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  5. Section 508 Testing
  6. DHS Section 508 Compliance Testing Tools

DHS Section 508 Compliance Testing Tools

The following information is provided to assist agencies in getting the testing tools required by Trusted Tester V5 approved for use within their IT environments. This information is based on the latest status of the Federal Accessibility Community of Practice Working Group. More information on the latest web testing methodology is contained in the resource Trusted Tester Section 508 Conformance Test Process for Web version 5.0.

Trusted Tester V5 uses the Accessible Name and Description Inspector (ANDI), developed by the Social Security Administration. Currently, there are two versions of the ANDI tool – a standard version and a training version as described below.

Standard version of ANDI

  • The Standard version of ANDI, along with its installation instructions, can be found at https://www.ssa.gov/accessibility/andi/help/install.html. This version of ANDI results in an installation that continues to point to the SSA servers and will automatically receive any updates provided by SSA.
    Note: Due to the nature of browser technology, you may need to clear your browser cache in order to get the updated functionality.
  • The Open Source repository for ANDI can be accessed at https://github.com/SSAgov/ANDI. (Due to approval processes, this version may lag behind the latest development release by about a week.)
  • The Web Accessibility Toolbar (WAT) and the Web Accessibility Favelets (WAF) are used in Trusted Tester 4 but not Trusted Tester V5.

Training version of ANDI

Strictly for training and certification exam purposes, DHS hosts a version of ANDI that is updated only in conjunction with updates to the Trusted Tester training course content. Do not use this version of ANDI for production web testing.

To add the training version of ANDI to most browsers, Drag and Drop this link: ANDI into your browser's favorites/bookmark bar.

Note: To avoid confusion between the training and standard versions of ANDI, include the keyword “training” when labeling this installation link in your browser.

Though this pointer should help to ensure that you receive all Training Versions of ANDI updates, due to the nature of browser technology, you may need to clear your browser cache in order to get the updated functionality.

For more detailed instructions, please see below:

Chrome

  1. Ensure that Chrome's Bookmarks Bar is visible (Ctrl + Shift + B)
  2. Now drag and drop this link: ANDI to the Bookmarks Bar
  3. ANDI is now installed to Chrome and ready to be launched
    Unfortunately, Chrome does not offer a simple keyboard accessible alternative to save a link as a bookmark.

Firefox

  1. Ensure that Firefox's Bookmarks Toolbar is visible
  2. Right click this link: ANDI and select "Bookmark This Link". Alternatively, keyboard users running Windows can tab to this link: ANDI, press CTRL+SHIFT+F10 (which brings up a context menu) and select "Bookmark This Link".
  3. Add it to the Bookmarks Toolbar.
  4. ANDI is now installed to Firefox and ready to be launched

Internet Explorer

  1. Ensure that IE's Favorites Bar is visible
  2. Right click this link: ANDI and select "Add to favorites bar". Alternatively, keyboard users running Windows can tab to this link: ANDI, press ctrl+shift+F10 (which brings up a context menu) and select "Add to favorites bar"
  3. ANDI is now installed to IE and ready to be launched

Microsoft Edge

Because the version of Edge you have may not allow the direct installation of favelets (such as ANDI). As a workaround....

  1. Install ANDI to Chrome or Firefox
  2. Use Edge to import favorites from Chrome or Firefox
  3. Once imported, ANDI can be moved into Edge's Favorites Bar for quick launching

Safari

  1. Ensure that Safari's Favorites Bar is visible (Command + Shift + B)
  2. Drag and drop this link: https://github.com/ThePacielloGroup/CCA-Win.

     

At present, Trusted Tester V5 does not provide a test process for non-web software. For contractual testing purposes, Trusted Tester V4 for non-web software is accepted by DHS in the interim. Results from the following tools are also accepted for software testing:

Microsoft Inspect

Microsoft Inspect is used with Windows 10 and Microsoft Inspect. This tool can be found in the Microsoft Software Development Kit (SDK) at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/winauto/inspect-objects.

Microsoft AccEvent

Microsoft AccEvent is a new tool. It can be found in the Microsoft Software Development Kit (SDK) at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/winauto/accessible-event-watcher.

Oracle Java AccessInspector

Oracle Java AccessInspector is a new tool. It can be found at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/tech/index-jsp-140174.html.

Colour Contrast Analyser (CCA)

The Colour Contrast Analyser (CCA) tool from the Web Accessibility Toolbar is used for testing color contrast for software. It can be found at https://github.com/ThePacielloGroup/CCA-Win.

Note: Oracle Java Ferret is no longer used.

Last Updated: 03/16/2022
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