[WEB4LIB] Re: Web/ADA/uh oh...

[Thomas Dowling]

>The site http://www.cast.org/bobby (cast = Center for Applied Special
>Technology) allows users to plug in a web site and "Bobby the online
>accessibility cop" tells you how accessible the site is.  I put in
>www.mtc.ca.gov and Bobby's main complaint to deny a stamp of approval was
>the lack of alternate text for some images.  There were also a bunch of
>recommendations Bobby made.

According to both postings on the W3C's accessibility list and to two
accessibility consultants OhioLINK has worked with, Bobby is a helpful
guide, but not a final arbiter of a site's accessibility.  In addition to
Bobby, a thorough check for accessibility should include any or all of:

  Validating to HTML 4.0 (Transitional or Strict)
  Adhering to the W3C Accessibility Guidelines for page authoring
(currently at
    http://www.w3.org/TR/WD-WAI-PAGEAUTH/)
  Using the site in graphical browsers with images turned off (also with
sounds
    turned off, with no mouse, no scripting, etc.)
  Using the site in Lynx
  Using the site with pwWebspeak or a screen reader like JAWS (many
campuses
    have one or both of these in a computing lab)

Thomas Dowling
OhioLINK - Ohio Library and Information Network
tdowling at ohiolink.edu