Overview

The PATH Study is committed to making its website accessible to the widest possible audience, including individuals with disabilities. In keeping with its mission, the PATH study website has been designed to comply with legislation:

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended
HHS Secretary's Section 508 Implementation Policy.

Section 508 requires that individuals with disabilities have equivalent access to and use of all information and communication technology (ICT), unless it would create an undue burden.

Known Issues

There are a few issues that may affect some users with disabilities. They are currently in remediation, but were not resolved by the time this instrument was launched. The following list provides information on the user group who may be affected and the specific success criteria that is not met.

SC 1.4.4 Resize Text (affects users with low vision):

• There are sections of the interview where zooming up to 200% may cut off some of the buttons or answer information. This happens when question instructions are lengthy; usually more than 3 lines of text. If this occurs, changing the screen resolution to the recommended 1366 pixel width by 768 pixel height may allow the viewpoint to show the first answer option, which will then allow you to tab through the rest of the answers. For example, in the Parent Survey Practice session, zooming up to 200% on the grid screens may cut off the visibility of the grid or part of the grid. While you can still use the keyboard to tab through the options, the viewpoint won’t move. This behavior will be fixed in a future version.

• For table grids in the main survey, zooming up to 200% may cause the table headers to become harder to read due to the size of the text and column width.

SC 2.1.1 Keyboard (affects keyboard only user and users who use screen readers):

• The global date picker/calendar is not keyboard accessible, but users can enter the dates manually.

• If a user skips a number entry field in a question that also includes radio buttons or checkboxes, and tries to advance using the Next button, the answer required message appears, but the focus skips the number entry box. The tab key can be used to go back to that field and enter a number.

• For questions that have “other please specify” answer options in a radio button group, there are some navigation anomalies for keyboard only users for the final 2 radio buttons. Once the focus is on the radio button group, you have to use the down arrow to move through the options which also selects each option as you land on them. For the first “other, please specify” answer, this selection will automatically move the focus to the text entry field to type an answer. Once the focus is on that text entry field you must use a shift + tab to move back to the radio button and then you can use the down arrow to move to the final radio button in the group. The focus will not automatically move to the text entry field for the last radio button, but using the down arrow will move the focus.

  In order not to miss any answer options within the radio group, screen reader users may want to read all the options before navigating through and choosing an answer. This issue is in remediation and will be fixed in a future release.

• Some question grids are randomized, but the tab order does not dynamically update. This means that even if the visual order of the questions changes, the tab order continues to follow the original order no matter where the question is shown visually. If a user skips one question, the focus will go back to that unanswered question, allowing the user to answer it and continue. However, if more than one question is skipped in the same grid, the focus will return to the first unanswered question in the original tab order, which may skip another unanswered question. If this happens a keyboard user can continue to tab through the grid until they reach the next unanswered question, but the screen will not advance until all questions have been answered. This bug is in remediation and will be resolved with the next software release.

• When keyboard users skip or miss questions that have fields which require numbers to be entered, such as "Feet," the error message appears, but the focus remains in the error message instead of the empty "Feet" number field. A keyboard user must then tab back to reach that field in order to answer it and continue. This bug is in remediation and will be resolved in a future release.

SC 2.4.3 Focus Order (affects those using screen readers and keyboard only users):

• For survey pages that have grids, selecting the “Clear” button after completing the answers does clear out the answers, but does not move the focus back to the first response. The focus stays on the “Clear” button. This issue is in remediation and will be fixed in a future release. The current workaround is to use the shift tab to move back to the first question in the grid.

• When a user changes the survey language, the page refreshes automatically and shifts the focus to the first question response. The language dropdown can be revisited by using Shift+Tab and moving back to the language dropdown list. This is built into the application and cannot be remediated.

SC 3.2.1 On Focus (affects users with low vision and those using screen readers):

• Some question grids add rows dynamically. For these grid types, a keyboard user can use the arrow keys to move through the answer options, the space bar or enter key to select an answer, and the tab key to move to the next row, except in the last visible row. Once focus is in that last row, using an arrow key or tab will automatically select the current radio button, dynamically generate the next row, and move the focus to the first radio button answer in the new row. After the new row is available, the user can then move the focus back to the previous row, using shift + tab and then use the arrow key to move through the radio button answer options, and either space or enter to select the answer. This same action repeats for each additional dynamically added row. Once the final row in the dynamic grid is added, all rows can be navigated as expected.

• For questions that have an "Other, please specify" text-entry box, if that option is chosen, 2 additional options appear: 1) Don't Know; 2) Rather Not Answer.

• If the question requires a numeric value and nothing is entered, when the "Clear" or "Back" button is selected 2 additional options will appear: 1) Don't Know; 2) Rather Not Answer.

SC 3.2.2 On Input (affects those using screen readers and keyboard only users):

• For dynamic table grids, after all the answers have been chosen, if the “Clear” button is selected and the questions answered again, users must select the “Next” button twice in order to advance to the next page in the survey. This action only occurs if the original answers are cleared and then re-entered.

• For month and year drop down lists, selecting one or the other will cause the page to reload. When this happens, the “required answer” message will appear. Making a selection in the next drop down should result in the error message disappearing, but sometimes it persists, even if the survey is exited and you come back later. This is in remediation and will be resolved in the next release.

SC 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (affects those using screen readers):

• The dropdown list for selecting the language does not announce the state, so screen reader users will not know if the list is expanded or collapsed. This is a limitation of the application itself, not the interview. It is in remediation.

• After selecting values for Month and Year dropdowns a screen reader reads the information twice. This is a limitation in the software and in remediation.

For Alternate Access to Web Information

Any individual using assistive technology (such as a screen reader, Braille reader, voice narration, etc.) who experiences difficulty with this interview should contact us via phone at 1-888-311-1819. If you prefer:

Contact us at this e-mail address

The nature of the accessibility problem and information on how you would like us to contact you should be included in any email or telephone message. If the accessibility problem involves a particular web page, including the URL (Web address) of the page would be helpful. A member of the PATH Study user support staff will contact individuals with accessibility problems as soon as possible.

PATH Privacy Notice

Thank you for visiting the PATH Study website. Protecting your privacy is very important to us, as reflected in our Privacy Policy, detailed below.

Policy as of September 1, 2013. Updated August 2024.

• We do not collect any personally identifiable information (PII) about you during your visit to the PATH Study website unless you choose to provide that information to us. For additional information about the types of information this website collects, please see the next section: "Types of Information Collected".

• Any PII you choose to provide is fully protected.

• Non-PII related to your visit to our website may be automatically collected and temporarily stored. These data can help us better understand how the public uses the site and how to make it more helpful. We collect information from visitors who read, browse, and/or download information from our website. The PATH Study never collects information for commercial marketing or any purpose unrelated to the PATH Study's mission and goals.

NOTE: For general information on your health information privacy and security rights or the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, please visit https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/index.html.

Types of Information Collected

When you browse through any website, certain information about your visit can be collected. We use this information to measure the number of visitors to our site and its various sections and to help make our site more useful to visitors.

We automatically collect and temporarily store the following type of information about your visit:

• The name of the domain you use to access the Internet (for example, aol.com, if you are using an America Online account, or stanford.edu, if you are connecting from Stanford University's domain);

• IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to a computer when browsing the internet);

• Operating system of your computer and information about the browser used when visiting the site;

• The date and time of your visit;

• The pages of the website you visited;

• Address of the website that connected you to the PATH Study website (such as google.com or bing.com)

How the PATH Study Collects and Uses Information

The PATH study website uses Google Analytics measurement software to collect and aggregate the information listed above in the bulleted Types of Information Collected section above. Google Analytics collects information automatically and continuously. No personally identifiable information (PII) is collected.

This data is used to create reports and analyses which are used to help us make our site more useful to visitors. These data and reports are only available to web managers and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties. Again, there is no PII included in this data. PATH retains the data from Google Analytics as long as needed to support PATH's mission.

How PATH Uses Cookies

When you visit any website, its server may generate a piece of text known as a "cookie" to place on your computer. The cookie allows the server to "remember" specific non-PII data about your visit while you are using and navigating the website. A cookie may also make it easier for you to use the dynamic features of web pages.

The Office of Management and Budget Memo M-10-22, Guidance for Online Use of Web Measurement and Customization Technologies (PDF, 106KB) allows Federal agencies to use session and persistent cookies.

There are two types of cookies: single session (temporary) and multi-session (persistent). Session cookies are temporary text files that last only as long as your web browser is open. Once you close your browser, the cookie disappears. Persistent cookies are stored on your computer for longer periods.

Cookies from PATH Study web pages only collect information about your browser’s visit to the site; they do not collect personal information about you.

• Session Cookies: We use session cookies for technical purposes such as to enable better navigation through our site. These cookies let our server know that you are continuing a visit to our site. The OMB Memo 10-22 Guidance defines our use of session cookies as Tier 1 Single Session which is defined as: "any use of single session web measurement and customization technologies."

• Persistent Cookies: These are cookies that are stored on your computer and expire 2 years after your last visit to the PATH Study website. After 2 years, they are automatically deleted from your computer. According to the OMB Memo 10-22 Guidance, our use of persistent cookies is defined as Tier 2 Multi-session without PII which "encompasses any use of multi-session web measurement and customization technologies when no PII is collected." We use persistent cookies to enable Google Analytics to differentiate between new and returning PATH Study website visitors. We also use persistent cookies to collect non-PII data about users who visit our websites and to test variations of our site design and content to optimize our websites.

How to Opt Out or Block Cookies

If you do not wish to have session or persistent cookies placed on your computer, you can set your browser to block them. If you set your browser to block cookies you will still have access to all information and resources at the PATH study website.

Instructions for disabling or blocking cookies in the most popular browsers are located at https://www.usa.gov/optout-instructions. Please note that by following the instructions to opt-out of cookies, you will disable cookies from all sources, not just those from the PATH study website.

How Personal Information Is Protected

You do not have to give us personal information to visit the PATH Study website. However, if you choose to provide us with additional information about yourself through an e-mail message, form, survey, etc., we will only retain the information as long as needed to respond to your question or to fulfill the stated purpose of the communication. If we store your personal information in a record system designed to retrieve information about you by personal identifier (e.g. e-mail address) so that we may contact you, we will safeguard the information you provide us in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. Section 552a).

Note that all communications addressed to the PATH Study are maintained, as required by law, for historical purposes. These communications are archived on a monthly basis.

The PATH Study privacy policy is adapted from the NIH privacy policy. For further information about the NIH privacy policy, please contact the NIH Senior Official for Privacy by visiting https://oma.od.nih.gov/DMS/Pages/Privacy-Program.aspx.

Exit Disclaimer Policy

• This graphic notice (not government site) next to a link on the PATH Study website indicates that the link leads to another site that is not a federal government website.

• The PATH Study website links to external websites to supplement the information found on the PATH Study website. However, the PATH Study cannot guarantee the accuracy of information provided on external websites.

• You will be subject to the external website’s privacy policy when you leave the PATH Study website.

Intrusion Detection

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, we employ software programs to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. In the event of authorized law enforcement investigations, and pursuant to any required legal process, information from these sources may be used to help identify an individual.

Disclosure

The PATH Study does not disclose, give, sell or transfer any personal information about our visitors, unless required for law enforcement or by state.