ABA Banking Journal – June 21, 2018
A group of 103 lawmakers yesterday wrote to Attorney General Jeff Sessions seeking further clarity on how the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to websites. The letter came in response to numerous demand letters that banks and other businesses have received from plaintiffs’ firms asserting that websites are not accessible to speech and hearing impaired customers, as required by ADA.
As a follow up to our article titled Best Automated Accessibility Assessment Tools, we decided to focus on accessibility tools that are particularly useful for Web developers. In this article we’ll discuss these free tools, and how they can help to streamline your development process.
Web-AIM’s Color Contrast Checker displays the contrast ratio between foreground text and background colors to help designers select combinations for maximum readability and accessibility.
Web-AIM’s checker takes two hex color values, and displays the contrast ratio between them. The checker also displays pass/fail values for WCAG priority AA and AAA compliance. WCAG 2.0 priority AA compliance requires a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 while WCAG 2.0 AAA requires a contrast ratio of 7:1.
Learn more about Web-AIMs Color Contrast Checker
NonVisual Desktop Access, or NVDA, is a free screen reader for Windows PCs. NVDA is one of the most popular screen readers — with over a quarter of respondents in WEB-AIMs Screen Reader User Survey #7 using NVDA (https://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey7/) .
There is a bit of a learning cure for using NVDA screen reader, as there are many keyboard commands to learn to become proficient with this technology. There is no better tool though to get a real-world picture of website accessibility. By using NVDA screen reader, developers can test website navigation systems, web forms, and other page elements to ensure that they work seamlessly with assistive technology devices and a keyboard only.
Web-AIM has published a quick start guide titled Using NVDA to Evaluate Web Accessibility for developers looking to incorporate NVDA into their accessibility testing process.
No list of accessibility tools would be complete without mentioning Web-AIM’s Wave Accessibility Evaluation Tool. This free tool is the most comprehensive automated assessment tool available today. Wave will scan your pages for WCAG 2.0 failures, and analyze color contrast for page elements to alert you to any potential contrast problems.
Wave is easy to use, and includes both graphical and code views to help you easily identify the source of WCAG 2.0 failures and warnings.
If you’re using Chrome browser, there is also a FREE extension for the Color Contrast Checker in Chrome’s web store .
Learn more about Wave Accessibility Evaluation Tool
The W3C’s HTML and CSS validators are essential tools for identifying markup and structural errors on your pages. The W3C’s Markup Validation Service and CSS Validator allow you to scan pages for markup errors by URI, file upload or by direct input. Both tools displays validation errors and warnings by line number to allow you to easily identify and fix errors in your HTML and CSS code.
Learn more about the W3C’s HTML and CSS validators:
The W3C, Web-AIM, and NV Access provide excellent tools for web developers to validate, scan and test web content for accessibility barriers. The tools that we’ve covered can be used throughout the development process to identify potential barriers, and to ensure that websites work seamlessly with assistive technology devices.
With so many free tools available, it’s easier than ever to integrate accessibility testing and validation into your team’s development process.
Aurora provides training and professional development for website developers, designers, and content managers. Our training series cover: WCAG 2.0, accessible development techniques, and testing procedures to help development teams get up to speed on accessibility.
Automated Accessibility Assessment tools are a great way to begin a comprehensive review of accessibility—and can help you identify critical accessibility issues with your website. These tools can help you identify common accessibility problems such as missing alt text, low contrast elements, invalid HTML/CSS markup, and more. Several of these automated tools also include markup warnings and manual checks for further testing. All of the tools included in this review are free web-based services.
Please note that the tools listed below are only a starting point to help you identify potential accessibility problems with your Website. A complete review should always include manual testing with a screen reader or other assistive technology device to insure usability and accessibility.
The W3Cs Markup Validation service is an excellent starting point for any accessibility review. This tool scans your site for invalid markup based upon the type of source document (XHTML, HTML5, etc)—and returns any validation errors or warnings. The service is free, and there are no limits to how many pages you can test. The W3C also offers a premium service called W3C Validator Suite which will check your entire website for validation errors.
Learn more about the W3C HTML validator
Once you’ve tested your site with the W3Cs markup validation service—you’ll want to test your CSS to make sure that it’s valid. The W3Cs markup validation tool accepts the URL of a webpage and scans all of the CSS files linked from a web page. The CSS validator returns a list of valid CSS declarations and any errors encountered during the scan. It’s important to fix CSS errors identified during this process as they can pose problems for assistive technology devices.
Learn more about the W3C CSS validator
Wave’s Evaluation tool is an excellent choice for automated accessibility reviews. It features a graphical display of accessibility warnings and errors that is easy to read. The scanner includes filters for WCAG A, AA, and AAA compliance, and allows you to preview your site without styles or with user-specified styles. Wave’s evaluation tool also includes contrast warnings to insure that your pages are readable by users with low vision.
Learn more about Wave accessibility tool
A11ygator is a web-based automated accessibility evaluation tool that includes WCAG 2.0 priority A, AA, and AAA guidelines. WCAG failures and manual checks are clearly identified in an easy to read accessibility report. Also, there is a Chrome extension for A11ygator so that you can test pages directly in your Web browser.
Automated Accessibility scans are an integral part of any assessment strategy. They provide a first line of defense to quickly identify accessibility barriers, and can help you streamline website accessibility assessment. When combined with manual reviews (including tests with assistive technology devices)—these tools can help you meet or exceed your accessibility compliance goals.
Aurora Design and Consulting provides Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 Compliance Testing to help you meet your compliance goals.
Tackling accessibility compliance can be a daunting task. Businesses and non-profit organizations looking to achieve compliance are often left wondering where to begin. This article will cover tips for getting started with website accessibility to help you on the road to achieving your compliance goals.
Whether you’re navigating the complexity of accessibility laws, or working on a strategy to achieve compliance, it’s important to have a plan and document everything during the process. Here are some questions to consider:
Answering these questions will help you to identify technology assets, determine an appropriate level of accessibility compliance, engage and communicate with stakeholders, and develop a plan to achieve compliance.
Depending on the size of your organization, information technology assets can be spread across departments, agencies, and divisions. Getting an inventory of these assets, is critical to beginning any accessibility initiative.
Ask your IT support team for an inventory of your technology assets. Information technology systems impacted by accessibility regulations include:
An accessibility policy is critical to any accessibility initiative. A good accessibility policy lays the foundation for a successful accessibility campaign, and communicates your organization’s accessibility goals to all stakeholders.
An organization accessibility policy should include:
Refer to the W3C’s Developing Organizational Policies on Web Accessibility for more information about developing an accessibility policy.
Meet with stakeholders including your IT support team, leadership, and administrators to discuss implementation of your new accessibility policy. Discuss stakeholder responsibilities, target conformance level, systems impacted, and your target date for accessibility conformance.
Develop an implementation plan for your organization. A good implementation plan should include:
Engage third-party accessibility solutions providers as needed to streamline the compliance process, and move forward with your accessibility implementation plan.
Take the worry out of compliance with our website accessibility compliance solutions.