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From: Lori Bailey
Date: Dec 20, 2005 1:40PM

Debbie,

We considered using Watchfire when I was at Ohio State Univ, but found that most users had difficulty interpreting the report. In particular, the report, at that time, did not allow pages to be sorted by error (e.g. show me all pages that have "Alternative Text" missing on images). And the Help seemed to only make sense to users after some introductory training on accessibility issues. I did numerous reviews for different departments and programs, and provided a copy of the Watchfire report with the my own customized report, but many users told me they didn't understand what the report was saying and used my review report almost exclusively.

As a result, OSU decided to make the tool available to administrators of large sites, but focused on providing a check list of errors (as was already suggested), an implementation plan based on page priority, and free training and on-demand site reviews. We implemented a reporting process to allow webmasters to self-assess and report their progress in coming into compliance -- that seemed to be the best tool to help us focus our resources. Those who reported little or no progress after year one get focused attention. Although, I left the university after our first year of implementation -- for a new position, not because of any problems with the system -- it seemed to be proving effective. You can see much of what was built on the web site: OSU Web Accessibility Center: www.wac.ohio-state.edu.

Best,

Lori

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Lori Bailey
Director of Informational and Instructional Design
College of Education, Temple University
<EMAIL REMOVED>

Subject: [WebAIM] Accessibility software Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 15:14:47 -0500 To: <EMAIL REMOVED> From: "Debbie Charles" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >

Watchfire (site license), for example, will allow unlimited checks by
large numbers of people (they've confirmed 100 people can run a check at the
same time). The report can capture code so the user knows where to look for the problem and has a 'help' that will show code examples, etc.

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