Accessibility tools

Accessibility evaluation tools are a handy resource for anyone who wants to ensure that the site they are developing meets established accessibility standards.

It is very important to keep in mind that no evaluation tool has been developed that can completely replace human testing.

Information and resources

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (choose Level AA Success Criteria)

• Council of Ontario Universities Toolkit (for Section 14)

• Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

• Library Accessibility Services: AODA Toolkit

• UX Foundations: Accessibility with Derek Featherstone (Lynda.com)

Browser accessibility functions

Use the browser’s accessibility functions (e.g. text size, zoom, no page style, navigating with the keyboard) to determine whether or not the site responds as expected to those functions.

• Accessibility features in Firefox

Add-ons and toolbars

Extend the capability of Chrome/Firefox to help you easily find accessibility issues.

• WAVE Toolbar

• WCAG Contrast checker

• Web Developer Toolbar

Accessibility checkers

Single page and document evaluation tools.

• WebAIM WAVE: single page checker (we recommend the WAVE Toolbar).

• AChecker: single page checker

Video accessibility

Web accessibility tip: Caption videos in YouTube and Vimeo

• YouTube - University of Waterloo

  • to edit YouTube captions on the University of Waterloo channel you need to have admin access or send a transcript with the video to the Communications Coordinator/Community Engagement.

• Edit YouTube captions (YouTube help site)

• Rev.com - transcription, captions, and translation services

Document accessibility

Web accessibility tip: Create HTML web pages rather than documents

• Creating accessible PDF's (WebAIM site)

• Creating Accessible Documents in Microsoft Office (LinkedIn.com)

• Create accessible PDFs - Office Support (Microsoft site)

  • Creating accessible Word files (Microsoft site)

  • Creating accessible PowerPoint files (Microsoft site)

  • Creating accessible Excel files (Microsoft site)

• Accessible Digital Office Document (ADOD) Project

• Accessibil-IT: The Accessible PDF Conversion Experts

Writing for the web

• Microsoft readability test

• Readability Index Calculator

• Accessibility for Web writers from 4Syllables

• Why Your Links Should Never Say “Click Here”

Color analyzers

Web accessibility tip: Keep colour contrast in mind for images with text

• WCAG Contrast checker: Firefox extension checks colour contrast

• Colbis Colour Blindness Simulator

• Snook.ca Colour Contrast Check Tool

  • Learn how to check the colour contrast of text used in graphics

Assistive technologies

• Fangs Screen Reader Emulator Firefox extension screen reader simulator generates text similar to what would be read by a screen reader, allowing a sighted user to better understand the experience that a screen reader user would have.

• NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA): an open-source screen reader for Windows. Widely used in the visually-imparied community. Excellent for testing.

  • NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) quick reference

Code validators

• HTML Validator validates all HTML to ensure it follows the standard.

• HTML Validator add-on for Firefox verifies that web pages have correct syntax.