Silktide is a website testing platform that works by scanning publicly available website content and checking it against certain criteria. MSU has purchased Silktide for the primary purpose of checking university websites for digital accessibility. The platform includes other useful tools such as a spell checker and broken link checker.
This page covers how to access Silktide, how to get started with learning to use the platform, and other features and parameters for MSU Silktide users.
Users can log in to Silktide with their MSU Net ID and password. The system uses single sign-on.
The Digital Accessibility Team can grant access to Silktide. Please contact Josie Milkint to request access. Silktide users will have access to all websites in their college or unit that are currently loaded into the system.
Silktide access is suggested for unit digital accessibility liaisons, website editors and developers, and communications staff.
Silktide Academy contains videos and articles about how to use the platform and about digital accessibility topics.
Silktide beginners should plan to complete the "Getting started with Silktide" course (21 minutes). Navigate to "Academy" in the top menu, then "Courses" in the sub menu to find this course.
Initial website scans are limited to 100 pages per website. This number can be increased upon request to cover all pages in a site.
If any websites are missing, or if you see sites that don’t "belong" to your MAU, please let us know. This includes sites that may be joint with another unit. We can also fix website titles if needed.
Please note that Silktide covers 30-40% of the WCAG standard. A website that reaches 100% on Silktide may still require manual testing to be fully accessible.
For basic system use, click a website and then click “Accessibility” and “Checks.” (This is necessary because Silktide has sections unrelated to accessibility including Content, Marketing, User Experience, Privacy, and Policies.) Drill into any Accessibility Check to learn more about it. Click “View in the inspector” to see an issue on the web page or in the code.
The Accessibility section of a selected website includes the following features:
A custom dashboard called Websites List presents data on WCAG 2.2 Level A and Level AA compliance for all websites associated with a unit. The data can be filtered by a specific website or websites, or by tags associated with specific content management systems (Sitecore, for example). Navigate to “Dashboards” in the top menu to access this dashboard.
Silktide also has a free browser extension available on Chrome and Edge. This toolbar is available to everyone, even those without a Silktide account. This checker "tests any web page for over 200 WCAG issues, and gives straightforward, step-by-step guidance on how to improve web accessibility."
Please note that Google Chrome extensions cannot be installed while signed in to the browser with an MSU Google account. The Silktide toolbar can be installed in a Chrome profile that is not logged into an MSU account.
Metrics generated by Silktide are available on the Accessibility Dashboard. A Silktide Accessibility Score is included and presented alongside the university average. The score can be filtered by each individual website belonging to the unit. The score is based on WCAG 2.2 Level AA.
Units have two options for sharing their websites with their vendor in Silktide. If the vendor has a NetID or affiliate ID, they can log in to Silktide. In this case, please contact Josie Milkint to facilitate access to relevant websites for vendors with active IDs.
The second option for providing Silktide website accessibility information to vendors is to use the Share buttons within Silktide. Share buttons are available on many of the Silktide screens, in or near the main navigation. Selecting “Share” from the Accessibility Overview page will prompt the creation of a share link. The recipient of the link can navigate with view-only access to, for example, the Checks and Pages content in the Accessibility section. A Share button is also available when specific Checks or Pages are open in the Silktide Inspector.