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Evaluation & Validation

Evaluation & Validation

Accessibility Evaluation Tools

There are a number of tools that make it easier to evaluate the accessibility of a website or document. This list is not exhaustive, and we welcome suggestion. MSU Usability/Accessibility Research and Consulting offers a comprehensive evaluation on a fee-for-service basis.

Browser Plugins and Extensions

Firefox Extensions

AInspector Sidebar: Toolbar to check navigation, alternative text, and more
Firebug: Web development tool for live code inspection
Juicy Studio Accessibility Toolbar: Examine WAI-ARIA live regions, data tables, and color contrast
Web Developer Toolbar: Powerful development toolbar that can inspect images, forms, tables, and more

Chrome Extensions

Web Developer Toolbar: Chrome version of the Firefox Web Developer Toolbar
Color Contast Analyzer: Checks the complete web page presentation for edge contrast.

Internet Explorer Plugins

Web Accessibility Toolbar: Similar to the Firefox Web Developer Toolbar

Online Tools

ATRC Web Accessibility Checker: Automated WCAG 2.0 evaluation tool (note that all automated tools are extremely limited in ability to identify violations)
Colorblind Web Page Filter: Simulates how individuals with different types of color blindness see your website
W3C CSS Validation Service: Checks CSS for code validity
W3C Markup Validation Service: Checks HTML/XHTML for code validity
WebAIM WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool): Graphical automated WCAG 2.0 evaluation tool (note that all automated tools are extremely limited in ability to identify violations)
Functional Accessibility Evaluator (FAE) 2.0: Site crawler generates site report based on WCAG 2.0 success criteria. Scans for ARIA specifications as well.

Screen Readers

Freedom Scientific JAWS for Windows: Popular screen reader for Windows
NVDA Screen Reader: Popular free screen reader for Windows

Standalone Tools

Colour Contrast Analyser: Tool to determine whether color contrast is sufficient