Is it possible to test a website for Section 508 compliance?

close up of hand and fingers tracing braille page

 

 

Yes! Creating an accessible website requires a degree of technical knowledge, and a willingness to learn new ways of creating web-based information. There are a number of free and commercial products that help automate accessibility compliance.  Some products are built into web page editing systems.  Other products offer free web-based accessibility checkers that will give you an automated assessment based on a web address.  These tools are valuable aids for the web designer.

There are numerous free online accessibility checkers.  Here are several of the best:

WebXACT (formerly Bobby) is a free online service that lets you test single pages of web content for quality, accessibility, and privacy issues. http://webxact.watchfire.com

LIFT from UsableNet.com, is a power-tool for professional page designers. LIFT Online will provide you with a free 5-page accessibility report. UsableNet.com provides versions of LIFT for most popular website editing systems. http://www.usablenet.com

Wave 3.0 from Webaim is an online tool that checks for both W3C and Section 508 compliance. You enter the web address of the page in question to generate a report.  The description of accessibility issues is less technical than reports from Bobby or Lift. http://wave.webaim.org/index.jsp

 

screen shot of wave 3.0 accessibility tool page.

Authored by Dennis O'Connor 2003-2007