Recommended Visual Validation Checklist

The National Computer Center designed a Checklist of Web Accessibility Compliance based on the Seven points of Manila ICT Design Recommendations. They even subdivided some points so the checklist becomes 13 all in all. The primary basis of this recommendation also comes from the Manila ICT Design Recommendations. PWAG complemented their checklist by designing its own “Recommended Visual (Human) Validation Checklist”.

Rationale

Since PWAG started evaluating other sites for web accessibility compliance, every member of the PWAG core group made a manual validation of the sites. This led to problems regarding a back log of actions. Some web sites were disregarded while other members failed to give their assessments. The need to create a PWAG standard manual checklist arise.

The Visual Checklist would be very useful to the group since it can be recommended as Self-Evaluation Tool. That way in the future, PWAG could just give this as a self-assessment checklist to those who want to self-validate their site. This would also at least lessen the back logs.

PWAG Recommended Visual Validation Checklist for Web Accessibility

1. Check for alternative texts on images.
2. Check if the alternative text fits the image and not just title.
3. Check if the link text explains what the link is about.
4. Check if the decorative images does not have alternative text.
5. Check if the alternative text is not more than 80 characters.
6. Check if every web page has a Home link on its navigation bar which appears on every page.
7. Check if the text can be resized.
8. Check what the web site can still be readable even if the page style is turned off.
9. Check if you can move within the site using only your keyboard.
10. Check if there is a site map.
11. Check if you can understand the video or audio content with the volume turned off.
12. Check if the form has prompt or label texts and the buttons have alternate texts.
13. Check if there is an instruction on how to use the site.
14. Check if the web site has no marquees or blinking texts.
15. Check if there is an equivalent HTML text for Adobe files.
16. Check if web site does not use frames.
17. Check if web site uses flash but is accessible.
18. Check if web site can be viewed even if color is removed.

For recently added checkpoints:

19. Check if the title of the page describes the overall content of page.
20. Check if the site layout remains the same when you move from one page to another.
21. Check if the text color can be read clearly as compared to its background color.

For

• checklist 5: Recommend D link if longer than 80 characters.
• checklist 13: Recommend accessibility instructions/statements.
• checklist 6 and 9: Recommend “Skip to content” and accesskeys.
• checklist 7: Recommend removing of Font Size or change from absolute to relative units.
• checklist 3: Recommend not using click here or more.
• checklist 17: This is still debatable since Flash is increasingly becoming more accessible.

PWAG also recommends the separation of content from the presentation or the use of Cascading Style Sheets in designing accesible web sites.

Although this has been approved by the group, this is still not final. Improvements on the checklist are still needed to be addressed.

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