Tools for Web Accessibility Evaluation

Abstract

The objective of Web accessibility evaluation is to verify that all users are able to use the Web, this means that they can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with it (Henry 2018a). Since the manual verification of the fulfilment of guidelines that specify accessibility requirements can often turn out to be difficult and cumbersome, it is crucial to have appropriate computer tools available to assist this activity. There exist numerous applications that perform diverse types of automatic accessibility evaluations. On the other hand, on-site and remote evaluations with users can also be supported by specific tools. Even manual evaluations may be supported by crowdsourcing-based tools. All these innovations may have crucial importance in the advancement of Web accessibility. This chapter studies the need for tools in this field, reviews the main characteristics of the tools used for Web accessibility evaluation, and reflects upon their future.