Products	Not Applicable
Section 1194.25 Self-Contained, Closed Products	Not Applicable
Section 1194.26 Desktop and Portable Computers	Not Applicable
Section 1194.31 Functional Performance Criteria	Supported	See section 1194.31 detail table below

Section 1194.21 Software Applications and Operating Systems—Detail Voluntary Product Accessibility Template
Criteria	Supporting Features	Remarks and explanations
(a) When software is designed to run on a system that has a keyboard, product functions shall be executable from a keyboard where the function itself or the result of performing a function can be discerned textually.	Supported	All features of Stata are accessible via keyboard input.
(b) Applications shall not disrupt or disable activated features of other products that are identified as accessibility features, where those features are developed and documented according to industry standards. Applications also shall not disrupt or disable activated features of any operating system that are identified as accessibility features where the application programming interface for those accessibility features has been documented by the manufacturer of the operating system and is available to the product developer.	Supported	No features of any other products or operating systems are disrupted or disabled by Stata.
(c) A well-defined on-screen indication of the current focus shall be provided that moves among interactive interface elements as the input focus changes. The focus shall be programmatically exposed so that Assistive Technology can track focus and focus changes.	Supported	Stata supports the industry standard keys for navigation through input focus elements (tab key and shift/tab key). This functionality is available to end users and to Assistive Technology. The standard input focus indication as provided by the operating system is used by Stata and is also available to Assistive Technology. Note that it is not necessary to use interactive interface elements at all to fully access the capabilities of Stata. All functionality is also available via documented commands, which may be typed or otherwise input by a user.
(d) Sufficient information about a user interface element including the identity, operation and state of the element shall be available to Assistive Technology. When an image represents a program element, the information conveyed by the image must also be available in text.	Supported	All information available through icons and graphical user interface elements in Stata is also available as text through a tooltip. Assistive Technology such as a Screen Reader may make this information available through speech synthesization or via a Braille output device. In addition, all functionality provided by graphical user interface elements is also available via documented commands, which may be typed or otherwise input by a user.
(e) When bitmap images are used to identify controls, status indicators, or other programmatic elements, the meaning assigned to those images shall be consistent throughout an application’s performance.	Supported	Bitmap images, such as icons and tool buttons, are used in a completely consistent manner throughout Stata.
(f) Textual information shall be provided through operating system functions for displaying text. The minimum information that shall be made available is text content, text input caret location, and text attributes.	Supported	Standard operating system functions are used to output text by Stata. Output is available as plain ASCII text and may easily be accepted by Assistive Technology, such as a Screen Reader. Text input location at the text input caret is set and available using standard operating system functions.
(g) Applications shall not override user selected contrast and color selections and other individual display attributes.	Supported	User-defined settings are fully respected by Stata.
(h) When animation is displayed, the information shall be displayable in at least one non-animated presentation mode at the option of the user.	Not Applicable
(i) Color coding shall not be used as the only means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.	Supported	All output in Stata is available as noncolor-coded plain ASCII text. In addition, visual elements such as tool buttons and icons are also identified with textual tooltips to convey their meaning.
(j) When a product permits a user to adjust color and contrast settings, a variety of color selections capable of producing a range of contrast levels shall be provided.	Supported	Where Stata allows the user to adjust color settings, the full spectrum of colors and contrast settings available through the operating system may be selected.
(k) Software shall not use flashing or blinking text, objects, or other elements having a flash or blink frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz.	Supported	Stata does not use flashing or blinking text at any time.
(l) When electronic forms are used, the form shall allow people using Assistive Technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues.	Supported	It is not necessary to use electronic forms to access the full functionality of Stata. All features of Stata are accessible through command-line keyboard input. If a user desires to use an electronic form anyway, Assistive Technology is fully supported, and standard operating system features are used to allow the completion and submission of the form and field elements.

Section 1194.31 Functional Performance Criteria - Detail Voluntary Product Accessibility Template
Criteria	Supporting Features	Remarks and explanations
(a) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user vision shall be provided, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are blind or visually impaired shall be provided.	Supported	All features may be accessed by text input, and all results may be accessed as plain ASCII text. Assistive Technology can allow visually impaired people to submit commands via voice input or other means and can allow plain text results to be presented via speech synthesis or a Braille display.
(b) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require visual acuity greater than 20/70 shall be provided in audio and enlarged print output working together or independently, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are visually impaired shall be provided.	Supported	Using standard operating system features, enlarged print output is available in Stata. In addition, support for Assistive Technology is provided to allow users with visual acuity less than 20/70 to submit commands and retrieve results.
(c) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user hearing shall be provided, or support for Assistive Technology used by people who are deaf or hard of hearing shall be provided	Not Applicable	Stata produces no sounds, and hearing is not necessary to use Stata.
(d) Where audio information is important for the use of a product, at least one mode of operation and information retrieval shall be provided in an enhanced auditory fashion, or support for assistive hearing devices shall be provided.	Not Applicable	Stata produces no sounds, and hearing is not necessary to use Stata.
(e) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require user speech shall be provided, or support for Assistive Technology used by people with disabilities shall be provided.	Supported	All features of Stata may be accessed via keyboard text input. User speech is not required to access the full functionality of Stata.
(f) At least one mode of operation and information retrieval that does not require fine motor control or simultaneous actions and that is operable with limited reach and strength shall be provided.	Supported	Stata interoperates with Assistive Technology to allow input of commands and retrieval of results via such methods as speech synthesis, speech interpretation, and any other Assistive Technology method that may submit plain text commands and present plain text results.