The Blind Access Journal blog has some information on compatibility of Internet Explorer 7 and screen reader software.
All about testing for web accessibility — the tools, methods, hows and whys.
Download Episode 32 (Testing for Web Accessibility)
[Transcript for Web Axe 32]
News
- IE7 Final Release
- Firefox 2
- New Image Replacement – Monday by Noon
- MSU’s Fourth Annual Usability & Accessibility Event
General
- (Generally) Follow guidelines by WCAG, WebAIM, Accessify, this podcast
- Follow any guidelines required by law (ADA, Section 508, DDA [UK])
- Ensure multimedia and PDF are accessible
- Use web standards
- What CANNOT be tested by most automated tools:
- Color contrast
- Simple language
- Tab order (tabindex) [tabindex no longer recommended]
Methods
- Automated tools
- Review site with keyboard only
- Review site with screenreader, if available
- Have impaired users test your site
- Headings used appropriately
Tools
Cynthia Says
- by HiSoftware
- Returns long table, listed by checkpoint, if web page passed that checkpoint or not
- Select WCAG levels or Section 508
- Included in Firefox Developer Toolbar
A-Prompt
- Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, University of Toronto
- Computer application–Windows only
- Performs automatic repairs
- Select WCAG levels or Section 508
Watchfire WebXACT
- Used to be known as Bobby
- Besides accessibility checks, it gives:
- Page download size
- Metadata summary
- Broken links
- Browser compatibility
Firefox Web Developer Toolbar
- turn on/off CSS
- validate XHTML and CSS
- disable javascript
- hide images, display alt tags
- resize browser
- edit CSS
- much, much more!
Accessibility Toolbar
- IE only
- validate XHTML and CSS
- resize browser
- toggle javascript, images/alt
- heading structure
WAVE from WebAIM
- four ways to use Accessibility checker
Lynx viewer
- by Yellowpipe Internet Services
- Just enter URL and give your Lynx text-only rendering
- Also can download and install Lynx application
Opera
- “User Mode” with text browser emulator and more
- Easily turn off images
- Screen sizing
Firefox Speech Browser Extensions
- Foxy Voice – http://foxyvoice.kenche.info/
- Fire Vox http://www.firevox.clcworld.net
- Fangs – Emulator (uses text)
- http://sourceforge.net/projects/fangs
Mobile Web Emulators
- Openwave Phone Simulator
- Nokia Emulator
- Pocket PC – Mobile Windows emulator
The National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) based in Boston, Massachusetts, has released “Accessible Digital Media – Design Guidelines for Electronic Publications, Multimedia and the Web“.
The CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) is a research and development facility dedicated to the issues of media and information technology for people with disabilities in their homes, schools, workplaces, and communities.
The guidelines offer a step-by-step approach to making a variety of electronic media accessible to users with sensory disabilities.
If you don’t know him yet, Paul Boag is a web standards and accessibility enthusiast from the UK who runs a very popular web site boagworld.com (blog, forum, and podcast). Paul is a founding partner of Headscape development company. He is speaking at the Refresh06 conference next month in Orlando, Florida.
Download Episode 31 (Interview with Paul Boag)
Links:
Federal judge sustains discrimination claims against Target; precedent establishes that retailers must make their websites accessible to the blind under the ADA.
A federal district court judge ruled yesterday that a retailer may be sued if its website is inaccessible to the blind. The ruling was issued in a case brought by the National Federation of the Blind against Target Corp. The suit charges that Target’s website is inaccessible to the blind, and therefore violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. (ADA), the California Unruh Civil Rights Act, and the California Disabled Persons Act.
Hoorah!