TIP 29

'Bobby Approved' does not mean your website is accessible

Bobby is a very useful tool but it is all too often misunderstood. Many organisations however, falsely believe that simply passing the Bobby test will satisfy their accessibility obligations. For them, the measure of accessibility is whether or not their pages can attain the Bobby Approved icon. In many ways, this is an understandable perspective. The Bobby icon represents an achievable standard and a tangible, cost effective reward for efforts made towards web accessibility.

It should be remembered that the Bobby test does not ensure 'real' accessibility. Firstly, "Bobby Approved" is based on passing the Priority 1 checkpoints alone. Many now believe that if a site is to be truly accessible it should pass the Priority 2 checkpoints also. Indeed, if we are to look at initiatives at European Union level we should expect Priority 2 compliance to be the benchmark going forward. Bobby tests for these Priority 2 checkpoints but compliance is not part of getting the icon. Secondly, Bobby cannot even warrant that a site has passed all of the WAI Priority 1 checkpoints it has evaluated as Bobby is only one interpretation of the WAI checkpoints.

Indeed, in the absence of a complaint, CAST does not actively regulate the use of the icon. There seems to be abuse in some instances and sites have been observed to display the icon even though they are not compliant. This usually occurs where the test's subjective Priority 1 'user checks' have not been addressed, where only the homepage on a site has been tested or where new content is not assessed for accessibility when added.

NEXT > .< BACK