Web Historical Disclaimer:

This is a historical page and is no longer maintained. Read our Web history statement for more information.

Skip to Main ContentThe University of Texas at Austin
Accessibility Institute
Making the Web more usable for everyone
 

Home

Consulting

Resources

Research

About Us

Site Map

Accessibility Links

Accessibility Evaluation and Repair Tools

These evaluation tools check the pages of your site for valid markup, accessibility, and browser compatibility.

  1. TxReadability Opens a new window is a multi-language readability tool that assesses the ease with which text is read. This tool serves as a quantitative gauge for users to determine whether their written text or Web content is suitable for their target audience.
  2. Bobby Opens a new window is used to analyze Web sites to determine areas of inaccessibility in accordance with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Access Initiative and/or Section 508 guidelines Opens a new window from the U.S. Federal Government's Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board.
  3. The WAVE Opens a new window is a free online tool that checks to see if your Web page is compliant with accessibility guidelines. Type in a web page address and the WAVE will provide instant accessibility feedback.
  4. A-PROMPT Opens a new window is an evaluation and repair tool developed jointly by Toronto’s Adaptive Technology Resource Center and Wisconsin’s Trace Research & Development Center.
  5. HTML-Kit Opens a new window is a powerful Web-authoring tool for more advanced users that performs several important functions, including HTML validation and conversion to XHTML. It also cleans up extraneous HTML code generated when Microsoft Office documents are saved as Web pages. The resulting code is more accessible.
  6. Microsoft Powerpoint WWW Accessibility Wizard Opens a new window was developed by the Division of Education-Rehabilitation Services at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. to convert Powerpoint presentations into accessible Web-based presentations.
  7. The WAI’s Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group Opens a new window maintains a frequently-updated list of free and commercial evaluation and repair tools.

Authoring Tools

Authoring tools support the production of accessible Web content by generating valid markup automatically, checking the accessibility of content, and prompting the author for necessary changes.

  1. IBM’s Home Page Builder Opens a new window includes a configurable accessibility checker, and much of its extensive functionality is accessible from the keyboard.
  2. Macromedia’s Dreamweaver MX includes features that remind and encourage accessible web development. They have also created accessibility templates Opens a new window .
  3. Microsoft Office Web Publishing Accessibility Wizard was developed by the Division of Education-Rehabilitation Services at The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This tool steps Powerpoint, Word, and Excel authors through the process of converting Office documents into accessible Web-based presentations Opens a new window .

Accessible Multimedia Tools

These tools can support the production of accessible multimedia content such as closed caption and descriptive video.

  1. National Center for Accessible Media's MAGpie Opens a new window (Media Access Generator) is produced at WGBH (PBS) in Boston. MAGpie is a tool for producing closed caption, descriptive video, and outputting files in multiple formats including QuickTime, RealPlayer, SMIL and SAMI.
  2. Apple QuickTime Pro Opens a new window supports multiple tracks for video, audio, closed captioning, and description.
  3. SMIL Opens a new window (Synchronized Media Integration Language) enables authors to control the precise time at which a sentence is spoken to coincide with display of a given image. SMIL is a W3C specification for coordinating synchronized display of multiple media tracks such as video, audio, captions, descriptions. SMIL is an XML application. RealPlayer 8 Basic can play SMIL documents, allowing users to toggle audio descriptions and captions on and off.

Online Information and Tutorials

  1. Web Accessibility for Section 508 Opens a new window is an online accessibility course by Jim Thatcher that includes a comparison chart with side-by-side views of Section 508 requirements and related WCAG Checkpoints.
  2. Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Opens a new window Web site, maintained by Jim Allan, Webmaster and Statewide Technical Specialist, provides information on a broad range of accessibility topics.
  3. Adaptive Technology Resource Center Opens a new window , at the University of Toronto is a wide-ranging research and development program related to adaptive technologies for persons with disabilities, including excellent work on Web and software accessibility.
  4. National Center for Accessible Media Opens a new window (NCAM) has pioneered such important developments as closed captioning and descriptive video service, and continues to conduct innovative research on ways to make video and other media both interactive and accessible. NCAM’s MAGpie software for captioning and describing video is free to download.
  5. WebAim Opens a new window , Web Accessibility in Mind, offers tutorials training, accessible simulations, laws, guidelines and more. WebAim's 508 checklist Opens a new window provides detailed success/failure criteria to evaluate accessibility components of each 508 standard.
  6. WebSavvy Opens a new window from the University of Toronto contains tutorials and other information on accessible design, including Flash.
  7. Introduction to Flash Accessibility Opens a new window by Bob Regan, Director of Product Accessibility at Macromedia, Inc. is an EASI Webcast with links to audio-only and text transcript.
  8. Lighthouse International Opens a new window ’s guides to improved legibility through font selection and effective use of color and contrast include “Simple Steps to More Readable Type through Universal Graphic Design” Opens a new window and “Making Text Legible: Designing for People with Partial Sight” Opens a new window.
  9. Safe web colours for colour-deficient vision Opens a new window by Christine Rigdon of British Telecom presents guidelines for selecting Web colors that work for people who have difficulty seeing certain colors.
  10. Captioning FAQ Opens a new window is a guide to closed captioning by the Media Access Group at WGBH-TV in Boston, the PBS station that pioneered closed captioning for television in the early 1970s.
  11. Trace Research and Development Center Opens a new window at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. is a leading center for research on information technology and people with disabilities.
  12. International Center for Disability Resources on the Internet Opens a new window is a resource page with listings of government, industry, and academic resources related to federal accessibility standards as defined by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
  13. Microsoft’s Enable Opens a new window provides information about Microsoft tools for accessible design, plus links to information about Microsoft’s Active Accessibility (MSAA) Application Programming Interface (API) for Windows.
  14. UseIt! Opens a new window is a Web site maintained by Jakob Neilsen, a leading usability expert who has written some useful pointers about accessible design.
  15. Macromedia’s Flash MX Accessibility page Opens a new window includes links to a training video and other resources for creating accessible Flash movies using Flash MX.
 
Last Modified: 2008 September 28