Blog – The Architect’s Log

A big part of our Testing Web Development phase involves code validation and browser compatibility testing. There are a number of excellent external tools that help us complete our testing process. The following is a running list of both testing and developer web/PC “helper” tools and resources we currently use or think are beneficial to the industry. (While not all tools are free, most have free or trial versions.) Also – Don’t miss the IE Plugins and Firefox Add-ons section at the very bottom for similar tools.

Key: = Tool, = Web Resource

Quick Links:
- Code Validation and Related
- Browser Compatibility
- Mobile
- Section 508 Compliance
- Performance Testing
- Web Standards
- Link Checkers
- SEO, Analytics and Related
- Design/User Interface (UI)/User Experience (UX)
- Firefox Browser Add-ons
- Internet Explorer Browser Plugins

Code Validation and Related
W3C Markup Validator
W3Schools – Online web tutorials.
Test Everything – Large collection of testing tools in one convenient place.
IBM Rational AppScan Software – “Web site security, Web site compliance, and application security solutions for the most comprehensive approach to assessing vulnerabilities in networked applications and critical Web sites.”
Dr. Watson – Checks code, including link validity, download speed, search engine compatibility, and link popularity.
NetMechanic – “Affordable self-service web tools that help create a quality web experience for customers, as well as accessibility for search engine spiders.”
WDG HTML Validator
Google Web Site Optimizer
JSLint – “The JavaScript Code Quality Tool”
Clean CSS Formatter and Optimiser – “Takes your CSS code and makes it cleaner and more concise.”
CSS Redundancy Checker – “Find CSS selectors that aren’t used by any of your HTML files and may be redundant.”
CSSCheck
Website Spell Checking Service
Watir – “Watir, pronounced water, is an open-source (BSD) library for automating web browsers. It allows you to write tests that are easy to read and maintain.”

Browser Compatibility
BrowserCam – “See your web design on any browser on any operating system. Check javascripts, DHTML, forms and other dynamic functionality on any platform. Not just yours. Use our bank of testing machines remotely to test your website.”
IE NetRenderer – “Check how a website is rendered by Internet Explorer 8, 7, 6 or 5.5.”
Web Page Backward Compatibility Viewer
Browser Simulator/Emulator = “Masquerade Referer and User-Agent values to simulate/emulate browser types, robots, spiders, and referring links.”
Gomez Cross Browser Testing – “Gomez’s on-demand cross-browser testing solution automates the validation of Web and mobile applications across all major browsers, operating systems and mobile devices.”
BrowsrCamp – “Test the compatibility of your design with Mac OS X browsers.”
SortSite – “A one-click compatibility test tool for web sites – inside or outside the firewall.”
Browser Sandbox – “Run any browser from the web.”
Litmus – “The advanced testing tool for web professionals.” (web pages and email campaigns)
Cross Browser Testing – “Website testing center for cross platform, cross browser compatibility.”
Browsershots – “Makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers.”
Adobe Browser Lab – “Exact renderings of their web pages in multiple browsers and operating systems, on demand.”
IE Capture
AnyBrowser.com
Running Multiple Browsers on a Single Machine

Mobile
W3C Mobile Web Initiative
W3C Mobile Validator
MobiReady – “Evaluates mobile-readiness using industry best practices & standards.”

Section 508 Compliance
Section508.gov – Main site for 508 law, FAQ, impact, and related info.
Accessites.org – “We will show you artfully crafted sites made by some of today’s most progressive web developers.”
Cynthia Says – “A web content accessibility validation solution designed to identify errors in your content related to Section 508 standards and/or the WCAG guidelines.”
Virginia’?s Roadmap for Implementing IT Accessibility (.pdf)
Usability.gov – “The primary government source for information on usability and user-centered design.”
Colorblind Web Page Filter
WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool
Site Valet – “Web tools for quality, accessibility, and standards compliance.”
Accessibility Color Wheel
JAWS Screen Reader – “Developed for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content, JAWS reads aloud what’s on the PC screen.”
MAGic Screen Magnifier
Dragon Naturally Speaking – “Software developer kit used by developers and integrators to add speech recognition capabilities into in-house and commercial applications or workflow applications.”
Standards Schmandards – “A problematic approach to web accessibility.”

Performance Testing
OptiView Tools – Page scanner and line speed tester.
Web Page Analyzer – “Free website performance tool and web page speed analysis.”
Gomez Instant Test – “Use Gomez’s instant testing to find performance problems before your customers do.”

Web Standards
World Wide Web Consortium – “An international community that develops standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Web.”
The Web Standards Project – “A grassroots coalition fighting for standards which ensure simple, affordable access to web technologies for all.”

Link Checkers
1-Hit Broken Link Checker
Link Validation Spider (site wide scanning ability)
Link Tiger – “We hunt down your broken links.”
Link Alarm = “The premier tool for regular automatic link validation reports.”
Link Valet – “A deluxe website monitoring service that integrates automated reporting with online tools.”

SEO, Analytics and Related
Builtwith – “Apply this information and improve your websites Search Engine Optimization, Web Technologies and Document Standards with the BuiltWith Website Optimizer.”
Compete – “The only online competitive intelligence service that combines site and search analytics in one site to help you quickly master online marketing.”

Design/User Interface (UI)/User Experience (UX)
Fivesecondtest – “Easily identify the most prominent elements of your user interfaces.”
Whatsitscolor – “An image-color processing utility that will evaluate an image and give you the image’s primary and complementary dominant colors of an image, how many visually unique colors are in an image, and the top ten visually unique colors in an image.”
Adobe Kuler
Pantone to RGB and Hex
HEX Color Code Calculation
Image Analyser – “Examines all images found on a web page to check for any accessibility issues.”
Readability Index Calculator

Firefox Browser Add-ons
WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool Toolbar
Fangs Screen Reader Emulator
CodeBurner
ColorZilla
CSS Validator (W3C)
DT Whois
Fireshot
IE View
MeasureIt
Page Validator (W3C)
PPC Web Spy Toolbar
Web Developer Browser Extension
Multiproxy Switch
All-in-One Sidebar
Selenium

Internet Explorer Browser Plugins
WiDGets for IE – HTML Validation WiDGet, Disable Style Sheets WiDGet, Change Style WiDGet, Append Style WiDGet, Prepend Style WiDGet, Remove Images WiDGet
Expression Web Super Preview – “View browser renderings side-by-side horizontally or vertically, or overlay them to identify differences. You can use rulers and guides to measure and highlight visual problems. You can zoom in and out of a page and see all the browser renderings update in tandem.”
IE Developer Toolbar – “Several features for exploring and understanding Web pages.”
Web Accessibility Toolbar

Have resources to add or broken links or discontinued tools to report? Let us know!

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