Product Review
Web Accessibility Test Tools
Originally posted August 5, 2008
The Web Accessibility Toolbar can help you test your web pages for accessibility.
- Web Developer extention for Firefox
- Web Accessibility Toolbar for IE
After downloading and installing the Web Accessibility Toolbar, you will
see the menu options.
- WAT – Update function and documentation
- Check – Quick check tools
- Resize – Convenient browser window resize tools
- CSS – Options to disable or enable parts of CSS
- Images – Options to explore alternative text information for images
- Colour – Options to test page color contrast
- Structure – Tools to analyze page structure
- Tables – Tools to analyze table structure
- Frames – Tools to analyze frame structure
- Doc Info – Information about page
- Source – Tools to view source
- IE – Tools for IE accessibility standards
- Log – Open a log for note taking
- FireFox – Open this window in FireFox
- Opera – Open this window in Opera
IBM Research has tools available to check your web site for accessibility. The accessibilityWorks tool works dynamically with the browser to check and correct the web page without human intervention.
It is not clear how these tools work with dynamically generated pages or how these tools can auto-correct alternative text for images. Web 2.0 remains a challenge for these tools as well. Web 2.0 tools should provide a means for page authors to add alternative information where appropriate.
Apple’s 3Q New Products
Originally posted July 28, 2008
Jason D. O’Grady & David Morgenstern posted an interesting blog entry on ZDNet today, “Mystry Solved: Apple’s New Product is iTablet”. They are guessing that the 3Q announcement of new products will include this touch-screen tablet PC that utilizes 100 patents and parts of other products like iPhone. If they are right and this product is to be introduced and be successful, it could mean:
- The mouse could be dead – no need for a mouse with touch-screen gesture technology.
- Typing could be revolutionized – view specific keyboards could be introduced by each application.
- Navigation could be enhanced – with new standard gestures.
- Alternative views could be provided – with gestures and new application standard components.
- Context specific views/shortcuts could be created – taking advantage of smaller UI real estate.
This should be fun to see if this is a good guess and if so how it affects User Interfaces for accessibility.
Firefox 3.0 Supports WAI-ARIA
Originally posted July 17, 2008
With Firefox 3.0 came a big accessibility enhancement in the form of WAI-ARIA (Web Accessibility Initiative – Accessible Rich Internet Applications) support. Internet Explorer, Safari and others have committed to support this browser standard. We will see when this happens. When I went to Firefox 3.0 help I found nothing about WAI-ARIA. I did find help for using a keyboard, using a mouse, fonts and colors, controlling web content and compatibility with assistive technologies. The sections on using a keyboard and fonts and colors were quite helpful and, I think, useful.
Browser accessibility can help third party application writers like DigitalChalk develop more accessible applications. Let’s keep encouraging browser development teams to make progress with the WAI-ARIA.
IBM Research Introduces Breakthrough for Visually Impaired
Originally posted July 8, 2008
IBM announced software to help the visually impaired report web site pages that are missing alternative text information to a database. Web site developers can then add the missing information making the web site pages accessible. The missing information is stored in a central database managed by IBM. IBM Research in Tokyo hopes this will help the Web site owner maintain the site. I don’t know if the software notifies the site owner or if the alternative information is checked for appropriate information. Malicious contributors could add invalid or obscene atlernative text. I like the idea behind this software if the original Web site is protected from malicious contributors.