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Home > Web Services > Resources > You are here Articles

Key New Features of the Web Accessibility Toolbar 2.0

Since our article on 19th September 2006 – Testing Your Website for Accessibility, the Web Accessibility Toolbar has been updated and improved. Version 2.0 of the toolbar which has been available from June 2007 is currently in beta and can be downloaded from http://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/wat-ie-about.html#download.

The new toolbar which is compatible with IE7 and Vista has some really useful new features, not to mention the fact most functions now work without JavaScript enabled and across frames and iframes. The most notable new features include:

• HTML validation quick check which returns summary check results detailing the status of the page (whether valid or not) and the number of errors found without having to display the actual validator page itself.
• Updated colour contrast analyser with the latest contrast ratio algorithm. The contrast analyser now has a useful colour picker for selecting foreground and background colours in the web page.
• Source highlighter which allows you to specify a particular element e.g. headings. The source code is then displayed with the specified elements highlighted for quick and easy viewing.
• A useful log window which displays any messages that a function provides. For example, if you show images and there are instances of missing alt text, the log list will detail how many images without alt text are present on the web page. 
• If Firefox and Opera are installed, the web page can be opened in these browsers by selecting either the Firefox or Opera button.
• Within the CSS option it is now possible to disable certain parts of CSS – e.g. inline styles.

The Web Accessibility Toolbar is an extremely powerful and useful tool for testing website accessibility and is a must for all web developers. A helpful menu by menu breakdown detailing all the functionality of the toolbar can be found at http://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/wat-ie-documentation.html.

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For more information:

• Email accessibility@AbilityNet.org.uk
• Phone 0800 269545

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