UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Several tools that audit HTML code for accessibility are available at Penn State, including Siteimprove for official Penn State content and the WAVE Toolbar browser plugin for external websites or pages behind authentication.
Siteimprove
The University uses Siteimprove to support a coordinated, data-informed approach to improving the accessibility of its web presence. Siteimprove runs automated accessibility tests on scanned pages to identify common issues such as missing alternative text, improper heading structure, low color contrast, broken links and spelling errors.
The tool then generates a report detailing errors and providing recommendations for resolving them. This helps units to better understand where issues exist and track progress over time.
More than 1,100 Penn State websites are now actively scanning in Siteimprove, establishing a University-wide baseline of accessibility across public-facing content. The information it provides enables Accessibility Web Liaisons (AWLs), content creators, developers and leadership to align around shared data and make informed decisions about where to focus accessibility efforts.
Guidance and onboarding resources are available on the Penn State Siteimprove documentation site, which provides support for getting started, understanding dashboards and prioritizing issues. Units can request access for new users or submit additional websites for scanning via the ServiceNow intake form.
WAVE Toolbar
The WAVE Toolbar, developed by WebAIM, is a widely used browser plugin available for Google Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge. It provides reports on heading usage, image alt text, table structure, color contrast, form labels and other HTML features for scanned pages.
The plugin lets you test pages behind authentication or hosted outside Penn State, and it is useful for testing specific items or the structure of content templates. It can be used alone or in conjunction with Siteimprove.
Combining tools
Many automated testing tools for web content are available from a variety of sources — Siteimprove and the WAVE Toolbar are just options. Using one or more tools that work well for your unique web content is encouraged.
No automated testing tool can catch every error, so manual checks also are recommended. For questions about website accessibility or other accessibility resources, contact the Penn State Accessibility team at accessibility@psu.edu.