inquiry: Complete List of Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools

[Gregory J. Rosmaita]

aloha, shadi!

i'm emailing you to inquire if you are still the maintainer of the ERT
Tools resource located at:

http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/

you are listed as the resource's maintainer, but the date-stamp indicates
that it hasn't been modified since 17 march 2006 -- if you no longer
maintain this resource, could you please let me know who does and forward
this inquiry to the proper person?

i'm specifically writing to you in regards a conversation which dan
connolly, mike (tm) smith, and i had on IRC before the last HTML WG
teleconference, in which mike was inquiring as to what tools are
available for evaluation and repair, so that he could ensure that the
materials he mounts and/or maintains in W3C space is accessible, including
the HTML working group's pages...  when i pointed him to the resource at
the URI above, dan pointed me to:

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-wai-ert/2007Feb/0009.html

in which he had notified you, as well as sean palmer, with a carbon copy
to:

 * public-wai-ert@...
 & public-grddl-comments@...
 * public-sparql-dev@...
 * www-qa@...

that he was in the process of developing a tool to make "nice HTML
reports out of EARL data"
(http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/grddl-wg/td/earlsum.py),
along with an attachment containing some results...

dan's tool wasn't listed in the ER tools database, which brings me to my
meta-question: is http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/ being actively
maintained?  is public-wai-ert@... being actively monitored?  do you
need someone to take ownership of either/both resources?

EARL is greeted with great enthusiasm whenever i point someone to it, or
when someone comes across it on their own and uses it to create a custom
tool or script, and both it and the existing tools resource are extremely
important resources to keep up-to-date, in order to ensure that ERT tools
are more widely used, and that those who create them for their own needs
can share the fruits of their labor with the wider web community...

thank you very much, gregory.
----------------------------------------------------------------
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as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them
with others.         -- Ambrose Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_
----------------------------------------------------------------
             Gregory J. Rosmaita, oedipus@...
  Camera Obscura: http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/index.html
----------------------------------------------------------------

[Shadi Abou-Zahra]

[removing several lists and recipients not directly involved]

Hi Gregory,

Thank you for your interest and offer, please find some comments below:


Gregory J. Rosmaita wrote:

> aloha, shadi!
>
> i'm emailing you to inquire if you are still the maintainer of the ERT
> Tools resource located at:
>
> http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/
>
> you are listed as the resource's maintainer, but the date-stamp indicates
> that it hasn't been modified since 17 march 2006 -- if you no longer
> maintain this resource, could you please let me know who does and forward
> this inquiry to the proper person?

This date is a little misleading as it is the date when the database and
user interface where last modified. The content however has changed ever
since and is being actively maintained by myself. You can see the change
requests on a publicly archived list:
  - <http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-wai-ert-tools/>

Note that this database is a public resource and lives from voluntary
contributions so there are many ways in which you could still help if
you are interested. If you come across or know of a *Web accessibility
evaluation tool* (not any QA tool) that is not currently listed on our
database then please contact the vendors and make them aware that they
can list their tool just by filling out this form:
  - <http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/submission>

Please make sure that the tool vendors are aware of the information on
the overview page, especially the "disclaimer" and the "about the tools
list" sections of it:
  - <http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/>

> i'm specifically writing to you in regards a conversation which dan
> connolly, mike (tm) smith, and i had on IRC before the last HTML WG
> teleconference, in which mike was inquiring as to what tools are
> available for evaluation and repair, so that he could ensure that the
> materials he mounts and/or maintains in W3C space is accessible, including
> the HTML working group's pages...  when i pointed him to the resource at
> the URI above, dan pointed me to:
>
> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-wai-ert/2007Feb/0009.html
>
> in which he had notified you, as well as sean palmer, with a carbon copy
> to:
>
>  * public-wai-ert@...
>  & public-grddl-comments@...
>  * public-sparql-dev@...
>  * www-qa@...
>
> that he was in the process of developing a tool to make "nice HTML
> reports out of EARL data"
> (http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/grddl-wg/td/earlsum.py),
> along with an attachment containing some results...
>
> dan's tool wasn't listed in the ER tools database, which brings me to my
> meta-question: is http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/ being actively
> maintained?  is public-wai-ert@... being actively monitored?  do you
> need someone to take ownership of either/both resources?

As far as I know, Dan's tool is NOT an *accessibility evaluation tool*,
it checks the validity against GRDDL test cases. The W3C Evaluation and
Repair Tools Working Group (ERT WG) has had several exchanges with Dan,
and are happy to see EARL implementations. That is however a different
subject to the Web accessibility evaluation tools database.


> EARL is greeted with great enthusiasm whenever i point someone to it, or
> when someone comes across it on their own and uses it to create a custom
> tool or script, and both it and the existing tools resource are extremely
> important resources to keep up-to-date, in order to ensure that ERT tools
> are more widely used, and that those who create them for their own needs
> can share the fruits of their labor with the wider web community...

Please let us know about EARL implementations, we would like to list
such resources separately to demonstrate the different ways in which
EARL can be used (also outside the realm of accessibility).


Thank you for your interest and please continue to promote our work!
Also looking forward to possible contributions from your side... ;)


Regards,
   Shadi


--
Shadi Abou-Zahra - http://www.w3.org/People/shadi/ |
   WAI International Program Office Activity Lead   |
  W3C Evaluation & Repair Tools Working Group Chair |

[Laura Carlson]

Hi Gregory and Mike,

> mike was inquiring as to what tools are
> available for evaluation and repair, so that he could ensure that the
> materials he mounts and/or maintains in W3C space is accessible,

I have list of accessibility tools that you may find useful at:

http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/tools#accesstools

Best Regards,
Laura
___________________________________________
Laura L. Carlson
Information Technology Systems and Services
University of Minnesota Duluth
Duluth, MN U.S.A. 55812-3009
http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/webdesign/

[Christophe Strobbe]

Hi Laura,

At 14:33 4/12/2007, Laura Carlson wrote:

>Hi Gregory and Mike,
>
>>mike was inquiring as to what tools are
>>available for evaluation and repair, so that he could ensure that the
>>materials he mounts and/or maintains in W3C space is accessible,
>
>I have list of accessibility tools that you may find useful at:
>
>http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/tools#accesstools

WAI also maintains a list of accessibility evaluation and repair tools:
<http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/>

Best regards,

Christophe


>Best Regards,
>Laura
>___________________________________________
>Laura L. Carlson
>Information Technology Systems and Services
>University of Minnesota Duluth
>Duluth, MN U.S.A. 55812-3009
>http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/webdesign/

--
Christophe Strobbe
K.U.Leuven - Dept. of Electrical Engineering - SCD
Research Group on Document Architectures
Kasteelpark Arenberg 10 bus 2442
B-3001 Leuven-Heverlee
BELGIUM
tel: [phone]
http://www.docarch.be/ 


Disclaimer: http://www.kuleuven.be/cwis/email_disclaimer.htm

[Shadi Abou-Zahra]

Hi Laura,

For your information, the W3C list of Web accessibility evaluation tools
  is also available in RDF/XML format in public space:
  - <http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/db.rdf>

In other words, you can easily reuse this information on your own Web
site and using your own interface. The idea is to try and collect as
much information as possible in one central place, yet offer each one
the possibility to reuse this information in their own application. Let
me know if you have questions.

Regards,
   Shadi


Laura Carlson wrote:

>
> Hi Gregory and Mike,
>
>> mike was inquiring as to what tools are
>> available for evaluation and repair, so that he could ensure that the
>> materials he mounts and/or maintains in W3C space is accessible,
>
> I have list of accessibility tools that you may find useful at:
>
> http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/tools#accesstools
>
> Best Regards,
> Laura
> ___________________________________________
> Laura L. Carlson
> Information Technology Systems and Services
> University of Minnesota Duluth
> Duluth, MN U.S.A. 55812-3009
> http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/webdesign/
>
>
>

--
Shadi Abou-Zahra - http://www.w3.org/People/shadi/ |
   WAI International Program Office Activity Lead   |
  W3C Evaluation & Repair Tools Working Group Chair |