What tools are available to test a site ?

Several tools exist which may guide the web designer in building accessible web pages and meeting Section 508 Compliance. Each of these tools is unique and uses unique criteria to gauge accessibility. However, use of any individual tool will not necessarily mean your site is 508 Compliant. Further steps may be required to ensure your site meets 508 compliance. FITAI lists the following tools as a service to web designers. A tool's inclusion on this page does not represent an endorsement of that tool, nor does it imply a requirement for web designers to use any tool.

The following links are to sites that are not located at the United States Naval Academy. USNA is not responsible for the content found on these sites. In addition, the content of these sites does not reflect the opinions, standards, policy or endorsement of the Naval Academy or the United States Government.

• Bobby 3.2 - The Bobby tool identifies issues by priority level and provides hyperlinks to more detailed explanations and sample code.
  
  
• The Wave - The Wave helps people perform design tasks that require human judgment (e.g. "Does this ALT text provide 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. Wave features that help users compare visual and textual representions are not directly useful to people who are blind; but the output is accessible so people who are blind can check the output for completeness.
  
  
• Lynx Viewer - The Lynx Viewer generates an HTML page that indicates how much of the content of your page would be available to Lynx, which is a text-only browser. In addition to showing how useful a site would be for a visually-impaired person, it is also a good indicator for anyone with older technology.
  
  
• Connect Outloud - Connect Outloud is an easy to use web access tool for blind or visually impaired computer users. It offers speech and Braille output to the web using Internet Explorer 5.5. Send and receive email using Outlook Express and also create documents in your easy to use FS Editor word processor with its own spell checker that is included. Connect Outloud works with the Windows® Desktop, Windows Explorer and many other applications and accessories including Windows Media Player and Real Player.
  
  
• Web Metrics - The NIST WebMetrics project provides tools and techniques to facilitate evaluation of the usability of web sites.
  
  
• SSB Technologies - A software suite that diagnoses and retrofits inaccessible web sites. InSight allows page authors to diagnose a web page for inaccessibility. InFocus allows the author to quickly fix the problems of an inaccessible web page.
  
  
• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
  
  
  • W3C Web Accessibility Initiative's Web Tools Page - Evaluation, Repair, and Transformation Tools for Web Content Accessibility
    
    
  • W3C HTML Validator - The W3C HTML Validation Service checks HTML documents for conformance to W3C HTML and XHTML recommendations and other HTML standards.
    
    
  • CSS Validator - If you are using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), then you should use the CSS Validator.
    
    
  • For more information, visit the W3C's Evaluation & Repairs Tools page.
    

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Revision Date : April 11, 2001
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