Charlottesville SEO Web Development

About Web Accessibility Testing

The first web accessibility testing tool below provides an easy way to test any web page for compliance with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Guidelines, known as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), as well as compliance with United States Federal Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

The second link tests compliance only with Section 508.

The third link will take you to Cynthia Says, another popular free web accessibility testing tool. Cynthia Says enables you to test a site for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and Section 508 compliance. It is a bit less user friendly and more technically oriented than the first two accessibility testing tools.

No automated tool can provide thorough testing. Many elements will always require human review. Each testing tool has its own way of alerting you to elements that require human review. Tawdis (first link) shows these elements in the Human Review Column, and with color coded question marks positioned adjacent to the element that requires human review. Cynthia Says shows human-review elements as warnings.

If your site passes automated testing for Section 508 and WCAG Level AA, you're well on your way to providing an accessible web experience for handicapped visitors. If it passes WCAG Level AAA, give yourself a pat on the back. But, don't forget to do the human testing for whichever level you are targeting.

(Free) Web Accessibility Testing Resources

• Test any page for accessibility: WCAG Level 1,2 or 3 or Sec. 508 compliance -- free tool provided by tawdis.net (external link)
• Free web accessibility testing for Sec. 508 compliance by Hermish (external link)
• Free web accessibility testing tool: WCAG Level 1,2 or 3 and Section 508 by Cynthia Says (external link)

Test For Coding Errors - Web Programming Quality Assurance

• Test any web page for errors - free web page validation tool provided by W3C. (external link)

Suggested Reading: Web Accessibility

• Is Your Web Site Handicap-Accessible? -- Business Week article, Dec. 17, 2007 (external link)
• "World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative"; (WAI)
• "W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines"; (WCAG) (external link)
• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act: web accessibility law (external link)
• "Web Accessibility Introduction"; Univ. of Virginia's Information Technology & Communication guidelines for web accessibility (external link)
• American Bar Association web accessibility resources (external link)

Suggested Reading: Quality Assurance & Open Web Standards

• "Buy Standards Compliant Web Sites"; W3C article explains benefits and features of standards compliant sites (external link)
• "W3C Quality Assurance"; Web standards compliance helps your web site and your business (external link)

Business Web Sites

• "Put Your Company On The Web"; University of Missouri site -- unbiased examination of web site development for small business (external link)

Suggested Reading: CSS Web Design

• "CSS Zen Garden"; inspirational web designs; see how CSS is revolutionizing web site design and development (external link)

Web Design Directory

• Preferred Charlottesville, Virginia Website Designer at WebsiteDesignersList.com