Base SAS 9.4: Accessibility Features

Overview

Base SAS 9.4 has been tested against the accessibility standards for electronic information technology that were adopted by the U.S. Government under Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (2008 draft proposal initiative update). It was also tested against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 levels A and AA, part of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C). For detailed information about the accessibility of this product, send email to accessibility@sas.com or call SAS Technical Support.

Documentation Format

If you need this documentation in an alternative format, contact accessibility@sas.com.

User Interface Layout

The SAS windowing environment consists of windows that enable you to accomplish specific tasks. The windowing environment includes the following windows:

Program Editor

enables you to enter, edit, and submit SAS programs.

Enhanced Program Editor

enables you to enter, edit, and submit SAS programs. The Enhanced Program Editor provides several useful editing features such as the following:

color coding and syntax checking of the SAS language
expandable and collapsible sections
recordable macros
support for keyboard shortcuts (Alt or Shift + keystroke)
multilevel undo and redo

Log

displays messages about your SAS session and any SAS programs that you submit.

Output

enables you to browse output from SAS programs that you submit.

By default, the Output window is positioned behind the other windows. When you create output, the Output window automatically moves to the front of your display.

Results

helps you navigate and manage SAS programs that you submit. You can view, save, or print individual items of output.

By default, the Results window is positioned behind the Explorer window and is empty until you submit a SAS program that creates output. Then the window moves to the front of your display.

Explorer

enables you to view and manage your SAS files, and create shortcuts to files that were not created in SAS.

Use this window to create new libraries and SAS files, to open any SAS file, and to perform most file management tasks such as moving, copying, and deleting files.

For more information about the SAS windowing environment, select HelpSAS Help and Documentation.

Tips for Users with Visual Impairment or Blindness

For a better experience using our products with assistive technologies on Microsoft Windows, we recommend that you use the latest version of the JAWS screen reader.

The Base SAS 9.4 windowing environment is a Graphical User Interface that enables SAS programmers to write SAS programs that analyze data, run those programs, and view the output. The windowing environment supports many accessibility features. However, the accessibility of the output that is created by your SAS programs is beyond the scope of this document. See Creating Accessible SAS Output Using ODS and ODS Graphics for information about creating accessible output.

Users with visual impairments or blindness might greatly benefit from creating output that contains accessible graphs that are compatible with SAS Graphics Accelerator: User’s Guide. SAS Graphics Accelerator enables users to interactively explore compatible graphs using sound. It also generates a text description of graphs and enables users to access the data that was used to create the graph in a tabular format.

The Enhanced Editor in the SAS windowing environment enables users with visual impairments to select a font and its size, change screen colors, and so on. Changing the values of the options might improve usability for users with visual impairments. Select ViewEnhanced Editor to open the Enhanced Editor.

To set option values:

Select ToolsOptionsEnhanced Editor to open the Enhanced Editor Options dialog box.
Select the Appearance tab to set option values.

Users with visual impairments might benefit from using a screen resolution that provides a higher contrast.

To select the HighContrast or HighContrastLarge styles:

Select ToolsOptionsPreferencesResults.
Select HighContrast or HighContrastLarge from the Style drop-down list.

Users with blindness might benefit from using the Chrome browser and the Daisy HTML destination to access output results.

To specify the Chrome browser or Daisy HTML destination:

Select ToolsOptionsPreferencesResults.
Select Chrome from the View results using: drop-down list.
Select Daisy from the Style drop-down list.

To enable JAWS to read the SAS log:

Select ToolsOptionsPreferencesAdvanced.
Clear the Hide cursor in non-input windows check box.

SAS 9.4M6 has new accessibility options that provide several benefits for users with visual impairments or blindness. Here are brief summaries of the options:

The ACCESSIBLECHECK option checks your SAS programs for common violations of accessibility standards and writes messages to the SAS log if violations are found.
The ACCESSIBLEGRAPH option enables the ACCESSIBLE_GRAPH option in the ODS HTML5 destination by default.
The ACCESSIBLEPDF option enables the ACCESSIBLE option in the ODS PDF destination by default.
The ACCESSIBLETABLE option makes table captions visible and changes the layout of some tables to make them accessible.

For more information about these options, see Accessibility System Options.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows

Default Keyboard Shortcuts for SAS under Windows

Use these keyboard shortcuts with SAS on the Windows operating system.

Default Keyboard Shortcuts for SAS under Windows
Keyboard Shortcut	Definition
F1	Help
F2	Reshow
F3	End
F4	Recall
F5	wpgm
F6	Log
F7	Output
F8	Zoom off; Submit
F9	Keys
F11	Command focus
Shift + F1	Subtop
Shift + F7	Left
Shift + F8	Right
Shift + F10	wpopup
Ctrl + B	LIBNAME
Ctrl + D	Dir
Ctrl + E	Clear
Ctrl + H	Help
Ctrl + I	Options
Ctrl + K	Cut (Program Editor only)
Ctrl + L	Log
Ctrl + M	Mark
Ctrl + Q	Filename
Ctrl + R	rfind
Ctrl + T	Title
Ctrl + U	Unmark
Ctrl + W	Access (Explorer)
RMB	wpopup

Note: RMB is the right mouse button.

Keyboard Shortcuts within the SAS Main Menu

The keys that are listed here are not listed in the KEYS window. You might find these keys to be useful as shortcuts for editing and other tasks.

Keyboard Shortcuts within the SAS Main Menu
Category	Keyboard Shortcut	Action
Dialog Boxes and Entry Fields	Tab	move to next field
	Shift + Tab	move to previous field
Navigate around Text	Ctrl + Right Arrow	move to next word
	Ctrl + Left Arrow	move to previous word
	Home	move to beginning of line
	End	move to end of line
	Ctrl + Home	move to top
	Ctrl + End	move to bottom
	Page Up	page up
	Page Down	page down
	Ctrl + Page Up	move to top
	Ctrl + Page Down	move to bottom
	Ctrl + Tab	navigate to the next open SAS window (NEXTWIND command)
	Ctrl + Shift + Tab	navigate to the previous open SAS window (PREVWIND command)
Mark Text	Shift + Right Arrow	mark while going to the right
	Shift + Left Arrow	mark while going to the left
	Shift + Home	mark to beginning of line
	Shift + End	mark to end of line
	Shift + Ctrl + Home	mark to top
	Shift + Ctrl + End	mark to bottom
	Shift + Page Up	page up and mark
	Shift + Page Down	page down and mark
	Shift + Ctrl + Page Up	mark to top
	Shift + Ctrl + Page Down	mark to bottom
	Shift + MB1	extend the current marked text selection to the click position
Cut, Copy, and Paste	Delete	delete the next character (or marked text)
	Ctrl + Delete	delete from the insertion point position to the end of the current word
	Ctrl + Backspace	delete from the insertion point position to the start of the current word
	Ctrl + MB1	select the entire line (clicked line)
	Ctrl + Z	undo previous action
	Ctrl + X	cut the selected text
	Ctrl + C	copy selected text to paste buffer
	Ctrl + V	paste text
Window Control	Alt	switch focus to or from the main menu bar
	Shift + 10	open pop-up menu
	Shift + F5	cascade the windows
	Shift + F4	tile the windows vertically
	Shift + F3	tile the windows horizontally
	Ctrl + F6	next window
	Alt + F4	exit SAS
	Ctrl + F4	close the active window
	Ctrl + W	access new SAS Explorer window
Resizing the Docking View	Alt + W + S	start docking view resizing
	Right Arrow	move the split bar a small amount to the right
	Left Arrow	move the split bar a small amount to the left
	Ctrl + Right Arrow	move the split bar a larger amount to the right
	Ctrl + Left Arrow	move the split bar a larger amount to the left
	Home	move the split bar all the way to the left
	End	move the split bar all the way to the right
	Return	accept the current size of the docking view and exit docking view resizing
	Esc	end docking view resizing without resizing the docking view
Miscellaneous	Alt + Enter	open the Properties dialog box for a selected object This command is valid only in a Tree view or a List view.
	Esc + Letter (or Number)	the color or highlighting attributes in the NOTEPAD window

Note: MB1 is the left mouse button.

Default Keyboard Shortcuts for the Enhanced Editor

The following table contains the default keyboard shortcuts for the Enhanced Editor.

Default Keyboard Shortcuts for the Enhanced Editor
Category	Keyboard Shortcut	Action
Abbreviation	Ctrl + Shift A	add a new abbreviation
	Alt + F1 + No Selection	bring up word tip
	Esc	hide the current word tip
Code Collapsing	Alt + Ctrl + Number pad -	collapse all tiered blocks
	Alt + Number pad -	collapse current line
	Alt + Ctrl + Number pad +	expand all tiered blocks
	Alt + Number pad +	expand current line
	Alt + Number pad *	toggle expand current line
Command and Macro Support	Ctrl + Shift + M	add or change macros
	Ctrl + F1	execute the last recorded macro
	Alt + F8	play a command or a macro
	Alt + Shift + R	start and complete a macro
Edit	Ctrl + C Ctrl + Insert	copy selection
	Ctrl + X Shift+Delete	cut selection
	Delete	delete the current character Note: You can delete the entire line by using SHIFT+END to extend the selection to the end of the line and pressing the delete or backspace key.
	Backspace or Shift + Backspace	delete the previous character
	Ctrl + Delete	delete to next word start
	Ctrl + Backspace	delete to previous word start
	Enter	insert a carriage return
	Ctrl + V Shift + Insert	paste from clipboard
	Ctrl + Y Alt + Shift + Backspace	redo
	Ctrl + Z Alt + Backspace	undo
Help	Place the insertion point within a procedure name and press F1	get help for a SAS procedure
	F1	context help
Line Markers	F2	go to the next marked line
	Shift + F2	go to the previous marked line
	Ctrl + F2	toggle marker on the current line
Navigation	Ctrl + G	go to line (interactive)
	Ctrl + Page Up Ctrl + Home	move cursor to the top of the file
	Ctrl + Page Down Ctrl + End	move cursor to the bottom of the file
	Down	move cursor down
	Page Down	move cursor down a page
	Left	move cursor left
	Right	move cursor right
	Home	move cursor to beginning of line
	End	move cursor to end of line
	Ctrl + [ Ctrl + (	move cursor to matching brace and parentheses
	Alt + [ Alt + (	move cursor to matching DO and END keyword
	Alt + Right	move cursor to next case change
	Ctrl + Right	move cursor to next word start
	Alt + Left	move cursor to previous case change
	Ctrl + Left	move cursor to previous word start
	Up	move cursor up
	Page Up	move cursor up a page
	Alt + Up	move cursor to the first visible line
	Alt + Down	move cursor to the last visible line
	Ctrl + Up	scroll screen up
	Ctrl + Down	scroll screen down
Option Setting	Insert	toggle insert and overwrite modes
Selection	Shift + Left	extend selection character left
	Shift + Right	extend selection character right
	Shift + Down	extend selection down
	Shift + Page Down	extend selection down a page
	Ctrl + Shift + Home Ctrl + Shift + Page Up	extend selection to beginning of document
	Ctrl + Shift + End Ctrl + Shift + Page Down	extend selection to end of document
	Shift + Home	extend selection to beginning of line
	Shift + End	extend selection to end of line
	Alt + Shift + Right	extend selection to next case change
	Alt + Shift + Left	extend selection to previous case change
	Shift + Up	extend selection up
	Shift + Page Up	extend selection up a page
	Ctrl + Shift + Right	extend selection to next word start
	Ctrl + Shift + Left	extend selection to previous word start
	Ctrl + A	Select all
Selection Operations	Ctrl + Shift + W	clean up whitespace characters
	Ctrl + /	comment the selection with line comments
	Ctrl + Shift + L	convert the selected text to lowercase
	Ctrl + Shift + U	convert the selected text to uppercase
	Tab + Selection	tab selection
	Ctrl + Shift + /	undo the comment
	Shift + Tab + Selection	left tab selection

Keyboard Shortcuts within Print Preview

You can use the keyboard shortcuts in the following table in the Print Preview window.

Keyboard Shortcut	Action
Alt + N	next page or page down
Alt + P	previous page or page up
Alt + Z	zoom
Alt + H	help
Alt + R	print
Alt + C Alt + F4	close the window

Keyboard Shortcuts for UNIX

Use these keyboard shortcuts with SAS on the UNIX operating system.

Keyboard Shortcuts for UNIX
Keyboard Shortcut	Definition
F1	Help
F2	Keys (SAS: Keys <DMKEYS> Window)
F3	Submit
F4	pgm; Recall
F5	rfind
F6	rchange
F7	Backward
F8	Forward
F10	Scroll Left
F11	Scroll Right
Shift + F2	Keys
Shift + F9	Command prompt (toggles with Program menus)
Shift + Right Arrow	Scroll right
Shift + Left Arrow	Scroll left
Ctrl + A	Next window
Ctrl + B	Previous window
Ctrl + E	Clear
Ctrl + F	Mark
Ctrl + H	Unmark
Ctrl + K	Cut
Ctrl + L	Log
Ctrl + N	Undo
Ctrl + O	Output window
Ctrl + P	Program window
Ctrl + R	Store
Ctrl + T	Paste
Ctrl + U	Home
Ctrl + W	Command window
Ctrl + Y	Command prompt (toggles with Program menus)

Keyboard Shortcuts for z/OS

Use these keyboard shortcuts with SAS on the z/OS operating system.

Default Keyboard Shortcuts for SAS under z/OS
Keyboard Shortcut	Definition
F1	Mark
F2	Smark
F3	Unmark
F4	Cut
F5	Paste
F6	Store
F7	Backward
F8	Forward
F9	pmenu
F10	Command
F11	Keys
F12	Undo
F13	Help
F14	Zoom
F15	Zoom off; Submit
F16	pgm; Recall
F17	rfind
F18	rchange
F19	Backward
F20	Forward
F21	Output
F22	Left
F23	Right
F24	Home
MB2	wpopup

Note: MB2 is the right mouse button.

Exceptions to Accessibility Standards

Known Accessibility Limitations
Accessibility Issue	Workaround
The screen reader does not read the column heading when it reads the contents of a table cell.	No workaround is available.
JAWS announces the currently displayed application as a level two heading. For example, “Home, heading level 2.” The content that is announced as a level 2 heading is actually the name of the application that is currently displayed in the window. It is not a subsection in the current window.	No workaround is available.
Focus indicators might not be available on check boxes.	No workaround is available.
You cannot use the keyboard to close the autocomplete list and its associated Help pop-up window.	Click on or tap the area outside of the autocomplete list and the Help pop-up window to close them.
You cannot use the keyboard to navigate between an autocomplete list and its associated Help pop-up window.	No workaround is available.
You cannot use the keyboard to scroll through an autocomplete list.	No workaround is available.
Code folding does not have screen reader support. The screen reader might not recognize code that is in a collapsed section.	In the code editor settings, deselect Enable code folding.
There is limited screen reader support for dual selectors. Dual selectors enable you to move items from one list to another.	No workaround is available.
There is limited screen reader support for the Settings menu.	No workaround is available.
When using screen readers, check boxes embedded in lists or tables might be inaccessible.	No workaround is available.
Most drop-down menus are not supported with screen readers.	No workaround is available.
Sliders are not supported with screen readers.	No workaround is available.
Tables are not fully supported with screen readers. Limitations include the following: Columns cannot be resized. Navigation order within a table might be incorrect. Check boxes are not associated with the appropriate row. Some tables contain rows that can be clicked to perform an action. Clicking on a row might open the item referenced in the row. Check boxes are not associated with a corresponding item in the tile view of a table.	No workaround is available.
The focus indicator might be difficult to see or not visible when some interface elements are in focus, including: switches set to the on position check boxes drop-down menus icons buttons	Use your computer’s accessibility settings to change how the focus indicator is displayed. For example, on Windows you can navigate to Control PanelEase of Access Center and click Make the computer easier to see. In the Make things on the screen easier to see section, select Make the focus rectangle thicker.
Using JAWS, the notifications button is announced as “Button, number, graphic” where “number” is the number of new notifications.	No workaround is available.
Lists are not fully supported with screen readers. Limitations include the following: When using screen readers, check boxes embedded in lists might be inaccessible. When JAWS is on, footer text embedded in the list might not be read.	No workaround is available.
When JAWS is on, the Loading window is not always announced.	No workaround is available.

Last updated: October 13, 2022