Validation and accessibility

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[rossco]

Hey folks,

Could someone tell me which would be the best way to validate and test to see if you site meets accessibility standards?  I have used google and the tests are some what non user friendly.

My site validates using W3C validator but that's only testing to see if the structure of the coding is correct, am i right? 

I'm wondering which tools you professionals use for testing your sites, if you do at all.

Thanks!

Ross

[Dimmy]

I use the developers toolbar for firefox in that one below tools you can validate alsmost anythink form html to css an accessibility
the one used ther is http://www.cynthiasays.com/

[dev_cw]

A also use the tools from the developers toolbar for FF for this. it is very handy.

[smashingred]

There are absolutely NO automated tools for fixing accessibility issues. These tools can point to issues in your code that you should look at but some are just plain silly.

Some will tell you that you need a non-null value for alt for an image but if the image is a decoration that doesn't add information or other value to the content it will be annoying and extraneous for users. In addition most validators have no way to tell if they contrast is too low, if people with colourblindess can use the site if the text is too small.

That being said, use the HTMLValidator Extension for Firefox has a decent checker but you need to review the site for many different types of accessibility and usability.

Cheers,

Jay

[rossco]

Thanks all for your replies.

I generally only use W3C HTML,  CSS validation and link-check... would you think that is good enough for an automated check of your site and then get a group of individuals to check it out for real life evaluation?

[charliez]

The MODx community makes an excellent "group of individuals to check it out for real life evaluation"...

[Greg]

There's this french website that proposes to evaluate your website based on accessibility standards :
http://www.accessiweb.org/fr/accessibilite_web/Evaluez_votre_Site/

The complete list of tests is available at http://www.accessiweb.org/fr/guide_accessiweb/guide-accessiweb-ref-accessiweb_v11_deploye.html

After they evaluate how many tests you passed, they'll give you a rank (bronze, silver, gold) that you can precise on your website.

I don't know if they can evaluate foreign websites, but maybe your country of origin has a similar association, that promotes accessibility on the web...

[smashingred]

Again, Accessibility can only check certain things but it is up to you to ensure that the results are useful to the end user. Learning or reading the Accessibility guidelines is a good step another is to do the validation and with the errors try to make changes that make sense. Again most Accessibility software can't make logic decisions for you.

Cheers,

Jay