Web Accessibility Evaluation

There are many methods and software tools available to help you check the accessibility of your site. This tutorial looks at two programs that evaluate your Website. Look at our list of evaluation tools for many options and see which one is right for you or your organiziation.

This tutorial is designed to assist  you in determining whether your Web page meets the section 508 Federal Guidelines for Accessibility. The evaluation is broken up into the following two parts: Part 1 consists of accessibility problems that programs can automatically detect for you. Part 2 consists of manual checks that you will need to do yourself.

• I don't know much about HTML or how to create Web pages, but I want to check my site for accessibility.

  You probably will want to use a FREE evaluation tool called Bobby for the first part of the evaluation. Using Bobby is easy and straightforward. The program can be used online through your Web browser.

  Continue with the evaluation using Bobby.

• I am new to Web accessibility and I am a Web page designer (or someone who makes some simple Web pages). I would like to check a site for accessibility and then fix the problems myself.

  If you are using a Windows operating system, you may want to use A-Prompt for the first part of the evaluation. It is a free downloadable program that runs on your computer. A-Prompt is made available through the joint efforts of the University of Toronto's Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC) and the TRACE Center at the University of Wisconsin

  Continue with the evaluation using A-Prompt.