Web Accessibility Tools
A very important step in developing accessible content is to test your content using one of the many accessibility tools available. We've compiled a list of the most widely used web accessibility tools which can be a great resource in both the testing and learning process.
- Cynthia Says
Offers a software tool that identifies web design errors related to either Section 508 or W3C standards and Web accessibility guidelines. A free online version is available as well as a desktop version for purchase. HiSoftware content quality solutions provide “out-of-the-box” testing and reporting for Accessibility, Privacy, Searchability and Usability standards, empowering organizations to keep up with ever-changing Web technologies and standards. - InFocus
The InFocus Suite is an integrated solution for implementing and monitoring accessibility enhancements for Web sites and Web applications.
- FAE
The Functional Accessibility Evaluator (FAE), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, analyzes web resources for markup that is consistent with the use of CITES/DRES HTML Best Practices for development of functionally accessible web resources that also support interoperability. - WebXact
Provides a software tool that checks html against 508 web accessibility guidelines which generates a report on the accessibility of each web page. It is available as a free online service or can be purchased for use on a local machine. - Vischeck
Offers an online tool that will show you what an image or a Web site looks like to a color blind person. - Lynx Viewer
Offers a downloadable text-only browser that enables web developers to see how their sites will appear as plain text. - MAGpie
Provides a media access generator that creates captions and audio descriptions for multimedia content. It can be downloaded as freeware. - W3C
Has an extensive listing of tools -- evaluation, repair and transformation for web accessibility. - The Opera browser allows users to see what their pages look like when someone with low vision zooms in or when images are not loaded.
- The Firefox browser offers a developer plug-in menu that allows CSS, images, colors, animation, java and javascript to be disabled to test for accessibility as well as built in developer validation tools.