WAVE Dreamweaver Extension

The WAVE Dreamweaver Extension gives additional flexibility to Adobe Dreamweaver users by eliminating the need to evaluate the page using a web browser. It currently is a cumbersome process to use the WAVE accessibility evaluation tool to evaluate content being developed in Dreamweaver. With the Dreamweaver extension web developers can evaluate web pages and get a full WAVE report with one click.

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WAVE Dreamweaver Extension (BETA)
Version 0.9 (BETA)
January 30, 2010
Requirements: Dreamweaver CS3+

Installing the WAVE Dreamweaver Extension

Select the download link above and save the .mxp file to your local computer. You can then double click the MXP file to open it in the Adobe Extension Manager which will prompt you to install it. Optionally, you can open the Adobe Extension Manager, then select Install and browse to the location of the downloaded .mxp file.

Known issues

• Due to limitations in the Dreamweaver Extension API, reports will open in your default browser in both Dreamweaver CS3 and all Mac versions of Dreamweaver. Reports in CS4+ on Windows will open in a panel within Dreamweaver.
• Due to a known bug in Firefox 3.6 on Mac OS X, Firefox cannot open local files that have a space in the file name. If the default browser in Dreamweaver is set to Firefox 3.6 and your local file path includes a space, the WAVE report may not open. In this case, you may need to set the default browser in Dreamweaver to Safari or another browser (Preferences... Preview in Browser). This bug should be resolved in the next minor release of Firefox (i.e., 3.6.1).
• If you uninstall the extension and later get errors about WAVE panels being unavailable, you must reset your 'Workspace Layout' by going to Window > Workspace Layout > Reset Layout name.
• If you identify any bugs or have feature requests, please let us know.

Using the WAVE Dreamweaver Extension

To run a WAVE report, load a web page file into Dreamweaver, then select the "Errors, Features, and Alerts", "Structure/Order View", "Text-only View", or "Outline View" icons on the toolbar. The code of your web page will be sent to our servers, analyzed, and modified to display the WAVE report. The WAVE report will display in a panel within Dreamweaver. If you are using Dreamweaver CS3 or are using Mac OS X, the WAVE report will open in your default browser.

You can also select portions of the page or HTML code to evaluate only that portion of the document. Note that it will evaluate the source code as stored in Dreamweaver. Dynamic content (such as ASP or PHP), external images and styles, etc. will not be processed or display in the WAVE report.

You can WAVE multiple different documents at the same time. Just open (or switch tabs) with the new opened document and click one of the previously mentioned buttons.

If you click the Icons Key button, it will open a new independent panel with the Icons Key documentation. If you are using Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 or are on a Mac, your report and the icons key page will be opened in your default browser.

You can also run reports by going to the Commands menu and selecting WAVE. This will open a new dialog that will let you choose a specific action.

To display or hide the toolbar, select View... Toolbars... WAVE Toolbar.

Evaluating Content for Cognitive Accessibility

WAVE includes features to aid in the evaluation of web content for accessibility to users with cognitive and learning disabilities. Of course no automated tool can fully evaluate for cognitive accessibility, so we have generated a checklist and resource to help you in evaluating such content while using WAVE.

Please refer to Evaluating Cognitive Web Accessibility with WAVE.

WAVE Help

For additional general WAVE help please visit http://wave.webaim.org/help

Copyright, privacy notice, and other stuff

The WAVE Dreamweaver Extension, its interface elements, design elements, functionality, and underlying code are © 2010 - WebAIM. When activated, the current page content is transmitted to the WAVE server for evaluation. You should NOT use the extension if the content of your page is sensitive or if you do not want your page information to reach the WAVE server. In those cases please use the WAVE Firefox toolbar. By downloading and using this extension, you agree to the WAVE Terms of Use and Privacy Notice.

Development of the Dreamweaver Extension and cognitive elements of the WAVE tool are made possible in part by a grant funded from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education. The contents of this tool do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.