Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI)

Web Accessibility Conformance Testing Process*

A conformance evaluation determines if a web site meets accessibility standards.

The CSU uses Section 508 Standards for Web-based Intranet and Internet Information and Applications (1194.22) as its baseline.

The conformance evaluation method requires:

  • familiarity with web mark-up languages (such as HTML),
  • access to and skill with a variety of evaluation tools and approaches, and
  • knowledge and experience in web accessibility.

1. Define the scope of the evaluation

For this initial implementation, the scope is defined on two levels:

  • A. Baseline accessibility conformance data for the entire main campus website.
  • B. Evaluation and remediation of the top 20 most accessed pages defined as urls

A. Gather baseline data of the accessibility of the entire main campus site including all pages at a base URL (e.g. www.csueastbay.edu) via an automatic evaluation. (A web evaluation and monitoring tool such as Hi Software will be needed to conduct this assessment.) Campuses will be expected to show improvements in web site accessibility over time. A process for documenting periodic evaluations and fixes is strongly recommended.

B. Campuses are directed to select the top 20 (most accessed or the most critical) web pages on their main campus site and test these pages for conformance to Section 508 standards using both automated evaluation and manual testing processes. Pages frequented by individuals with disabilities should also be included should these pages not fall in the selected 20. A page is defined as a single url.

In selecting the 20 pages, consider the following

  • Include all pages on which people are more likely to enter your site ("home page," etc.)
  • Include a variety of pages with different layouts and functionality, for example:
    • Web pages with tables, forms, or dynamically generated results;
    • Web pages with informative images such as diagrams or graphs;
    • Web pages with scripts or applications that perform functionality

2. Use web accessibility evaluation tools for automatic or semi-automatic evaluation

A. Use the Web accessibility evaluation tool (such as Hi Software) and run across entire Web site. Note the problems indicated by the tools.

B. Validate markup including syntax and style sheets, using all applicable validators, on the 20 selected pages.

3. Manually evaluate the selected pages using the accessibility checklist

Use WebAIM Section 508 checklist for Web Accessibility and for Software Accessibility for Scripts, Plug-ins and Java to evaluate the accessibility of the 20 selected pages.

4. Examine the selected pages using graphical browsers

Examine the pages with

  • different graphical user interface browsers (such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Netscape Navigator, Opera, Safari, or others),
  • in different versions (latest, older),
  • on different platforms (Windows, Linux, Mac) and make the following adjustments:
    • Turn off images, and check whether appropriate alternative text is available.
    • Turn off the sound, and make sure audio content is still available through text equivalents.
    • Use browser controls to vary font-size: verify that the font size changes on the screen accordingly; and that the page is still usable at larger font sizes.
    • Test with different screen resolution, and/or by resizing the application window to less than maximum, to verify that horizontal scrolling is not required (caution: test with different browsers, or examine code for absolute sizing, to ensure that it is a content problem not a browser problem).
    • Change the display color to gray scale (or print out page in gray scale or black and white) and observe whether the color contrast is adequate.
    • Without using the mouse, use the keyboard to navigate through the links and form controls on a page (for example, using the "Tab" key), making sure that you can access all links and form controls, and that the links clearly indicate what they lead to.
    • Determine if page still maintains core functionality when scripts, style sheets, applets, and other embedded objects are turned off.

Note: Browser extensions and other plug-in evaluation tools (such as AIS Toolbar for Internet Explorer, WAVE Toolbar for Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Netscape Navigator, or Web Developer Extension for Firefox) provide functionality to help perform many of these manual checks.

Note: For reviewers who have disabilities, certain of the following tasks may need to be done with another person who does not have the same disability.

5. Examine pages using specialized tools and assistive technology

Examine the selected sample of pages with one text browser (such as Lynx) and one voice browser (such as Home Page Reader) and answer the following questions:

With text browser:

  • Is equivalent information and function (for example, links and scripted events) available through the text browser as is available through the GUI browser?
  • Is the information presented in a meaningful order when read serially?

With voice browser:

  • Is equivalent information available through the voice browser as is available through the GUI browser?
  • Is the information presented in a meaningful order when spoken serially?

6. Read and evaluate page content

Read over the selected pages: is the text cslear and simple to the extent appropriate for the purpose of the Web site? (For English sites, consider using Clear Language and Design (CLAD) test.)

7. Summarize and report findings

Summarize any problems and best practices identified for each page type and a representative URL, and method by which they were identified.

*The content of this document is excerpted from the W3C article "Conformance Evaluation of Web Sites for Accessibility

Copyright © [$date-of-document] World Wide Web Consortium, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics, Keio University). All Rights Reserved. http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/2002/copyright-documents-20021231 Last updated 2005/09/16