Accessibility Issues in Reporting Services
New: 14 April 2006
Microsoft is committed to making its products and services easier for everyone to use. This topic provides information about accessibility issues that exist in various components of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services.
Report Designer
Report Designer is a collection of design and graphical tools that are used to create reports interactively. To access Report Designer, you must open Business Intelligence Development Studio. You may experience the following accessibility issues when using Report Designer.
Adding Fields to the Report Layout Tables
When using Report Designer in High Contrast mode, fields from the Datasets pane cannot be added to the Report Layout tab by cutting and pasting, or by using the shortcut menu to cut and paste. Instead, to add a field to the Report Layout, use the mouse to drag the field to the report layout. You can also use the shortcut menu to open the Edit Expression dialog box, navigate to the Fields list, double-click the field that you want to add, and then click OK.
Using High Contrast
If you switch to high contrast mode and select any of the High Contrast Black settings while you are working with a table or matrix data region within a report, the table text and titles disappear on the Report Layout tab. To work around this problem, switch to another high contrast color setting, such as High Contrast White, so that the text color is black and the background color is white.
To change the high contrast settings for the text and background colors
Click Start, point to Control Panel, and then click Accessibility Options.
The Accessibility Options dialog box opens.
On the Display tab, click Settings.
The Settings for High Contrast dialog box opens.
In the High contrast appearance scheme area, click the drop-down arrow and then select High Contrast White.
Click OK and then click OK again.
The text changes to black and the background to white, making the text visible in the data regions again.
To clear the high contrast settings
Click Start, point to Control Panel, and then click Accessibility Options.
The Accessibility Options dialog box opens.
On the Display tab, clear the Use High Contrast check box.
Click OK.
The computer display settings revert to the theme and/or scheme that you originally selected.
Accessing Toolbar Buttons on the Preview Tab
The Preview tab toolbar buttons are not accessible using the keyboard when you preview your report in Report Designer. To use these buttons, you must use the mouse to click the button. You can also open the shortcut menu, and then use the arrow keys to select an item from the menu.
Report Manager
Report Manager is a Web-based report access and management tool that is used to administer a single report server instance from a remote location over an HTTP connection. You may experience the following accessibility issues when using Report Manager.
Accessing Toolbar Buttons on the Contents Page
The Contents page and Properties page toolbar buttons are not accessible by pressing TAB or using the arrow keys. To use these toolbar buttons, you must use the mouse to click the button.
Report Builder
Report Builder is an ad hoc reporting tool used to create reports from report models. You may experience the following accessibility issues when using Report Builder.
Accessing Related Roles within the Entities List
After you have added the first model item to the design area of a Report Builder report, a primary entity is identified and all of its related entities, called roles, are listed in a hierarchy. Each role's subsequent related roles are also listed in the Entities pane within the hierarchy. If you try to use the keyboard to move through the list of related roles, only the first related role in the list is accessible; additional related roles disappear from the list. To navigate all the related roles, or to select a role from the list, you must use the mouse.
Moving Fields within the Design Area
Fields added to the table, matrix, or chart section of the design area cannot be subsequently moved by using the keyboard. To rearrange fields in the table, matrix, or chart section of the design area, use the mouse to drag and drop them.
Adding Fields to the Column Groups in a Matrix Report
When you design a matrix report, you can use the keyboard to add fields to the row groups. However, you cannot add fields to the column groups by using the keyboard. To add fields to the column groups, use the mouse to drag and drop them.
Opening the Calendar Control in the Filter Data Dialog Box
If you create a filter that uses the Calendar control, you cannot open the Calendar control by using the keyboard. To specify a date or series of dates, either type the dates that you want to specify, or use the mouse to select a date from the Calendar control.
Using Arrows Keys in the Getting Started Pane
In the Report Builder Getting Started pane, you can press TAB to move between sections in the pane. However, when you press TAB to move to the Report Layout section and then use the up and down arrow keys to change the focus between report layout options, the up and down arrow keys move the focus out of the Report Layout section. There are three report layout options: Table, Matrix, and Chart. If you are using a screen reader, listen for these three options.
Using Arrows Keys in the Group and Sort Dialog Box
In the Group and Sort dialog box, if you use the up and down arrow keys to select a sort option, the focus moves between the Ascending and Descending sort options and the Sort by field name. This behavior makes it easy to accidentally change the field name used to sort. Make sure that you have not inadvertently changed your sort by selection, and press TAB to change the focus back to the Ascending and Descending sort options.
Switching Between Microsoft Report Builder Window and Report Builder Help
When the High Contrast accessibility option is selected and the Report Builder Help window is maximized or restored, the Microsoft Report Builder window is not visible in the task list when pressing ALT+TAB to switch between tasks. To remove focus from the Report Builder Help and focus on the Microsoft Report Builder window, select the Report Builder Help by pressing ALT+TAB, and then minimize Help by pressing ALT+SPRACEBAR+N. The Microsoft Report Builder window is now visible in the task list.
When the High Contrast accessibility option is selected and the Report Builder Help window is maximized or restored, the focus is not changed to the Microsoft Report Builder window even when it is selected from the taskbar. To switch focus to the Microsoft Report Builder window, the Report Builder Help window must be minimized first.
See Also
Other Resources
SQL Server Reporting Services
Report Manager
Report Designer
Report Builder
Designing and Creating Reports
Ad Hoc Reporting with Report Models
Managing and Working With Published Reports