Download Is Your Site Accessible?

Is Your Site
Accessible?
Validating Your Web Site
Is Your Site Accessible?
OBJECTIVE: The learner will list three
reasons to validate a web page
What is “validation?”
Usually involves using a computer
program to review the HTML code on
the page, based on standards
 Notes deficiencies in HTML
 Notes deficiencies in design
 Notes accessibility problems

What is “validation?”

If you use a page authoring program,
it probably does some validation for
you:
As this screen shot from Macromedia’s
Dreamweaver shows.
Items requiring human judgment
during validation
Do the page background and text
colors provide sufficient contrast to be
legible?
 Is the page using color to provide
information?
 Will the audience be able to
understand the terms and language
you’re using?

Items requiring human judgment
during validation
Are acronyms explained?
 Is the navigation strategy you’re using
clear to visitors?
 Does the site look the same in all
browsers?

Items requiring human judgment
during validation

If the site uses a client-side SCRIPT
(e.g., JavaScript), does it also include
a NOSCRIPT option providing the
same information or function of the
script for users without script-handling
capabilities?
Web-enabled cell-phones and PDAs
 Web TV (yes, it’s still out there!)
 “Malware-phobes”

Items examined in validation

HTML code – is it correct?

Element syntax correct?
• Are elements requiring both opening and
closing tags properly closed?
• Do elements span paragraphs, etc.?
• Are elements in proper order?

Attribute syntax correct?
• Attribute contain valid values?
• Attribute allowed?
Items examined in validation
<IMG SRC=“fileandpath.name” ALT=“info about image”>

Images





Do they include ALT attributes?
ALT attribute values sufficiently descriptive?
Should the image also have a LONGDESC
attribute (i.e., a link to a file containing a more
detailed description than will fit in ALT attribute)
Is the image being used as a link?
Does all of the information still come through if you
turn off images in your browser?
Items examined in validation

Does the page linearize properly?
If table is used for layout, does information
flow in the order it is intended to?
 If a data table is included in page, does
information flow in the order it is intended
to?

Items examined in validation

Do tables include contextual information?
Is the SCOPE attribute used for row and
column headings?
 Is the HEADER attribute used with ID to
provide context?

Items examined in validation

Can the page be understood if the visitor
cannot/does not use scripts or style sheets?



Can test with (some) browsers
Pages relying on scripts should also include
provisions for those using no scripts
Pages laid out with style sheets must also
make sense when user agent does not
accommodate style sheets.
Why Validate?
Most accessibility errors will NOT be
visible on the page
 Validation catches HTML errors too

Can you tell which
images on this page
are accessible and
which are not?
Which images are
accessible?
<IMG SRC=“paulbowleseyes.jpg”
BORDER=“1”>
NOT accessible!
<IMG SRC=“quesmark.gif BORDER=“0”>
NOT accessible!
<IMG SRC=“magglass.gif”
BORDER=“0” ALT=“Find a Store”>
ACCESSIBLE!
(HINT: What other problem might this slide have if it were a
web page?)
What FREE tools are available?

W3C Validator (http://validator.w3.org/)
What FREE tools are available?

Web Design Group HTML Validator
http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/
What FREE tools are available?

W3C CSS Validator (downloadable)
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
What FREE tools are available?

Bobby (single page only)
http://www.cast.org/bobby
What FREE tools are available?

Cynthia Says
http://www.contentquality.com
What FREE tools are available?

W3C’s Link Checker
http://validator.w3.org/checklink
QUIZ