Web Accessibility Tools & Resources
Validators & Evaluation Tools
WAI's Complete List of Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools
Tool Bars & Extensions
- WAVE 3.0 Accessibility Tool - exposes errors and highlights content where accessibility considerations require human judgment.
- Web Accessibility Toolbar - is provided by the Accessible Information Solutions (AIS) team of Vision Australia. It has been developed to aid manual examination of web pages for a variety of aspects of accessibility. It consists of a range of functions that identify components of a web page, facilitate the use of 3rd party online applications, simulate user experiences and provide links to references and additional resources.
- ANDI - Accessible Name & Description Inspector is a "favelet" or "bookmarklet" that will provide automated detection of accessibility issues, reveal what a screen reader should say for interactive elements (the accessible name computation), and give practical suggestions to improve accessibility and check 508 compliance.
Online Checkers
- HiSoftware® Cynthia Says™ Portal - a web content accessibility tool designed to identify errors in content related to section 508 standards and/or the WCAG guidelines.
- W3C Markup Validation Service - a free service that checks Web documents in formats like HTML and XHTML for conformance to W3C Recommendations and other standards.
- W3C CSS Validator - a free service that checks Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) in (X)HTML documents with style sheets
Color Contrast
- Accessible Color Picker - this tool allows you to select foreground and background colors and will determine the color contrast ratio between them. If your colors do not have sufficient contrast, this tool will suggest similar colors that are compliant.
- Colour Contrast Analyser - a tool for checking foreground & background colour combinations to determine if they provide good colour visibility for conformance with Checkpoint 2.2 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0.
Web Accessibility Reference
- WCAG 2 at a Glance - Paraphrased summary of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
- WebAIM
- Using WAI-ARIA in HTML - Document guide for developers to incorporate ARIA into their HTML5 code to improve accessibility of web pages. source: W3C.
- Essential Components of Web Accessibility - This document shows how Web accessibility depends on several components working together and how improvements in specific components could substantially improve Web accessibility.
- Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines (Chapter 3) (PDF)
Additional Resources
- Ensuring Access through Collaboration and Technology (EnACT) - support students with disabilities within the California State University in attaining their post secondary educational goals.
- Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) - works with organizations around the world to develop strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.
- Usability.org - primary government resource on usability and accessibility, including the latest usability research and training opportunities.
- Disability Etiquette Handbook (PDF) - a glossary of acceptable terms developed by the City of San Antonio Disability Access Office.