- From: Bruce Bailey <bbailey@clark.net>
- Date: Thu, 08 Oct 1998 09:43:27 -0400
- To: WAI Interest Group <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
- CC: bobbby@cast.org
I would like to caution WAI list members regarding a bug I have recently discovered about Bobby. I use a "direct" link to Bobby to check my pages. Under my little Bobby logo button graphic is something like: <A HREF="http://udl.cast.org/bobby?URL=www.dors.state.md.us/locations.html" title="CAST: Bobby"> Sure, this link brings up the sweetly brief (old style) "Bobby Approved" page (which is, after all, what I _wanted_ to happen -- grin), but Bobby does not actually examine the page! You may also have this problem if you are using an old bookmarks to automatically proof your pages. Direct links to really poorly designed sites are also "Bobby Approved". Try surfing to a notorious offender like the New York Times using this technique: http://udl.cast.org/bobby?URL=http://www.nytimes.com/ In their defense, nowhere does CAST suggest the possibility of access Bobby directly in this way. The fix is easy enough, simply add "&browser=AccEval" to the end of the "direct" link. For the record, this trick did work fairly recently (even after CAST first implemented the WAI April recommendations). I am not sure when this "broke", but it probably has been a few months. This technique is actually recommended by the W3C for using their validation service, so I can't claim to be clever for thinking of it. This kind of Bobby (ab)use will probably be valid again in the near future. For now, if you are using this technique, that Bobby Approved rating may be an accident! One problem with wonderful tools is that they are used in ways their inventor may never have considered...
Received on Thursday, 8 October 1998 09:41:59 UTC