Free Web Development Tools: The Accessibility Toolbar

Please note a free article detailing the 1.0 release version of this Toolbar is now available here.

Many people find that learning a new web language like CSS or XHTML is tricky from a book which is heavy on the theory, and find they learn best by looking at other people’s sites and seeing how they work. Of course, you can always “view source” in the browser to see the mark-up and check the location of the CSS file to download it, but, as Dreamweaver users, we tend to like the visual approach. Well, now for those using IE under Windows, there’s a free toolbar that offers many options for visual, one-click investigations of the structure of sites, developed by the Accessible Information Solutions (AIS) team at the National Information and Library Service (NILS), Australia.

Don’t be fooled by the name - even if you’re not designing accessible sites, it’s a great way to develop your CSS and HTML skills as well, of course, check accessibility. It gives you all kinds of information about the structure and styles of the site you’re visiting – invaluable if you’re wondering how they made that stylesheet, or learning modern coding techniques.

Summary

This is an excellent tool for designers looking to see how CSS and Accessibility works "in the wild". I found it very useful to see how other web sites that I admire are constructed, and the fact that it's free is an excellent bonus. Recommended.