PRIORITIZING WEBSITE ERRORS WITH STEP
Presenter(s)
Kal Gieber
WGBH National Center for Accessible Media
125 Western Avenue
Boston MA 02134
Day Phone: 617-300-4420
Email: kal_gieber@wgbh.org
Presenter #2
Rich Caloggero
WGBH National Center for Accessible Media
125 Western Avenue
Boston MA 02134
Email: rich_caloggero@wgbh.org
Attendees will learn how to prioritize Web accessibility evaluation data
and manual data, and how STEP can add help streamline remediation efforts.
Complete Paper: STEP is a powerful yet easy-to-use software tool designed
to help the time-constrained web site designer or maintainer. The typical web
site repair process involves using an accessibility evaluation tool to detect
some errors, conducting a manual evaluation to find other errors, and then
fixing those errors. Much of the repair work is done on a “First found, first
fixed” basis, and does not take in to account the severity of the error or its
impact on the overall accessibility of the web site. This web site repair
process can be time consuming—STEP speeds this process by generating a
prioritized list of pages that need to be repaired, based on the output of Web
accessibility evaluation tools.
Web sites are constantly changing and are always in need of evaluation for
accessibility issues. At present, many evaluation tools exist that enable the
site administrators to identify errors. Determining which pages are most in
need of remediation is an important task when not all errors can be quickly
addressed. This step has traditionally been a difficult, manual process, and
one that is often left undone.
Small Web sites with few detectable errors may not benefit significantly
from a process that prioritizes errors for remediation. Owners of such sites
can usually repair all errors in a short period of time.
Large Web sites and sites with a continual influx of new content have a
different problem. Owners of these sites may have too many errors to correct in
a short period of time. By the time all errors found in an evaluation are
addressed new pages may be added to the site, introducing new and potentially
more egregious errors to the site.
A Better Way
All errors that are discovered, whether by an evaluation tool or manually,
should be corrected. However, an important fact to recognize is that the
complete repair of all errors on a site may require time and resources that are
not currently available at the time of the
evaluation. Prioritizing errors by a variety of factors will help maximize
the impact of repair efforts. A free tool developed by the
The new tool allows site administrators to prioritize both manual errors and
accessibility errors found by automated tools and view reports that highlight
these errors. Errors are prioritized by several factors including ease of
repair, page "importance" (determined by page traffic and other
criteria), and impact on users. With a sorted list in hand, repair efforts are
focused on pages and errors that are the best targets for repair first - a
"worst first" process.
The STEP tool will be capable of handling data from most evaluation tools.
The new tool will be using the EARL format from the W3C as the generalized
input format. The tool will deliver reports on current and historical
accessibility error data, to show improvements made over time. Additionally,
the tool will identify and report redundant accessibility error patterns in the
output data from most commercially available accessibility evaluation tool
manufacturers.
Attendees will learn how to prioritize Web accessibility evaluation data
and manual data, and how the newest version of STEP can help streamline
remediation efforts.
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