As the World Wide Web becomes central to success in education, business, and all aspects of life, it must be universally accessible. Bobby, a free interactive tool offered by CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) on its Web site [1] analyzes Web pages for conformity with the Web Access Initiative's Web accessibility content guidelines and translates them into easy-to-use instructions which help Web developers create sites that are accessible to people with disabilities.
The World Wide Web is a vast and growing repository of information, a powerful communications forum, and an arena for commerce and exchange.
The Web also offers a rich educational environment. According to U.S. Vice President Al Gore, "One of the most important goals for us as a nation is to connect every classroom, library, and hospital to the information superhighway. We cannot tolerate...a society in which some children become fully educated and others do not; nor can we tolerate a society in which some adults have access to training and lifetime education, and others do not." [2].
The Vice President's goal is gradually being realized; more and more classrooms are connected to the information superhighway every day. But a physical connection does not guarantee access to the opportunities the Web offers. For the millions of people worldwide with disabilities, including the estimated 48.9 million in the U.S. alone [3] -- the World Wide Web is a challenging place.
For example, highly graphical sites present obstacles for those with visual impairments. For these individuals, screen readers can translate text to speech but cannot translate graphics. Audio files without text transcripts and videos without captions are inaccessible to those with hearing impairments, and sites that are rich with text provide little information to those with reading difficulties.
With more and more people -- including those with disabilities -- using the Web at home, at school and at work, it is increasingly important to address accessibility issues so that all individuals can have access to this vast resource. Making the Web accessible not only improves education and business; it is critical in meeting the legal mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. According to the ADA, employers, government agencies, and other publicly funded organizations are required to provide effective communication to individuals with disabilities "regardless of whether they generally communicate through print media, audio media, or computerized media such as the Internet. Covered entities that use the Internet for communication regarding their programs, goods, or services must be prepared to offer those communications through accessible means as well." In fact, the U.S. Department of Justice has taken action against educational sites and companies for non-compliance [4].
Like most profound innovations, the Web holds great promise, but it is critical to act now to address the issue of its accessibility or its promise will not be fully realized.
In August 1996, CAST (the Center for Applied Special Technology) responded to this urgent need with its innovative, Web-based tool Bobby [1] an efficient, easy-to-use, free public service that helps Web developers make their pages accessible.
CAST, a nationally recognized not-for-profit educational organization based in Peabody, Massachusetts, was founded in 1984 to expand opportunities for people with disabilities through innovative uses of computer technology. To achieve this goal, CAST uses digital media to build "universally designed" products -- that is, educational software, Internet tools, and learning models that are usable by everyone, including people of all ages with sensory impairments, physical challenges, and learning disabilities.
Bobby is currently underwritten by IBM, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, UNUM Life Insurance Company of America, and Aon Corporation.
Bobby analyzes HTML pages for conformity to the Web Access
Initiative (WAI)'s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, and translates them
into instructions for improving their accessibility. Within seconds of typing in
a URL, Bobby delivers a full accessibility report on the Web page being
analyzed, specifying each barrier and explaining how to eliminate it. A site
that is deemed accessible can display the "Bobby Approved" icon.
For example, if Bobby finds images that do not have essential supplemental text descriptions (alt tags), it highlights the errors and specifies the remedy. Like its British law enforcement namesake, Bobby is meant to help, not reprimand; it provides prioritized suggestions for making sites more accessible.
The Web Access Initiative at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has taken leadership in developing guidelines for page authors to use to create accessible Web pages. Building on this work, and that of the Trace Research and Development Center at the University of Wisconsin, Bobby automates the process of evaluating sites based on these printed guidelines. CAST developed Bobby, an interactive online tool, to teach Web developers how to put these standards into practice by providing specific feedback on their designs, either during development or afterwards.
While some Web designers seek out Bobby because they are aware of accessibility issues, others discover Bobby when looking for a tool to test how various browsers will handle their page authoring code and how long their sites will take to load. They then discover the significant issues surrounding accessibility. This alternative entry point has enabled Bobby to educate Web designers who were not formerly aware of accessibility issues.
On May 5, 1999, CAST released Bobby 3.1 to coincide with the release of the W3C-WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. With this new version came a new benchmark for Bobby approval. The Bobby 3.1 accessibility report organizes errors by three levels of priority. Priority 1 issues are the most important to address for accessibility. Within the priority levels, the report is also grouped by items that Bobby can evaluate automatically, and descriptions of items that require human judgment to determine an appropriate response.
In order for a site to become Bobby Approved, it must now pass all Priority 1 items that Bobby finds as well as Priority 1 items that Bobby is unable to detect. A new category in the Bobby report called "Manual Checks" lists items that must be checked manually and corrected if necessary. Priority 2 and 3 items are also checked and reported, but they are not considered for Bobby Approved status at this time.
A few examples of items which are considered for Bobby approval follow:
To serve as an effective model of accessibility and good interface design, Bobby employs the latest technological innovations in its own design. Bobby is written in Java, and has two forms: the online server, and a downloadable version that uses the same page evaluation code and offers both a graphical and a command-line interface. Since it is written in Java, this version can run on many different hardware platforms. Bobby uses Java's most current accessibility features, which allows the program itself to be accessible to users with disabilities. Many access aids are built into the interface, and it has the requisite code to allow third party access aids to communicate with it effectively.
Bobby is designed to be an educational tool that teaches Web designers about Web accessibility. As Web designers use Bobby, they not only learn how to address problems within their own sites, they also learn skills that they can apply to site design in the future. Bobby offers concrete design suggestions and is linked to other sites that discuss access issues. Seeing how their sites look to people with disabilities gives Web developers an understanding of the sometimes subtle barriers "hidden" within their sites.
Because Bobby is a highly effective teaching tool, Web designers (including the rapidly growing number of non-professional designers who are putting up sites) learn skills they can apply later. The more people use Bobby, the more likely they will be to integrate accessibility principles into their way of thinking and their style of Web site design.
Joyce Taylor, a Web designer and desktop publisher, says, "I do not make a Web page that I do not put through (Bobby). I'm not disabled but I feel sites on the Web should be available to all. I made some major changes (to my sites)...(and) watched my sites change and grow as I learned accessibility."
Free of charge and efficient, Bobby simplifies and encourages Web accessibility testing. Because of this increased testing, more and more people are becoming aware of the importance of Web accessibility.
Cynthia Waddell, ADA Coordinator for the City of San Jose, CA, says:
"Bobby has encouraged further research and creativity worldwide by Web designers who seek to ensure the widest possible audience for their sites. Likewise, Internet end-users...can point to Bobby as a resource for improving accessibility on poorly designed sites. As a result, Bobby (is) an information referral I provide for all inquiries on accessible Web design...."
As more developers use Bobby, accessibility on the Web will no longer be an afterthought. Rather, it will become a fundamental part of the design process.
Multiculturalism of the tool means that it must be usable, from the opening interface to the final report, by people with different assumptions, experiences, and educational backgrounds. A first step to achieving these goals will be the creation of an international version of Bobby that allows users to switch languages on the fly.
Bobby already provides English-only reports for non-English Web pages from around the world. It is important that Bobby be able to examine non-English pages in a manner appropriate to the language and without misinterpreting non-Latin character encodings, as well as to provide reports in that language (or another language of the user's choice).
CAST is working closely with IBM Japan to produce a Japanese version of Bobby, and French, Dutch and German-language versions are also under development. Bobby 4.0, to be released next spring, will provide this language support in a single international version that will have the capacity to change language at the user's request. Support for specific languages will be in the form of accessory modules that can be added to Bobby with little or no user configuration required, or by simply selecting a checkbox on the online version of Bobby.
Currently, Bobby is primarily positioned as an access evaluation tool, one that analyzes access issues and provides initial feedback to the user. It does not yet have the capability of repairing problems directly; users must make these repairs themselves. CAST, in partnership with the University of Toronto and the Trace Center, is developing an interactive tool that not only incorporates Bobby's evaluation capabilities, but also will step a Web designer through the process of repairing access issues that have been identified. The proposed effort is part of a larger collaboration between the partners and the Web Access Initiative to create a set of tools that will help Webmasters create or recreate sites that are accessible to and usable by individuals with a wide range of disabilities.
"What's the point of having a World Wide Web if it's only accessible to a few people?"asks the Webmaster at Queen Mary and Westfield College in London.
Fortunately, this is a question that is being asked by many. Already Bobby is having a significant impact on Web accessibility throughout the world. The downloadable application, which can test entire Web sites in one pass, was used by over 5,900 organizations in the first year of its release, including IBM, AT&T, Bell Labs, Microsoft, and other major corporations. Bobby has been downloaded by sites in the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Currently, over 4,800 Web sites provide links to Bobby, thus multiplying its impact.
Accessibility is integral to connecting schools, libraries, businesses, and families to the information superhighway. A more accessible Web promotes opportunities for everyone at school, work, and home. With Bobby, CAST educates Web designers and increases the odds that all individuals, especially students, will have the same opportunities to explore the virtual world as they do to explore the "real" world.
Access the online version of Bobby and download a copy of the local version from the Bobby web site [1]. There is a FAQ page with resources to some common site design places.
Bobby uses the current set of guidelines from the WC3-WAI [5] in the analysis of pages. Included with the guidelines is an extended "techniques" page that tells you how to implement Bobby's suggestions.
A collection of resources from the Trace Center about Web design are available [6]. Trace has done much of the groundwork for the information used by the W3C.
Information about Lynx, a text-only browser is available [7]. Using Lynx to browse your pages is a good way to find usability issues that Bobby cannot directly address. Lynx works on multiple platforms, but if you do not install your own copy, you can simulate it by using lynxview service [8].
If you have any comments on this article, please contact the editors (exploit-editor@ukoln.ac.uk).
Lisa Poller
Associate Director of Development
CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology)
39 Cross Street, Suite 201
Peabody
MA 01960
USA
URL: <http://www.cast.org/>
Email: lpoller@cast.org
Ms. Poller joined CAST in May 1997 as associate director of development where she contributes to institutional advancement through corporate, foundation, federal and individual fundraising. Her responsibilities include prospect and strategy development, proposal writing, solicitations, and the development of CAST's federal fundraising program. Ms. Poller received a bachelor's degree in American studies and English literature from Brandeis University, and a master's degree in museum studies in education from Tufts University.
Prior to joining CAST, Ms. Poller was associate director of development at the Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA. She was formerly director of research and corporate and foundation relations for New England Baptist Hospital, Boston, MA. Her background also includes corporate consulting and business intelligence.
Chuck Hitchcock
Director, Universal Design Laboratory
E-mail:
chitchcock@cast.org
Telephone: 978 531-8555 ext. 233
As director of the National Universal Design Laboratory, Chuck Hitchcock oversees CAST's software development,technology innovation and Web site development. He is the chief developer of many of CAST's Macintosh and Windows educational and tool software. He contributes as a software development team member for internal projects and on contracts with publishers and other organizations.
Mr. Hitchcock has extensive practical experience in special education administration, technology education, and teaching at all levels from early childhood to graduate school. He co-directed a private learning disabilities clinic, served as the founding director of a Massachusetts state-wide technology training and support center that served 180 school districts, and was an account executive for hardware and educational software companies.
Mr. Hitchcock serves on the Board of Directors of Universal Learning Technology (ULT), CAST's commercial affiliate in Peabody, MA. ULT has successfully commercialized products developed within the CAST Universal Design Laboratory. Mr. Hitchcock completed his special education undergraduate work at Fitchburg State College and received his master's degree in educational administration and counseling from the Antioch Graduate Center.
Michael Cooper
Educational and Technical Designer
E-mail: mcooper@cast.org
Telephone: 978 531-8555 ext. 265
Mr. Cooper's primary responsibility is educational design of technology-based learning environments, especially those delivered on the Internet. His expertise with technical aspects of universal design is critical to this work. He also helps provide professional development experiences and is the Design and Technical lead for Bobby, CAST's Web page accessibility validation tool.
Michael Cooper received a Master of Education from Harvard University in 1998. While at Harvard, he worked with the WGBH Teacher Center to support technology in the curriculum. Before coming to the Boston area he worked in the disability services office at the University of Denver in Colorado, where he helped arrange class accommodations for students with disabilities, managed the assistive technology program, consulted on universal design of educational technology and the University's Internet site, and guided physical accessibility retrofit initiatives.
Cindy O'Neill
Email: coneill@cast.org
Lucinda O'Neill received her bachelor's degree in English from Wheaton College,
Norton, Massachusetts. She has been a writer for CAST's development office since 1996,
and is a contributing writer for the "About CAST" section of CAST's Web site.
Founded in 1984, CAST is a not-for-profit educational organization whose
mission is to expand opportunities for individuals with disabilities through
innovative uses of technology. CAST's staff of 30 professionals includes
specialists in education, special education, reading and language arts, learning
disabilities, neuropsychology, vision rehabilitation, hearing impairment,
curriculum design, Web development, and programming.
CAST has pioneered universal design for learning, a framework for responding to individual learner differences through the use of technology. The basic premise of universal design for learning is that flexibility can be built into teaching and assessment methods, and the design of educational media and materials, making them accessible and applicable to students and teachers with different backgrounds, learning styles, abilities and disabilities in widely varied learning contexts.
In December 1999, CAST will launch the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum, a five-year initiative to improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities. This $2.5 million award from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs will bring together CAST, as the lead organization, and three partner organizations: Harvard Children's Initiative and Harvard Law School, Boston College, and the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).
Most recently, CAST was a 1999 Computerworld Smithsonian Award finalist for BobbySM: A Public Service for Web Accessibility, acknowledged by Web experts throughout the world as the premier validation tool for disability access. CAST was also a finalist in the 1998 SAP/Stevie Wonder Vision Awards in the Vision Pioneer of the Year category for Bobby.
For citation purposes:
Lisa Poller, "Bobby: CAST's Free Public Service for Web Accessibility",
Exploit Interactive, issue 3, 25 October 1999
URL: <http://www.exploit-lib.org/issue3/bobby/>
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