Techniques for Accessibility, Evaluation and Repair Tools (AERT)

Web developers require evaluating the accessibility of their web pages and sites. Various Web accessibility evaluation tools are available to do so. These are software programs or online services that help to determine if a web site meets accessibility guidelines. Some tools also prompt the web developers to make specific repairs. There are some other tools which work automatically and follow links to evaluate multiple pages within a site or domain.

Uses of Evaluation Tools:

These tools help the user to:

Web accessibility evaluation tools can be effectively utilized throughout the various phases of a web sites development. For example at the early design stage, web designers may use tools that provide them information about the site structure, navigation, or look-and-feel performs with respect to accessibility requirements. During the implementation stage, developers may use tools that help them assess the accessibility of the underlying code which is generated by the Web authoring tools like editors, content management systems etc.

Accessibility and Evaluation Tools:

Based on the specific needs of the organization and the web site different tools with various characteristics and features may be used. Some of them are:

Limitations of these Tools:

Accessibility and evaluation tools require human evaluation. While Web accessibility evaluation tools can considerably reduce the time and effort to evaluate Web sites, no tool can automatically determine the accessibility of Web sites. These tools are useful for identifying the accessibility problems and they should also be supported by a manual inspection. For example, a software tool can identify when ALT text is missing, but it cannot determine if the text of an ALT tag is appropriate. In some instances, they might also provide misleading information such as not able to identify properly or wrong signal codes.

Such tools should be operated only by experienced evaluators who are aware of its capabilities and limitations. They would be able to use the tools in an optimum way to achieve maximum utilization. Web accessibility and evaluation tools cannot determine the accessibility of the web sites hundred percent; they only assist to some extent in doing so.