Validation References

• Validate accessibility with automatic tools and human review - W3C. Automated methods are generally rapid and convenient but cannot identify all accessibility issues. Human review can help ensure clarity of language and ease of navigation.
• Make sure your document validates to formal published grammar - Bobby
• Create documents that validate to published formal grammars - W3C. "In general the overall accessibility of any Web page will be improved if you adhere to the standards for the web-presentation language you are using. The major reason for this is that most developers of Assistive technology or accessible web technology have based their accessibility features on the premise that content authors are following the standards."
• Validation - W3C
• A-Prompt (Accessibility Prompt) - A tool developed to assist Web authors in improving the accessibility and usability of HTML documents. It is made available through a joint collaboration between the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC) at the University of Toronto and the TRACE Center at the University of Wisconsin. A-Prompt is based on the guidelines for accessibility which are created and maintained by the Web Access Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium. You can configure it to check a page for Section 508 and/or varying levels (A-AAA) of the W3C WAI priorities. It tends to explain checkpoints and walks you through how to fix them (for ones you must check manually.) The program allows a user to make revisions to a Web page without opening the source code, (if desired.) This means that even someone who is not comfortable with HTML should be able to use this and fix Web pages. Since it doesn't fix or change the source code automatically, those who are comfortable with their source code can modify it as they desire. Although it's free, it's currently only available for the Windows platform. Also, you must download the program. (There's no online utility.) A-prompt is one of the best repair tools available. At the end of the day though an intelligent, knowledgeable human being is the best repair tool.
• Tidy - HTML utility that checks and cleans up HTML to conform to W3C standards.
• W3c Validation Service
• Bobby - The Center for Applied Special Technology's (CAST's) lint utility that will help you make web pages accessible to those with disabilities. It analyzes your web pages and checks for those accessibility problems that can be checked for automatically. It is a good first pass for checking your web pages. You can run Bobby over the web, or download a copy to your computer that checks multiple pages at once. It is a good first pass for checking web pages. It identifies accessibility issues by priority level and provides hyperlinks to more detailed explanations and sample code. Not all errors that Bobby finds are Section 508 related. The best method for using Bobby for 508 is to get to know the Section 508 paragraphs, then run your pages through Bobby and compare the results to the Section 508 paragraphs, then fix any Section 508 related errors. (Priority 1 section of the report may be used with manual checking of 508 items m, n, o, p.)
• Dreamweaver 508-Accessibility Kit - This Dreamweaver evaluation tool allows web pages to be "accessibility-checked" much in the same way as you "spell-check" a Word document. The extension covers Section 508 and level 1 W3C guidelines and a report can be run on one page, a complete web site, selected section or any folder. The user can select sub-groups of the guidelines to customize tests to run on different web pages. The extension allows the user to collect answers to manual tests and includes content that explains how to perform tests, why the problems found could be accessibility issues and explains with examples how the problem can be fixed. The extension links through to LIFT Online service from UsableNet.
• WAVE - Accessibility Tool From Temple. It was written by Dr. Len Kasday. WAVE helps people perform design tasks that require human judgment (e.g. "Does this ALT text provide a functional equivalent for this image?" "Does this reading order make sense?"). The Wave displays the ALT text of images and areas on the page for comparison with the images, provides numbered arrows to show the linearized reading order, and shows the HTML equivalent (if any) provided for applets. WAVE features that help users compare visual and textual representions are not directly useful to people who are blind; but the output is accessible so people who are blind can check the output for completeness.
• Home Page Reader - A good tool for web developers and designers who are looking for a speaking browser for testing pages. It will give you an idea of how the blind or visually impaired would experience your site. It also presents a Web page in two different views. It places the graphics view, a true rendering of the Web page, in the upper portion of the program window. Then, it shows a text view of the Web page in a window below that graphics view. Again, you'll gain an appreciation for what a blind user would hear when listening to your Web page. There is a free 30 day free demo available. It's currently only available for the Windows platform.
• Some Human Judgements Required for Section 508 Evaluation - Dr. Len Kasday
• Testing Your Pages - Amy Cowen
• Testing Script Generated Pages - " Since you generally can't validate your code directly on your script, you need to use your script to generate a page, and then view the source using your browser's view source command. Use this source page to run a validator on, or save it onto your server in a testing directory somewhere and use one of the online validators. This will often be enough to catch most or all the errors in a page." - Cari Burstein, Any Browser campaign.
• Measuring Compliance - Section 508 (Web) - JimThatcher
• Tools - To use these tools in the best way possible, get to know the Section 508 paragraphs, then use the tools to check your page(s). These tools do not repair your code, but they do provide you reports back on what does and doesn't need to be fixed, as relating to HTML 4.0, W3C, and general Accessibility issues - all which go beyond the expectations of Section 508.
• Testing

Staff Meeting Home Page | Intro Exercise | 508 Law | Improve Your Pages | References

© 1998-2025 Laura L. Carlson
Email: lcarlson@d.umn.edu
Department: Information Technology Systems and Services, University of Minnesota Duluth
Document Last Modified: 2006
Page URL: http:// www.d.umn.edu /~lcarlson/staffmeeting/validation.html

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.