Open Source Tools for Evaluating and Inspecting Web Accessibility

Media

Presented at 8:00am in Cotton Creek I on Thursday, November 17, 2016.

Speaker(s)

• Jon Gunderson, Coordinator of IT Accessibility, University of Illinois

Session Details

• Length of Session: 1-hr
• Format:
• Expertise Level: Expert
• Type of session: General Conference

Summary

Functional Accessibility Evaluator 2.0 , AInspector Sidebar and Accessibility Bookmarklets are open source tools to analyze individual web pages and complete websites for accessibility features related to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level A and AA requirements.

Abstract

AInspector Sidebar for Firefox and the Functional Accessibility Evaluator 2.0 are open source tools that use the javascript based OpenAjax evaluation library and rule set for evaluating WCAG 2.0 level A and AA requirements. The OpenAjax evaluation library and rules are designed to help developers understand the accessibility of dynamic web applications and how to use ARIA and HTML 5 technologies to make their web applications more accessibility. One important aspect of the tools are their ability to filter the WCAG 2.0 requirements to just the requirements associated with the technologies use on a particular web page. For example, if no elements on a web page are associated with rendering of video or audio content the WCAG 2.0 requirements for audio and video will be reported as not applicable. Accessibility Bookmarklets provide a way to visualize the accessibility features of the website by highlighting elements on the page and providing basic information on accessibility.

Keypoints

1. HTML4, HTML5 and ARIA techniques for meeting WCAG 2.0 requirements
2. Using site-wide summary reports for planning, managing and reporting web accessibility
3. Inspecting the accessibility of an individual web page

Disability Areas

Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Mobility, Vision

Topic Areas

Web/Media/App Access

Speaker Bio(s)

Jon Gunderson

Dr. Jon Gunderson is the Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology Accessibility in the Division of Disability Resources and Education Services (DRES) at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, Illinois. He leads the development of open source web accessibility evaluation tools and coding practices resources to help web designers and developers understand accessible coding techniques. He is a member of the W3C ARIA Working Group has been a major contributor to the ARIA Authoring Practices and is a contributor to the ARIA Assistive Technology community group to test ARIA implementation in assistive technologies. He has given numerous presentations, workshops and courses related to web accessibility. He is a Certified Professional in Web Accessibility (CPWA) form the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP).