Government Web Standards
Testing your site
There are three levels of testing your site’s compliance with the Web Standards.
Automated testing: Using automated testing tools.
Full testing: Comprehensive testing involving automated testing tools, manual review and user testing.
Self audit: Formal comprehensive testing resulting in a compliance report.
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Automated testing
Regular automated testing is useful in preventing minor problems blowing out into bigger ones, especially if you are running new software such as a CMS, or at the start of a comprehensive site check. Note that it’s not a substitute for manual testing.
Automated testing against the Web Standards
The prototype OpenWolf validator is a great place to start and explicitly checks against the Web Standards v1.0. It doesn’t check against everything in the Standards but will indicate what you need to check manually, and allows you to record your comments where necessary. The validator makes some assumptions (for example, it guesses whether a table is used for layout or for table data).
Automated testing for accessibility
The tools below check accessibility issues laid out in the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines, on which these Standards and Recommendations are based. These tools return results that can’t be considered comprehensive, but which provide a good overview of your compliance level.
- WebXact (formerly called Bobby - note, no longer free)
- Webaim
- Hisoft / Accverify
Colour blindness simulators are also very useful.
Browser accessibility toolbars contain simulators of various kinds, letting you to check what happens when you degrade your site by disabling styles, tables, image, etc.
- Web Accessibility Toolbar form Vision Australia
- Firefox Accessibility Extension from Mozilla
- Accessibility plugin for Internet Explorer
Automated code testing
Coding errors can present obstacles to users of some technologies. The W3C HTML Validator will identify any errors in your pages. You can also check the validity of your CSS at the W3C CSS validator.
For testing individual pages, the Web Developer firefox extension is a helpful suite of code checking tools.
Full testing
Full testing involves the running the automated testing tools above, along with the all-important hands on user testing.
User testing
Fully effective testing of usability and accessibility requires manual testing, ideally including disabled users (it’s also a good idea to involve this group in the design process. See the Assistive technology page for more information).
This wiki will be providing more information on running user testing, but in the meantime, there are a number of good resources and testing plans available on the Internet.
- Just Ask: Accessibility in User-Centered Design Free online version of the book, with a focus on disabled testers.
- User testing Web Access Centre
- How to Conduct Usability Evaluations for Accessibility: Methodology Guidelines for Testing Websites and Intranets With Users Who Use Assistive Technology Nielsen Norman Group (Note: $US82)
Self audit
You are expected to complete a self audit at least once a year. A self audit checklist is available which will help you review compliance against the Web Standards and Recommendations.
If you need advice or help completing a self audit, please contact the Web Standards Team.
