WebspaceWorks Resources

Tools: Validation services for coding standards & accessibility checks

Coding standards

W3C (X)HTML Validator

Free service to check Web documents for conformance to W3C Recommendations and other standards.

Web Design Group HTML Validator

Basic (x)html validation service similar to that available from W3C, but with these differences:

• Will give warnings on valid, but dangerous (x)html
• Delivers warnings for undefined html entities
• Can work with custom DTDs

CSE HTML Validator

Lite version of a commercially available product/service.

W3C CSS validation service

Free service to check Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) in (X)HTML documents or as standalone documents for conformance to W3C recommendations.

Accessibility checkers

Many aspects of accessibility are not amenable to automated validation, instead requiring manual checks to be made against the guideline recommendations. The tools below provide a convenient means of making an automated first pass, and of indicating where further manual checking may be required.

Cynthia says

Checks pages against WCAG 1.0 Priority 1, 2 & 3 and Section 508 accessibility guidelines

HiSoftware Site Quality check

Complete check of page quality, accessibility, searchability, user privacy from the same people who bring you the Cynthia says service.

Watchfire WebXact

Test single pages of web content for quality, accessibility, and privacy issues.

ATRC Web accessibility checker

Check a web page to WCAG 2.0 L2 and other guidelines. Service provided by the Adaptive Technology Resource Center (ATRC) at the University Of Toronto.

A-prompt

Free downloadable tool for testing website accessibility against conformance to W3C “A”, “AA”, “AAA” and Section 508. Runs on Windows.

UsableNet Lift

Tool for usability and accessibility testing of websites, available in configurations starting from US$299

GrayBit contrast visualiser

Tool that shows you a website with colours converted to shades of grey. Good for assessing visual contrast of a website and ensuring that there is sufficient contrast for website legibility.

Colourblind Web Page Filter

Tool that allows you to evaluate a website as if seen through the eyes of someone suffering one of several different classes of colourblindness

Hyperlink checkers

W3C link checker

Checks internal and external links found within a page, reporting any invalid ones it finds. Checks image references in addition to hyperlinks, but does not appear to crawl through the entire site

Dead links checker

Checks all internal and external links within a site, reporting any invalid ones it finds