Web Accessibility services and resources for producing web sites accessible to people with special needs.
I was creating a proposal for accessibility site testing and realized that the time Iw as bidding for doing a WCAG AAA compliant site was out of reach for my client. Since I want them to be able to achieve WCAG AAA, it was time to look for some new testing tools. I went back to WAI to take a look at the WAI current list of tools. I added my comments after their description of the tools. I hope you find it useful. I am also providing links to screenshots or saved pages of their reports, where applicable. My experience and the prices I quote are current as of February 15, 2005.
The description of each tool is quoted from the Web Accessibility Inititive Complete List of Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools as of February, 2005. See WAI copyright below for complete information. The Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools Overview page disclaimer states: "W3C does not endorse specific vendor products. Inclusion of products in this reference list does not indicate endorsement by W3C. Products and search criteria are listed with no quality rating. Information in this database (including the search criteria) reflects claims made by tool developers, vendors, or users; and it can change at any time. W3C does not verify the accuracy of these claims. The list is not a review of evaluation tools, nor a complete or definitive listing of all tools."
WAI says: AccessEnableT is an online website evaluation and correction product line that is able to make site-wide automatic fixes as well as interactive fixes to satisfy Federal and other web accessibility standards. Developed by RetroAccess. (WAC 14 Jan 2002 )
Jeanne says: You have to call them to get a demo. I did not test it this time, but will in the future.
WAI says: The Accessibility Wizard is a tool for web developers and project teams. It breaks down the WAI Checkpoints into individual tasks for each job role in a development team. Every member of a development team is directed to implement the WAI Checkpoints at a specified conformance level (A,AA or AAA). This is a sure way of meeting accessibility conformance. A web client that supports the Flash 6 (or higher) plugin is the minimum requirement to use the wizard.
Jeanne says: This is simply a database of the guidelines divided by job responsibility. It is quite limited. Smaller operations or orgainzations using different job categories will find it inconvenient.
WAI says: AccVerify T implements programmatic verification and reports all errors/non-compliance with the standards, plus checklist for criteria that can't be verified programmatically. Verifies the "all else fails" text version. Differentiates between 508 and WCAG. It allows for a variety of report formats, including EARL, and provides an API for developers to incorporate it in other projects. AccVerify can run as a standalone product for Microsoft Windows, or as an extension to Mercury TestDirector and Microsoft's FrontPage, Office, and .NET server products.
Jeanne says: It may be good, and worth going back to look at again, but I couldn't find product information in all the marketing bull****. It doesn't bode well for the usability or usefulness of the product. I had a lot of other options to look at, so I moved on. A pox on all marketing writers who think that a large collection of buzzwords is going to mean anything useful.
WAI says: Tools relevant for accessibility include viewing in various screen sizes, view with images are replaced by ALT text. Also HTML and link validation, search engine tools, and other browser compatibility tests.
Jeanne says: A mixed bag of free tools. I liked the Really Fussy HTML 4.0 validator. It is the "enter the URL, display the report" type. It had some useful options including giving the source text (useful for dynamic pages) and a parse tree giving the overall structure of the page. Limitations: page oriented. They were waiting for the desktop version 2.0 (as of Feb 15, 2005 ) so this will be interesting to go back and test.
WAI says: The ART Guide - ART reviews sites for compliance with the international accessibility standards of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). ART also assesses sites against the accessibility requirements that the U.S. and other national governments demand for their Websites and for those of their vendors. Going beyond current technologies, ART also proposes clear and simple-to-implement solutions to possible violations of these standards.
Jeanne says: I liked the level of the report, although it flagged my images as missing alt text when the alt="" attribute was right next to the <img> tag. The ART simulator creates some useful simulations: CSS disabled, scripts disabled, multimedia disabled, and readability simulator.
WAI says: Bobby is a web accessibility desktop testing tool designed for small websites to help expose barriers to accessibility and encourage compliance with existing accessibility guidelines, including Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act and the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), on a page-by-page basis.
Jeanne says: I tested the online version 5.0. It doesn't appear much differently than when I last used it a couple years ago. It is comprehensive, but very easy to gloss over the items to check manually.
WAI says: NetCentric Technologies's CommonLookT family of software products is designed to greatly simplify the process of verifying the compliance of websites and various types of documents with accessibility and a wide variety of other standards (including Common Look and Feel, Section 508 and W3C standards). 'Out of the box' and without customization they provide an immediate solution.
Jeanne says: A plug-in for testing Adobe Acrobat 6.0. Cool. This may be worth buying. I couldn't find any pricing information, though. Common Look tests for WCAG Priority 1 & 2. It will test the entire site. No free demo/trial on website. It says 5 minutes per page for testing. Their own website internal page links don't work in FireFox.
A later note: Monir ElRayes of NetCentric Technologies sent me an email saying:
1) In the “Jeanne says” section there are appears to be some confusion between our HTML product and PDF product. The “5” minute per page should mention that this is our estimate for HTML testing including all operator assisted checkpoints (as some checkpoints – by their very nature- require human judgment)
2
) In the “Jeanne says” section it states that “Their [NetCentric’s] own website internal page links don't work in FireFox”. We have checked this and it is not the case (it is possible that Jeanne happened to do her test while the site was being updated). We would appreciate a quick correction to this.
3
) The price of the product is $999 for Government and educational customers. $1099 is the price for private industry customers. There are significant discounts for volume purchases.
WAI says: This tool is designed to identify errors related to Section 508 standards and the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The main purpose of this portal is to educate Web site developers about accessible Web design. It validates one page at a time. Either download and run it locally or use the free Web interface. The downloadable version is a special edition of the ACCVerify tool by HiSoftware. (2003)
Jeanne says: I tested the online service. The report is well organized by the guideline or standard. It gives the criteria that it searched for when giving a pass/fail, which I found useful. It left a lot of manual work to do when verifying a page. I found more useful information on ACCVerify here than at the HiSoftware site.
WAI says: Dr. Watson is hosted as a free service by Addy & Associates (2000). Watson checks per HTML 3.2, as well as Netscape and Microsoft extensions up through version 4.x. Watson can also check many other aspects of your site, including link validity, download speed, search engine compatibility, link popularity, word count, and spelling. No specific accessibility checking. It only runs on the Addy & Associates server.
Jeanne says: Dated. My XHTML page generated a lot of errors. The spell checker was so-so. The link validator produced a report that could be used to build a site map, but I'll bet there are better tools out there for that.
WAI says: Hermish is a free web accessibility tool designed to help you bring your web site up to required standards outlined by The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
Jeanne says: This is another on-line tool that gives a report. It passed my pages for WCAG AAA, even though I know they don't pass. After all, why should I click on the "More Information" link if I have that nice PASS answer? I failed the deprecated test, but the More Information screen showed that I passed . I failed the XHTML test, but the More Information link did not provide me with info on XHTML, -- lots of other browser compatibility information. This tool could be good, but I don't trust it.
WAI says: Hera is a tool designed to facilitate collaborative ongoing assessment. The first generation tool is web-based, available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, English and Danish, with a translation interface to allow further localization. It uses CSS to provide diagnostic information, and can produce reports in either EARL, or in HTML in any of the available languages.
Hera is developed by Fundacion Sidar.
Jeanne says: This another free online checker with a report. This one is more complex than most, as it requires you to individually validate each point. It produces a version of the page with items highlighted. It is unclear what to do with each one. Perhaps this service is good with more practice, but I found it hard to use.
WAI says: An entry level Web accessibility automated checking tool in Japanese from IBM
Jeanne says: It's in Japanese. I didn't try to test it. I liked the picture of the executive with the red phone. Does anyone really have red phones in their office? With a completely blank desk? Nah!
WAI says: SSB Technologies. Interactive evaluation tool designed to help developers create accessible web pages. Also see InFocus (a repair tool). Runs on both the desktop and a server. Runs on Windows 95/98/00/NT, Linux, Unix, and Mac OS. The server software available for installation on local intranets. Support and upgrades are available to users of the software This software claims to be designed so that it is accessible to all users.
Jeanne says: This is a serious product. It has a serious price tag. $1,795.00 for the desktop version. One would assume the enterprise version is even more. Worth looking at for the organization that needs that level of metrics and control. It also repairs multiple pages at once. They offer a 10-day evaluation copy that I will go back and try when I get past this project.
WAI says: Lift Machine and Lift Online are both Developed by UsableNet, Inc.
WAI says: Lift for Dreamweaver / FrontPage are extensions for those Authoring tools. Lift allows customisation of accessibility tests (WCAG Priority 1, US government section 508), and provides continuously updated test results during editing as well as a wizard-based repair tool that can be run in a context-sensitive mode while editing. It generates reports in HTML format or as an XML file that can be used for further processing. It incorporates heuristics for distinguishing different types of tables and images to provide appropriate suggestions for repair. The current version 1.3 is now available for Dreamweaver 4.01 or Dreamweaver MX. Lift NNg adds usability testing and repair functionalities to Lift for Dreamweaver .
Jeanne says: I would consider purchasing this, and did ask for the free trial. They also have a version for Microsoft Front Page. The site also offers a free Accessibility test, and a Text Transcoder product to produce automated text-only pages. I use Dreamweaver, so this product is attractive to me. Updates to come. First update: My free report had a lot of false positives that could be avoided. ALT tags stated incorrect when they are correct, multimedia items flagged that are pdfs and other doc types. Nothing multimedia. Not a good sign. A recent blog on Text Transcoder http://webability.blogspot.com/2005/02/lift-text-transcoder-is-not-answer.html
WAI says: Ocawa runs accessibility tests based on the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines with audits cross-referenced to other rule-sets (e.g. section 508, Accessiweb, FT Ocawa, etc) by virtue of a built-in expert system. The Ocawa website offers free single or multiple page site audits with output reports indicating all inaccessible aspects of a page via precise highlighting of the page source. Ocawa was developed by Urbilog and France Telecom R & D .
Jeanne says: Another online single page with a report. There is an option for a up to 30 pages. I liked the report, but it isn't tied to any specific compliance guideline or standard. It passed several issues on my site that other testers picked up.
WAI says: From Crunchy Technologies
( 15 Jan 2002 )
Jeanne says: The site was refusing connections.
WAI says: Page Valet combines formal validation with accessibility testing based on the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Page Valet generates XML, with a choice of report formats including HTML versions for Web browsers. The "document view" shows page source, normalised by a validating parser, with Validation Errors and Accessibility Warnings shown inline wherver they are detected. This is part of the Site Valet suite of tools (see below) ( 23 January 2002)
Jeanne says: Page Valet no longer supports accessibility. There is a new tool, Accessibility Valet for that. AccessValet reports are Level 1 for developers and level 2 for QA and Management. It costs £60 for a single license, and there is an online demo. It supports EARL reports . Single page at a time.
WAI says: Professional solution for systems analysts, QA and Accessibility coordinators. Ramp Grade tests complete web sites for compliance with all W3C WAI WCAG and Section 508 requirements. Produces very clear change specifications to guide developers through correction. Integrated with Microsoft FrontPage, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Macromedia HomeSite and Mercury TestDirector. Accessible to persons with disabilities, supports Windows 2000/XP, Macintosh OS X, Linux and Unix.
WAI says: Low cost way to learn about accessibility, tests web pages for W3C WAI WCAG and S.508 compliance. Integrated with Microsoft FrontPage, Macromedia Dreamweaver and Macromedia HomeSite. Accessible to persons with disabilities, supports Windows 2000/XP, Macintosh OS X, Linux and Unix.
Jeanne says: There are now 3 versions: Ramp Personal Edition $79, Ramp Grade $279 plus annual support and maintenance $56; and Ramp Ascend for $1,499 plus $300 annual support and maintenance. No online demos, the website has limited accessibility - not a good example of the product.
WAI says: Site Valet is a comprehensive Quality Assurance product for Web and Intranet sites. An online toolkit is complemented by a site maintenance programme, both of which are available to the public at the website. Site Valet can be extensively customised for corporate users. Of particular interest to accessibility are the Page Valet tool for markup analysis (see above), and a user feedback programme for raising and dealing responsively with problem reports. Online toolkit includes an HTML Validator, Link Checker, toolkit for testing and debugging forms and scripts, SGML tools for content analysis and transformation, an online version of Tidy, and a website monitoring service to notify users of potential problems.
WAI says: Developed by Fondo Formación CTIC in collaboration with SIDAR , TAW tests accessibility of a page, marking automatically detected errors with the priority level of the WCAG checkpoint. It also marks manual tests that are required in the page. Each marker is linked to a report (after the marked version of the original) which explains the checkpoint (in Spanish) and the locations that need to be checked.El TAW, desarollado por Fondo Formación CTIC en colaboración con el SIDAR , hace un evaluación de una pagina. El informe presenta una versión de la página original con iconos que significan la prioridad (de las pautas WCAG) de cada problema, y enlazan a una explicación del problema. También marca las cosas que necesitan un verificación manual.
Jeanne says: I found the description of the tool, but no download or demo of the tool.
WAI says: Created by the Public Service Commission of Canada . It is a 27 question, multiple choice survey available in English or French that produces 5 accessibility ratings
- highly inaccessible,
- much improvement required,
- partially accessible,
- fairly accessible,
- accessible.
An e-mail address is provided to give feedback. There are two versions of the test, one written in HTML 2.0 that requires the user to tally their rating. The other uses JavaScript to tally the rating.
Jeanne says: I can't find it.
WAI says: Torquemada is an Italian-language tool designed to assess the accessibility of Websites. The initial version is an online service, but the tool is under development and a downloadable version is promised soon.Torquemada é un strumento per testare l'accessibilità dei siti web. Funziona in italiano, adesso come servizio on-line, ma é in fase di sviluppo, e il suo sito promette una verzione scaricabile, disponible a breve.
Jeanne says: There is an English version. Online URL/Display report format. Three reports, graphic, light graphic and textual report. The graphic report was very useful - displaying the page being checked, providing a tag tree of the source code and a text report of the compliance elements. I liked it. Good free tool. Individual page, not multiple pages.
WAI says: The Web Accessibility Toolbar from Accessible Information Solutions at NILS in Australia has been developed to aid manual examination of web pages in Internet Explorer for a variety of accessibility aspects. It consists of a range of functions that:
- identify structural and semantic components of a web page
- facilitate the use of 3rd party online applications
- simulate user experiences
- provide links to references and additional resources.
It is available in several languages (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Korean) and includes a tutorial and instructions for using its functions to assist WCAG 1.0 conformance evaluation.
(Updated Jan 2005)
Jeanne says: This is a great free tool that I've been using for 9 months. It is a toolbar that only works with IE. It's a great collection of utilities to check screen resolution, turn stylesheets on/off, different validators, grayscale, colors used, resource links and much more. Requires popups enabled.
WAI says: WebQA, the next generation of Linkbot, is a website quality testing tool for small or departmental websites up to 10,000 links that assists with quality and accessibility testing. Reports generated help developers and quality assurance staff pinpoint and fix quality, interaction, and accessibility defects on a page-by-page basis.
Jeanne says: This is a Watchfire product (owner of Bobby). It can search up to 10,000 pages. The price is available by phone. There is a 15 day trial.
WAI says: WebXACT is a free online service that lets you test single pages of web content for quality, accessibility, and privacy issues.
Jeanne says: Another Watchfire (Bobby) tool. Useful presentation of General information about the page. Accessibility testing is similar to other Watchfire products.
WAI says: WebXM, an enterprise Online Business Management platform, automates the manual process of identifying online brand and risk issues. It generates high-level dashboards and detailed reports to help identify online problems, prioritize the issues, assign them to owners, and track them through to resolution. This knowledge helps you understand how your business goals align with online practices.The Accessibility module of WebXM scans all your web properties, regardless of size and complexity, for over 90 comprehensive accessibility checks and generates different levels of reports for website stakeholders. Non-compliance with the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) or government standards (such as the US government's Section 508 and the UK's Disability Discrimination Act), discriminates against individuals with disabilities who should be able to access your online business, and can negatively impact your corporate brand.
Jeanne says: Looks good from the marketing write-up. No demo or on-line that I could find. Worth going back and investigating further.
WAI says: The aDesigner is a disability simulator that helps Web designers ensure that their pages are accessible and usable by the visually impaired. Voice browsers and screen readers read aloud the text on Web pages and are used by visually impaired people. However, these devices are less effective with certain kinds of content, such as highly graphical material. Web developers can use aDesigner to test the accessibility and usability of Web pages for low-vision and blind people.
Jeanne says: I've been using this tool for about 3 months. It is particularly useful in simulating condistions that Senior Citizens may experience from the site. I highly recommend it for designers and developers targeting persons with no vision, low vision or Seniors. A unique feature is that it shows how many seconds or minutes it will take a reader or listener to reach a place on the page. It points out errors in the WCAG guidelines or 508 standards. It's must-have for designers.
WAI says: The ART Simulator - simulates a site in different ways to help developers gauge how easily the disabled can use the site. The simulator, the first tool of its type, serves two critical purposes: It enables site owners and developers to both experience first-hand the barriers to accessibility faced by the disabled and to better understand how to improve disabled usersexperience.
WAI says: Based on the Simple Measure Of Gobbledegook (SMOG) readability formula and developed by the Toronto East End Literacy Project. This tool asks a series of questions then using client-side scripting calculates a reading level. This is more thorough than the Reading Level Calculator (also listed in this list). (WC 27 June 2001 )
Jeanne says: Way too manual. You have to count 3 syllable words, among other things. No where to paste in samples of the text. It is just answering questions. I was interested after one of the tests stated that my text was too complex and required a reading level of grade 11. I wanted to try this test, but gave up.
WAI says: This color laboratory allows you to select colors and see how they appear next to one another, and in various foreground/background combinations. It also allows you to see those colors as they might appear to color-blind users.
WAI says: Several filters to manipulate images and other file types to see how they may appear for other users.
WAI says: Allows designers to model and predict image legibility for color deficient viewers. Developed by Colorfield Digital Media (2000).
WAI says: This service has been provided to allow you to check the validity of your CSS against the W3C's validation service, along with a colour contrast test, and a test to ensure that relevant sizes are specified in relative units of measurement.
WAI says: Created by Thomas Tongue and Imagiware, Inc. (1997). performs minimal accessibility checking ("alt" on IMG) but it also verifies links, spell checks and performs some syntax checking. Licenses may be purchased to run the software on a local intranet. An e-mail address is available for feedback.
WAI says: EveryEye is a software tool for accessible design. If you are an interactive, software, or media content designer or publisher you can use EveryEye to see your designs the way older and colour-blind people see them. You can quickly see the difficulties they will experience and make sure you get them right for an extra 28% of the population.
WAI says: Using Keynote NetMechanic services you can improve the functional integrity of your Web site and optimize your site to be reached by more potential customers.
WAI says: This is a set of four tools used to test the usability and accessibility of a site. It is suggested that you register to receive bug reports and update information. An e-mail address is provided for feedback and questions. (1999)
WAI says: Developed by Linda Wasmer Andrews and based on the SMOG readability formula. This form relies on client-side scripting to calculate the reading level. ( 27 June 2001 )
WAI says: Diction identifies wordy and commonly misused phrases. Style analyses surface characteristics of a document, including sentence length and other readability measures. ( 16 Jan 2002 )
WAI says: An XML Structure Validation Language using Patterns in Trees - WAI Content Guidelines. Compares the pattern of a file to the patterns defined by WCAG schema.
WAI says: Available as a downloadable application, a Photoshop plug-in, or online, this tool simulates colorblind vision. ( 27 June 2001 )
Jeanne says: I've been using this site for years. It still works, it still is free.
WAI says: A tool that helps people perform those tasks that require human judgment (e.g. "Does this ALT text a functional equivalent for this image?" "Does this reading order make sense?"). The Wave displays the ALT text of images and AREAS on the page for comparison with the images, provides numbered arrows to show the linearized reading order, and shows the HTML equivalent (if any) provided for applets. The Wave performs automatic checks (detects missing or suspicious ALT text). However, at this time it is far from covering all accessibility checkpoints.(25 Feb 2000).
WAI says: Repurposes PDF documents into well-structured HTML and XML. Transforms embedded images into appropriate format for intended use, like EPS, TIF, Photoshop PSD for print and JPEG, GIF and PNG for digital media. Supports tagged and untagged PDFs. Works with Deque Ramp Ascend to ensure accessible HTML which can then be used to create accessible PDF using Adobe Acrobat.
WAI says: From the W3C. It is a programmable robot that can report missing "alt" attributes or other specific anomalies. Its primary design goal was to test HTTP/1.1 pipelining features. It runs locally on Unix or Windows. Users may subscribe to the discussion forum to find examples or discuss issues. (1999)
WAI says: By Neil Bowers (1997). It is a syntax and minimal style checker for HTML: a Perl script which picks fluff off html pages, much in the same way traditional lint picks fluff off C programs. It is available for download on Unix, Windows NT, Mac or OS/2. Over 20 sites support a Web-based interface in a variety of languages. E-mail and a feedback form are available.
WAI says: Validates the CSS used in documents. You may run it through the interface on the W3C server or download it and run it at a Java command line. Since it is Java it runs wherever there is a Java Virtual Machine. There is a mailing list for questions. (1998)
WAI says: From the Web Design Group (WDG). It uses the same engine as the W3C HTML Validator (David Clark's nsgmls) but produces easier to understand error messages. It also supports a wider variety of character encodings than the W3C validator. It is available online or can run locally (supposedly, although information for running it locally was not available on 18 February 2000 ). You can also run a batch of pages through it. (1999)
WAI says: It is "an easy-to-use HTML validation service based on an SGML parser. It checks HTML documents for compliance with W3C HTML Recommendations and other HTML standards." The service is available through the W3C Web site, although the source code is available for mirroring on other sites. It is known to run on Unix platforms but may work on others (it has not been tested). A discussion list is available. (2000)
* All tool descriptions are quoted from the Web Accessibility Initiative Complete List of Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools
Copyright ©1994-2007 World Wide Web Consortium, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics, Keio University). All Rights Reserved. http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/2002/copyright-documents-20021231