AIS Accessibility Toolbar:

http://www.webaim.org/resources/ais

Provides tools to assess the website for appropriate format structuring, color contrast (at least 5:1 between text and background), images, and other components of accessibility. Only to be used with Internet Explorer, it is available in various languages and can be downloaded for free online.

A-Prompt:
http://aprompt.snow.utoronto.ca/index.html
A-Prompt, unlike Bobby and the WAVE Web Accessibility Tool, can not be used directly through the web. Instead, it requires the user to download and install the program on a Windows-based machine. The main strength of A-Prompt lies in its ability to both diagnose and fix accessibility problems. The program will let you add ALT tags, table headers, and other accessibility features directly through its interface – it can even detect problems of insufficient contrast and replace colors with more suitable alternatives. The accessibility standards are by default based on the Web Content Accessibility Group (WCAG) Guidelines, but the program allows the checks to be customized. A-Prompt is an excellent tool for the developer interested in both diagnosing and addressing accessibility problems at the same time.

“Beyond Bobby” – A new breed of web validators:
http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp
Bobby allows a page to be checked against either the Section 508 (of the federal Rehabilitation Act) accessibility standards or the Web Content Accessibility Group (WCAG) 1.0. Guidelines. Generally, the WCAG guidelines demand a higher level of accessibility. Bobby identifies particular errors by line, and provides suggestions and links to information about how to meet the appropriate guidelines. Bobby provides both a visual and text based analysis of accessibility problems, and the “Bobby Approved” logo has become something of a web icon. Bobby was formerly a free tool, but has been acquired by the Watchfire Corporation and the free version now allows you to check a single page only once per minute. Watchfire’s commercial solutions allow for entire sites to be validated. Bobby remains a valuable tool and likely the most widely known, but lacks some of the features of the emerging alternatives.

Compumentor:
http://www.compumentor.org/default.html
A nonprofit organization specializing in technology assistance for community-based organizations and schools. Through consulting practice, they offer technology-planning, implementation, and support services. CompuMentor is also the home of TechSoup.org, the technology website for the nonprofit sector. CompuMentor is also the home of DiscounTech, a service of TechSoup, connects nonprofits with donated and discounted technology products (http://www.techsoup.org/DiscounTech/). From software to online training to networking equipment, DiscounTech offers a wide selection of essential products. All products are available for low administrative fees. This service is made possible by generous contributions from leading nonprofit and corporate partners including Cisco, Groundspring, and Microsoft.

CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology):
http://www.cast.org
A non-profit organization whose mission is to expand opportunities for all people, especially those with disabilities, through the innovative uses of computer technology. They created the online tool Bobby to help you make your Web site accessible to the greatest number of people possible. Bobby is a useful tool to guide in the Web development process (now owned by Watchfire, listed at the end of this list).

EASI: Equal Access to Software and Information:
http://www.rit.edu/~easi
A non-profit organization, part of the Teaching Learning and Technology Group, affiliated with the American Association for Higher Education with a mission to help make information technologies more accessible to users with disabilities.

IBM's Web Accessibility Course:
http://www-3.ibm.com/able/
IBM’s web page describes the features, functions, and controls that must be designed into web pages to make them accessible to people with disabilities.

ITTATC Course by Jim Thatcher:
http://jimthatcher.com/webcourse1.htm
This course was written for the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center (ITTATC) by Jim Thatcher. Funded in support of Section 508 by NIDRR and GSA at the Georgia Institute of Technology Center for Rehabilitation Technology, it includes a side-by-side comparison of the WCAG priority 1 checkpoints and the 508 web accessibility provisions.

Knowbility:
http://www.knowbility.org/
Knowbility connects people with disabilities to greater opportunities by advancing barrier-free information technology. Knowbility is working to bridge that gap through three sets of services:

• Awareness Initiatives
• Educational Initiatives
• Employment Initiatives

There are abundant resources to help us learn to create information sources that are accessible to everyone. Knowbility's on-line curriculum is a good place to start. However, it is just that - a starting point. Technologies are evolving and changing rapidly, and the guidelines for accessibility are evolving just as fast.

Overview of the Web Accessibility Initiative:
http://www.w3.org/Talks/WAI-Intro/slide1-0.html
This presentation covers:

• Why is "Web accessibility" important?
• What is the World Wide Web Consortium doing to address the issue?
• What resources are available to help make sites accessible?
• What actions are useful in promoting Web accessibility?

Trace Research and Development Center
Designing More Usable Web Sites:
http://www.trace.wisc.edu/world/web/index.html
Trace is a non-profit research center which focuses on making off the shelf technologies and systems like computers, the Internet, and information kiosks more accessible for everyone through the process known as universal, or accessible design. Primarily funded through the US Department of Education, Trace provides an excellent list of resources including many of the ones previously mentioned, as well as an overview of assistive technologies and further research.

Watchfire:
http://www.watchfire.com
Founded in 1996, Watchfire provides organizations with comprehensive automated testing, analysis, and reporting solutions that can help detect and manage website issues in the areas of accessibility, privacy, content and web application defects, usability, and more.

WAVE 3.0 Web Accessibility Tool:
http://www.wave.webaim.org/index.jsp
The WAVE 3.0 Web Accessibility Tool, still in development at WebAIM, offers a number of unique features that make it a powerful and effective tool. Among its strengths are its visual presentation mechanism, which highlights both accessibility errors and accessibility features, and its ability to show the linear order in which tables would be traversed. For pages with complex layout, this WAVE Web Accessibility Tool can help the developer understand whether or not the logical order of the page will make sense to screen reader software. The many icons used by the WAVE can be confusing at first, but the tool provides a broad at-a-glance assessment of a web page, and with use the symbols quickly become familiar. This free tool is an excellent option for the savvy designer, providing a comprehensive analysis of a web page without the time-based or financial limitations of the commercial alternatives.

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI):
http://www.w3.org/WAI/
An activity sponsored by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). WAI's purpose is to make the Web more accessible to people with disabilities. The WAI has five major areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development. W3C is an industry consortium created to develop common protocols that enhance the interoperability and promote the evolution of the Web.

Working via the Internet with volunteers who have disabilities:
http://www.serviceleader.org/new/virtual/archives/
categories/volunteers_with_disabilities/index.php
Although focused on working with volunteers, this information can be applied to customer and staff settings as well. It also includes an extensive list of links to resources to help you create materials to help people with cognitive or emotional disabilities. It includes tips for outreach, accommodations, conversation, and staff training. Produced by the Virtual Volunteering Project.

Viewable on Any Browser Campaign:
http://www.anybrowser.org/campaign/
The site includes an Accessible Site Design Guide which discusses issues in web page accessibility and how to make your page as accessible as possible. It is not so much an HTML guide, as an aid to help you learn about accessibility trouble spots, and provide advice on how to deal with them. The campaign also provides sample letters to send to authors of sites that are not accessible to encourage them to design so that the site is viewable by any browser.