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Web Accessibility Verifiers
Here are 8 of the more popular software programs that can be used to help ensure that a web site meets the standards for accessibility. It is important to note that these automated programs can be extremely useful in quickly identifying a wide range--but not all--of the barriers to accessibility. Like virtually any set of complex decision rules applied automatically, they can result in false positives and false negatives.
AccessEnable software "evaluates your website for compliance with a number of accessibility and usability standards which ensure that people with disabilities have comparable access to the information and resources on your site." It reflects section 508 standards, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the principles appearing in the book Usability for the Web: Designing Web Sites That Work by Brink, Gergle, and Wood, and the Diamond Bullet Syntax Recommendations.
A-Prompt Web Accessibility Verifier
A-Prompt (which stands for Accessibility Prompt) is "a software tool designed to improve the usability of HTML documents by evaluating Web pages for accessibility barriers and then providing developers with a fast and easy way to make the necessary repairs." A-Prompt's software reflects the accessibility guidelines developed by the Web Access Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium.(W3C). It is a joint effort of the University of Toronto's Adaptive Technology Resource Centre and the University of Wisconsin's Trace Research & Development Center.
Bobby is a software program developed at an educational, not-for-profit organization, the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). Originally reflecting guidelines developed by Trace Research and Development Center at the University of Wisconsin's College of Engineering, and later adding section 508 standards, Bobby was initially released in 1996, and later, in 2002, was acquired by Watchfire, which currently distributes it.
InFocus is a software program developed by SSV Technologies "for making Web sites and applications accessible to people with disabilities and compliant with Section 508 requirements. InFocus allows developers to check their pages for accessibility errors, and then automatically fixes any violations."
LIFT is software that reflects both Section 508 and W3C/WCAG guidelines. There are versions specific to the Mac OS, to Macromedia Dreamweaver, to Microsoft FrontPage, and other specific systems.
PageScreamer is a software program developed by Crunchy Technologies.It "enables fast verification and automated correction of Section 508 violations in a single tool, and dramatically reduces the time required to correct Web content for compliance with the standards of Section 508." PageScreamer works on Windows 9x, NT, 2000, and Solaris.
RAMP is a software program developed by Deque Systems that provides "analysis and remediation of Section 508 rules and W3C WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, providing efficiencies of over 95% as compared to a manual effort. In addition, RAMP™, written in Java for platform independence, is also accessible to people with disabilities."
WAVE is a software program developed by Pennsylvania's Initiative on Assistive Technology of Temple University's Institute on Disabilities.The purpose is to help "you check if your page is accessible to people with disabilities." It reflects some of the principles of the the Web Access Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).