Archive for the ‘General’ Category

A list of the Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) time servers

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

There are two levels, or tiers, of Network Time Protocol (NTP) time servers that are available on the Internet. The NTP is defined in Request for Comments (RFC) 1305.

The first-level time servers are primarily intended to act as source time servers for second-level time servers. The first-level time servers may also be capable of providing mission-critical time services. Some first-level time servers may have a restricted access policy.

Second-level time servers are intended for general SNTP time service needs. Second-level time servers usually enable public access. It is recommended that you use second-level time servers for normal SNTP time server configuration because they are usually located on a closer network that can produce faster updates.

NIST time servers

  • time-a.nist.gov
    129.6.15.28
    NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland
  • time-b.nist.gov
    129.6.15.29
    NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland
  • time-a.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov
    132.163.4.101 (as of December 1, 1999)
    NIST, Boulder, Colorado
  • time-b.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov
    132.163.4.102 (as of December 1, 1999)
    NIST, Boulder, Colorado
  • time-c.timefreq.bldrdoc.gov
    132.163.4.103 (as of December 1, 1999)
    NIST, Boulder, Colorado
  • utcnist.colorado.edu
    128.138.140.44
    University of Colorado, Boulder
  • time.nist.gov
    192.43.244.18
    NCAR, Boulder, Colorado
  • time-nw.nist.gov
    131.107.1.10
    Microsoft, Redmond, Washington
  • nist1.dc.certifiedtime.com
    216.200.93.8
    Abovnet, North Virginia
  • nist1.datum.com
    209.0.72.7
    Datum, San Jose, California
  • nist1.nyc.certifiedtime.com
    208.184.49.129
    Abovnet, New York City
  • nist1.sjc.certifiedtime.com
    207.126.103.202
    Abovnet, San Jose, California

Level-One Time Servers

Arranged by geographic location:

North America

  • Palo Alto, CA: Systems Research Center, Compaq Computer Corp.
    204.123.2.72: usno.pa-x.dec.com; CNAME: navobs1.pa-x.dec.com
    Service area: U.S. pacific and mountain time zones
  • Marina del Rey, CA: USC Information Sciences Institute
    128.9.176.30: timekeeper.isi.edu
    Service Area: CalRen2 and Los Nettos region
  • Washington, DC: U.S. Naval Observatory
    192.5.41.41: tock.usno.navy.mil
    192.5.41.40: tick.usno.navy.mil
    Service Area: NSFNET
  • Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: National Research Council of Canada
    time.chu.nrc.ca
    Service Area: Canada
  • Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State University
    152.1.58.124: terrapin.csc.ncsu.edu
    Service Area: Southeastern U.S.
  • Cambridge, MA: MIT Information Systems
    18.72.0.3: bitsy.mit.edu
    Service Area: NSFNET and NEARnet area
  • Cambridge, MA: MIT
    18.26.4.105: bonehed.lcs.mit.edu
    Service Area: Eastern U.S.
  • Palo Alto, CA: Internet Software Consortium
    192.5.5.250: clock.isc.org
    Service Area: BARRnet, Alternet-west, and CIX-west
  • Cambridge, MA: Open Software Foundation
    130.105.4.59: clock.osf.org
    Service Area: NSFNET and NEARnet region
  • Palo Alto, CA: ViaNet Communications
    209.81.9.7: clock.via.net
  • Cleveland, OH: Lewis Research Center (NASA)
    128.156.1.43: lerc-dns.lerc.nasa.gov
    Service Area: NSFNET and OARNET
  • Colorado Springs, CO: Schriever AFB
    204.34.198.40: navobs1.usnogps.navy.mil; CNAME: tick.usnogps.navy.mil
    204.34.198.41: navobs2.usnogps.navy.mil; CNAME: tock.usnogps.navy.mil
    Service area: U.S. pacific and mountain time zones
  • St. Louis, MO: Washington University
    128.252.19.1: navobs1.wustl.edu; CNAME: tick.wustl.edu
    Service area: U.S. central time zone
  • Research Triangle Park, NC: MCNC
    192.101.21.1: ncnoc.ncren.net
    Service area: NC-REN region
  • Cupertino, CA: HP
    192.6.38.127: ntp-cup.external.hp.com
    Service Area: West coast U.S.
  • Newark, DE: Conectiv Communications
    138.39.7.20: ntp1.delmarva.com
    Service area: Cable & Wireless Network (formerly MCInet)
  • University Park, PA: Penn State University
    128.118.46.3: otc1.psu.edu
    Service Area: NSFNET, PREPNET, and JvNCnet

Europe

  • Borowiec, Poland: Astrogeodynamical Observatory, Space Research Centre
    150.254.183.15: vega.cbk.poznan.pl
    Service Area: Poland and Europe
  • Stockholm, Sweden: Stupi AB
    192.36.143.151: Time2.Stupi.SE
    Service Area: Europe
  • Torino, Italy: IEN Galileo Ferraris
    193.204.114.1: time.ien.it
    Service Area: Italy and Europe
  • Zurich, Switzerland: Integrated Systems Lab, Swiss Fed. Inst. of Technology
    129.132.2.21: swisstime.ethz.ch
    Service Area: Switzerland and Europe
  • Torino, Italy: CSTV of National Research Council
    150.145.33.1: tempo.cstv.to.cnr.it
    Service Area: Italy and Europe
  • Erlangen, Germany: University Erlangen-Nuernberg
    ntp0.fau.de; ntp1.fau.de; ntp2.fau.de;
    ntps1-0.uni-erlangen.de; ntps1-1.uni-erlangen.de; ntps1-2.uni-erlangen.de
    Service Area: Germany and Europe
  • Berlin, Germany: Technische Universitaet Berlin
    130.149.17.21: ntps1-0.cs.tu-berlin.de
    130.149.17.8: ntps1-1.cs.tu-berlin.de
    Service Area: Germany and Europe
  • Germany
    131.173.17.7: ntps1-1.rz.Uni-Osnabrueck.DE
    Service Area: Germany and Europe
  • Sweden
    192.36.143.150: Time1.Stupi.SE
    Service Area: SUnet and NORDUnet Sweden

East Asia and Pacific Rim

  • Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
    137.189.6.18: clock.cuhk.edu.hk
    Service Area: Hong Kong, China, and South East Asia
  • Fukuoka, Japan: Fukuoka University
    133.100.9.2: clock.nc.fukuoka-u.ac.jp
    133.100.11.8: clock.tl.fukuoka-u.ac.jp
    Service Area: Japan and Pacific area

Australia

  • Melbourne Australia: The University of Melbourne
    128.250.36.2: ntp.cs.mu.OZ.AU
    Service area: Australia and New Zealand

Level-Two Time Servers

Arranged by geographic location:

North America

NTP time servers:

  • Quebec, Canada: Canadian Meteorological Center
    ntp1.cmc.ec.gc.ca; ntp2.cmc.ec.gc.ca
    Service Area: Eastern Canada
  • Ontario, Canada: National Research Council of Canada
    time.chu.nrc.ca; time.nrc.ca
    Service Area: Canada
  • Saskatchewan, Canada: University of Regina
    142.3.100.15: timelord.uregina.ca
    Service Area: Canada
  • Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto
    tick.utoronto.ca; tock.utoronto.ca
    Service Area: Eastern Canada
  • Mexico: Audiotel office
    ntp2a.audiotel.com.mx; ntp2c.audiotel.com.mx; ntp2b.audiotel.com.mx
    Service Area: Avantel, MCINet, and Mexico
  • Santa Cruz, CA: Scruz-net, inc.
    165.227.1.1: ns.scruz.net
    Service area: Western U.S.
  • San Diego, CA: UCSD Academic Computing Services/Network Operations
    132.239.254.49: ntp.ucsd.edu
    Service Area: CERFNET; NSFNET, SDSC region, and nearby
  • Quincy, California
    ntp1.mainecoon.com; ntp2.mainecoon.com
    Service Area: North America
  • Newark, DE: University of Delaware
    128.175.1.3: louie.udel.edu
    Service Area: CAIRN, Abilene, and vBNS
  • Atlanta, GA: CNSG
    ntp.shorty.com
    Service Area: Southeast U.S.
  • Kennesaw, GA: PeachNet
    rolex.peachnet.edu; timex.peachnet.edu
    Service Area: PeachNet (Georgia) and Southeast U.S.
  • Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois
    ntp-0.cso.uiuc.edu; ntp-1.cso.uiuc.edu; ntp-2.cso.uiuc.edu
    Service Area: CICNET, Midwest, and NCSA region
  • Chicago, IL: Argonne National Laboratory
    ntp-1.mcs.anl.gov; ntp-2.mcs.anl.gov
    Service Area: NSF/ANSNet, CICNet, NetIllinois, and ESNet
  • West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University
    gilbreth.ecn.purdue.edu; harbor.ecn.purdue.edu; molecule.ecn.purdue.edu
    Service area: NSFNET and CICNET area
  • Manhattan, KS: KansasNet OnLine Services
    199.240.130.1: ntp1.kansas.net
    199.240.130.12: ntp2.kansas.net
    Service area: Central U.S. and Great Plains
  • Boston, MA: UMass-Boston CS dept.
    158.121.104.4: timeserver.cs.umb.edu
    Service Area: New England
  • Minneapolis/St Paul, MN: University of Minnesota
    ns.nts.umn.edu; nss.nts.umn.edu
    Service Area: CICNET region
  • Columbia, MO: University of Missouri-Columbia
    128.206.206.12: everest.cclabs.missouri.edu
    Service Area: MOREnet
  • Omaha, NE: Radiks Internet Access
    205.138.126.83: allison.radiks.net
    Service Area: Midwest U.S.
  • Las Vegas, NV: University of Nevada System Computing Services
    131.216.1.101: cuckoo.nevada.edu
    Service Area: NevadaNet, NSFNET, and SDSC region
  • Las Vegas, NV: UNLV College of Engineering
    tick.cs.unlv.edu; tock.cs.unlv.edu
    Service Area: Sprintnet
  • New York City, NY: Columbia University
    ntp.ctr.columbia.edu
    Service Area: Sprintlink and NYSERnet
  • Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
    192.35.82.50: ntp0.cornell.edu
    Service Area: NSFNET and NYSER region
  • New York, NY: Morningside Campus, Columbia University
    sundial.columbia.edu
    Service Area: NYSERnet
  • New York City, NY: Columbia University Computer Science Department
    timex.cs.columbia.edu
    Service Area: PSINET; NSFNET, and NYSER region
  • Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma
    129.15.22.8: constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu
    Service Area: Midnet
  • Coos Bay, OR: Koala Computers
    207.48.109.6: tick.koalas.com
    Service Area: Northwestern U.S.
  • University Park, PA: Penn State University
    128.118.25.3: clock.psu.edu
    Service Area: Internet2, vBNS, CERFnet(AT&T IP Services), PSC/NCNE, and CASC
  • Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center
    128.182.58.100: fuzz.psc.edu
    Service area: NSFNET and PSC region
  • Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon Electrical and Computer Engineering
    ntp-1.ece.cmu.edu; ntp-2.ece.cmu.edu
    Service Area: PREPNET and PSC region
  • Dallas, TX: Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University
    129.119.80.126: ntp.cox.smu.edu
    Service Area: NSFNET and SESQUI region
  • Hughes Springs, TX: First National Bank
    209.144.20.76: ntp.fnbhs.com
    Service area: Northeast Texas
  • Houston, Tx: Baylor College of Medicine
    128.249.1.10: ntp.tmc.edu
    Service Area: NSFNET and SESQUI region
  • College Station, TX: Texas A&M University
    165.91.52.110: ntp5.tamu.edu
    Service area: NSFNET, SESQUI region, THEnet, and TAMUSDSN
  • Plano, TX: Greyware Automation Products
    tick.greyware.com; tock.greyware.com
    Service Area: South-Central U.S.
  • Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Tech Computing Center
    ntp-1.vt.edu; ntp-2.vt.edu
    Service Area: Southeast U.S.
  • Arlington, VA: Center for Seismic Studies
    140.162.1.3: ntp.cmr.gov
    Service Area: NSFNET and SURA region
  • Richland, WA: Washington State University
    192.31.216.30: clock.tricity.wsu.edu
    Service Area: NSFNET and NorthWestNet
  • Washington, U.S.: Mill Creek
    time.ultimeth.net
    Service Area: Northwest U.S.
  • Wisconsin, U.S.: Computer Science Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison
    ntp1.cs.wisc.edu; ntp2.cs.wisc.edu; ntp3.cs.wisc.edu
    Service Area: U.S. and any

South America

  • Buenos Aires, Argentina: Network Access Point
    200.49.40.1: CNAME: tick.nap.com.ar
    200.49.32.1: CNAME: tock.nap.com.ar
    Service Area: Argentina
  • Buenos Aires, Argentina: Sinectis S.A.
    time.sinectis.com.ar
    Service Area: Argentina
  • Brazil: Brazilian Research Network
    200.144.121.33: ntp.cais.rnp.br
    Service Area: Brazil
  • Venezuela: VELUG, Grupo de Usuarios Linux de Venezuela
    150.185.192.250: ntp.linux.org.ve
    Service Area: Arica

Europe

  • Zurich, Switzerland: Swiss Fed. Inst. of Technology
    129.132.98.11: bernina.ethz.ch
    Service Area: Switzerland and Europe
  • Location: Copenhagen, Denmark, Europe
    clock.netcetera.dk; clock2.netcetera.dk
    Service area: Denmark, Scandinavia, and Northern Europe
  • Spain: Altea
    slug.ctv.es
    Service Area: Spain
  • Pieksamaki, Finland: Keski-Savon Oppimiskeskus
    tick.keso.fi; tock.keso.fi
    Service area: Finland
  • Meudon, France: Observatoire de Paris-Meudon
    ntp.obspm.fr
    Service Area: France and Europe
  • Lyon, France: CISM
    ntp.univ-lyon1.fr
    Service Area: France, Switzerland, Italy, and Europe
  • Paris, France: VIA, Ecole Centrale
    138.195.130.70: ntp.via.ecp.fr
    Service Area: France and Europe
  • Budapest, Hungary: KFKI Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics
    148.6.0.1: time.kfki.hu
    Service Area: HUNGARNET
  • Italy: Net4u Srl, Vercelli, Italy
    195.32.52.129: ntps.net4u.it
    Service area: Italy
  • Oslo, Norway: University of Oslo
    129.240.64.3: fartein.ifi.uio.no
    Service Area: NORDUnet
  • Oslo, Norway: Alcanet International
    time.alcanet.no
    Service Area: Europe
  • Krakow, Poland: Academic Computer Centre
    149.156.4.11: info.cyf-kr.edu.pl
    Service Area: Poland and Europe
  • Lund, Sweden: Lund Institute of Technology
    130.235.20.3: ntp.lth.se
    Service Area: Sweden and NORDUnet
  • Ljubljana, Slovenia: Institute of Biophysics, University of Ljubljana
    biofiz.mf.uni-lj.si 193.2.69.11
    Service Area: Slovenia and Europe
  • Ljubljana, Slovenia: Hydrometeorological Institute of Slovenia
    hmljhp.rzs-hm.si
    Service Area: Slovenia and Europe
  • Ljubljana, Slovenia: Academic and Research Network of Slovenia
    ntp1.arnes.si; ntp2.arnes.si
    Service Area: Slovenia and Europe
  • Ljubljana, Slovenia: J. Stefan Institute
    time.ijs.si
    Service Area: Slovenia and Europe

British Isles

  • Dublin, Ireland: School of Mathematics, Trinity College
    ntp.cs.tcd.ie; ntp.maths.tcd.ie; ntp.tcd.ie
    Service Area: Ireland and U.K.
  • Glasgow, Scotland: Strathclyde University
    ntp.cs.strath.ac.uk
    Service Area: U.K., Europe, and any
  • Cambridge, U.K.
    ntp0.uk.uu.net; ntp1.uk.uu.net;
    ntp2.uk.uu.net
    Service Area: UUNET (formerly known in the U.K. as PIPEX) and U.K.
  • Manchester, England: University of Manchester
    ntp2a.mcc.ac.uk; ntp2b.mcc.ac.uk;
    ntp2c.mcc.ac.uk; ntp2d.mcc.ac.uk
    Service Area: U.K.
  • Buckinghamshire U.K.: Wibble U.K., Aylesbury
    tick.tanac.net
    Service area: U.K.

Asia

  • Moscow, Russia: Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics
    193.233.9.7: ntp.landau.ac.ru
    Service area: Russia
  • Russia: Pushchino (near Moscow)
    194.149.67.130: ntp.psn.ru
    Service area: Russia
  • Chernogolovka, Russia: Chernogolovka Scientific Center (near Moscow)
    193.233.46.10: sign.chg.ru
    Service Area: Russia

East Asia and Pacific Rim

  • Tokyo, Japan: Cyber Fleet, Inc.
    203.139.30.195: ntp.cyber-fleet.net
    Service Area: Japan and East Asia
  • Seoul, Korea: Inet, Inc.
    time.nuri.net
    Service Area: Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and East Asia
  • Hamilton, New Zealand: The University of Waikato
    truechimer.waikato.ac.nz; truechimer1.waikato.ac.nz;
    truechimer2.waikato.ac.nz; truechimer3.waikato.ac.nz
    Service Area: New Zealand
  • Singapore and the Philippines:
    ntp.shim.org
    Service Area: Singapore

Africa

  • Lagos, Nigeria: Supernet300
    ntp.supernet300.com
    Service Area: Western Africa (primarily Nigerian NITEL backbone)
  • Pietermaritzburg, South Africa: Natal University
    143.128.82.200: ntp.cs.unp.ac.za
    Service area: South Africa

Australia

  • Adelaide, South Australia: The University of Adelaide
    129.127.28.4: augean.eleceng.adelaide.edu.au
    129.127.40.3: ntp.adelaide.edu.au
    203.21.37.18: ntp.saard.net
    Service area: AARNet
  • Carlton, Victoria, Australia: eSec Limited
    203.21.84.4: time.esec.com.au

Resources:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/262680

http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/ntp.html

http://tf.nist.gov/

http://tf.nist.gov/service/its.htm

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Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) overview

Friday, March 20th, 2009

LDAP is an application protocol for querying and modifying directory services running over TCP/IP.  LDAP servers store data in a Directory Information Tree (DIT), which is a hierarchical grouping of related data.  LDAP clients access this information for the user.

By default LDAP runs over TCP/IP on port 389.

Location of LDAP Directory - This is the path to the LDAP server.  This is always starts with the ‘ldap://’ prefix.  It is then followed by the LDAP server’s address and the port number, ‘:389′

ldap://<domain>:389

Base Name for users search imported from LDAP directory - This is a path to the directory in which we are going to search for users.   This creates a start point for our search.  We then have access to all the users that are under this Base Name, but we will not have access to users that are above this Base Name.

Abbreviations Naming Attributes
cn Common Name
ou Organizational Unit
dc Domain Component
dn Distinguished Name
rdn Relative Distinguished Name
upn User Principal Name

Filter string for users search imported from LDAP directory - this is the method that is used to sort all the users that are located under the base name and only pull in the members that we are looking for.  String operators are done up front.

Logical Operator Description
= Equal To
~= Approximately equal to
<= Lexicographically less than or equal to
>= Lexicographically greater than or equal to
& AND
| OR
! NOT
ASCII character Escape Sequence substitute
* \2a
( \28
) \29
\ \5c
NUL \00
/ \2f
Search Filter Description
(objectClass=*) All Objects
(&(objectClass=person)(objectClass=user)(!cn=andy)) All user objects but “andy”
(sn=sm*) All objects with a surname that starts with “sm”
(&(objectClass=user)(|(sn=Smith)(sn=Johnson))) All user objects with a surname equal to “Smith” or “Johnson”

Extended reading on Filter String:

RFC 2254 RFC 4515

LDAP Authentication Types

1.       Anonymous - No authentication is performed.

2.       Delegation - Enables Active Directory Services Interface (ADSI) to delegate the user’s security context, which is necessary for moving objects across domains.

3.       Encryption - Attaches a cryptographic signature to the message that both identifies the sender and ensures that the message has not been modified in transit.

4.       FastBind - Specifies that ADSI will not attempt to query the Active Directory Domain Services objectClass property. Therefore, only the base interfaces that are supported by all ADSI objects will be exposed. Other interfaces that the object supports will not be available. A user can use this option to boost the performance in a series of object manipulations that involve only methods of the base interfaces. However, ADSI does not verify if any of the request objects actually exist on the server.

5.       None - Equates to zero, which means to use basic authentication (simple bind) in the LDAP provider.

6.       ReadOnlyServer - For a WinNT provider, ADSI tries to connect to a domain controller. For Active Directory Domain Services, this flag indicates that a writable server is not required for a serverless binding.

7.       Sealing - Encrypts data using Kerberos. The Secure flag must also be set to use sealing.

8.       SecuritySocketLayer - Attaches a cryptographic signature to the message that both identifies the sender and ensures that the message has not been modified in transit. Active Directory Domain Services requires the Certificate Server be installed to support Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption.

9.       Secure - Requests secure authentication. When this flag is set, the WinNT provider uses NTLM to authenticate the client. Active Directory Domain Services uses Kerberos, and possibly NTLM, to authenticate the client. When the user name and password are a null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic), ADSI binds to the object using the security context of the calling thread, which is either the security context of the user account under which the application is running or of the client user account that the calling thread is impersonating.

10.   ServerBind - If your ADsPath includes a server name, specify this flag when using the LDAP provider. Do not use this flag for paths that include a domain name or for serverless paths. Specifying a server name without also specifying this flag results in unnecessary network traffic.

11.   Signing - Verifies data integrity to ensure that the data received is the same as the data sent. The Secure flag must also be set to use signing.

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Cheat Sheets

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

» ASP.NET 2.0 Page Life Cycle & Common Events
» NET Format String Quick Reference
» Visual Studio 2005 Built-in Code Snippets (C#)
» ASP.NET Page Life Cycle Diagram
» ASP.NET Runtime Cheat Sheet
» Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Commonly Uses Types and Namespaces
» Visual Studio 2005 Default Keybindings C# | VB
» Visual Studio 2008 Default Keybindings C# | VB
» Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX Library
» Microsoft ASP.NET AJAX Client Life Cycle & Events
» LINQ
» VB.NET/C# Comparison
» SQL Server
» HTML Character Entities
» RGB Hex Color Chart
» CSS
» jQuery
» JavaScript
» XHTML
» Regular Expressions
» Microformats
» ASP/VBScript
» PHP
» Apache mod_rewrite Cheat Sheet (V2)
» Subversion Cheat Sheet

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Helpful Testing Tools & Other Resources

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

There are many tools that can help you create accessible web pages. Most of those listed below are free although commercial products are available. Tools can help you see where there may be potential problems and shorten your testing time. However, no tool can ever replace a trained human.

Testing Tools

1. WAVE (http://wave.webaim.org/index.jsp). This is a free, web-based tool that tests one page at a time. WAVE checks for alt text, structural tags, JavaScript and reading order. The user can indicate what standard they wish to test against (WCAG or Section 508).

2. RampWeb Test Color Contrast (http://www.rampweb.com/toolbar/colorcontrast.html) – This tool uses an algorithm to test for sufficient difference in color brightness, color difference and color luminosity.

3. Pixie (http://www.nattyware.com/pixie.html) – This is freeware utility from Nattyware that places a color picker on you desktop that select colors from any file. It’s a powerful little tool, weighing in at 8Kb.

4. CSS Analyser (http://juicystudio.com/services/csstest.php) – Developed by Juicy Studio, this tool checks the validity of your CSS, your color contrast and also tests to see that all relevant sizes are specified in relative units of measurement.

5. The W3C Markup Validation Service (http://validator.w3.org/) – This tool validates your code against published W3C standards as indicated in your <doctype>.

6. The W3C CSS Validator Service (http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/) – This tool validates your CSS, either by entering a URI, by file upload or by direct input.

7. Vischeck (http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/) – This tool will show you what single images or entire web pages will look like to people with three (3) different types of color deficiencies. There is also a free plug-in that you can download that works with Photoshop.

8. The Web Developer Toolbar (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60) – This is a Firefox add-on that adds a menu toolbar with various developer tools. It allows you to easily turn features like JavaScript, CSS and images on and off, it can display alt attributes, outline tables and headings and much more.

9. RampWEB Section 508 Toolbar (http://www.rampweb.com/Accessibility_Resources/Section508/download.asp) – This is an Internet Explorer add-on that adds a menu toolbar

10. Fangs (http://sourceforge.net/projects/fangs) – This is an extension for Firefox that works as a screen reader emulator. It creates a textual representation of a web page that is similar to how the page would be read by a screen reader. Once installed, you simply right-click on a web page and select Fangs from the menu. A tutorial is available.

11. Fire Vox (http://www.firevox.clcworld.net/) – This is a free screen-reading extension for Firefox. Once installed, it will “read” all web pages unless turned off. This is done by going to Tools > Fire Vox Options and removing the check mark from Speak Events and Echo Keys. With these 2 options off, it will only speak when a new window pops up. This extension was specifically designed for people e with vision impairments and will identify elements and announce events.

12. CLiCK, Speak (http://clickspeak.clcworld.net/) – This is another Firefox extension that enables the browser to read web pages.

13. FAE (http://fae.cita.uiuc.edu/about.php) – This is the Functional Accessibility Evaluator developed by The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Their site states that FAE “… analyzes web resources for markup that is consistent with the use of CITES/DRES HTML Best Practices for development of functionally accessible web resources that also support interoperability.” By registering for a free account you can test an entire site.

14. Testing Web Content for Accessibility by Paul Bohman (http://www.paulbohman.com/accessibility/quickreference)

Resources to Help Create Accessible Web Pages

1. Accessible Table Builder (http://accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/accessibility-tools/table-builder/) - This is a wizard that steps you through the process of building an accessible data table.

2. Accessible Form Builder (http://accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/accessibility-tools/form-builder/) – This wizard helps you build accessible forms.

3. Form Element Generator (http://accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/accessibility-tools/form-element-generator/) – This tool lets you build individual form elements that are accessible.

4. Accessible Pop-up Window Generator (http://accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/accessibility-tools/pop-up-window-generator/) – If you feel you must use pop-up windows, do them accessibly. This free tool will create the code for you.

5. Active Scrolling Text & News Scroller (http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Programming/Java/Active_Scrolling_Text___News_Scroller.html) – For those who absolutely must use scrolling text, this software creates text that resides within the HTML so is available to assistive devices. This is a commercial product.

6. Accessible Drop Down Menu (http://www.udm4.com/menu/) - This is a commercial product.

7. Pop Menu Magic (http://www.projectseven.com/products/menusystems/pmm/index.htm) – This commercial product works as an extension to Dreamweaver.

8. Son of Suckfish (http://www.htmldog.com/articles/suckerfish/dropdowns/) - This free, multi-level drop down menu system is built using HTML and CSS. As designed, it is not accessible from the keyboard but can be made so as shown on this site (http://carroll.org.uk/sandbox/suckerfish/bones2.html).

9. Web Publishing Wizard for Microsoft Office (http://www.accessiblewizards.uiuc.edu/) – This plug-in created by the University of Illinois steps you through the process of creating accessible HTML from Word documents and PowerPoint presentations. In tests, the resulting HTML, although a bit bloated, is Section 508 compliant. The results using the Wizard are far superior to Microsoft’s “Save as Web Page”.

Articles

1. Accessible Pop-up Links (http://alistapart.com/articles/popuplinks)

2. Accessible Form Validation & Error Recovery (http://www.webaim.org/techniques/formvalidation/#form)

3. Form Help without Popups (http://juicystudio.com/article/form-help-without-popups.html)

4. Creating Accessible PDF Forms with Adobe Acrobat Pro by Sean Keegan (http://www.htctu.net/publications/conferences/ahg/pdf_forms.html)

5. Creating Accessible PDF Documents Using Adobe Acrobat 7 by Sean Keegan (http://www.htctu.net/publications/conferences/csun2005/start_files/800×600/index.html)

6. Overview of Adobe PDF Accessibility Workshop (http://www.cita.uiuc.edu/presentations/pdf/slide1.html)

7. How to Create Accessible Adobe PDF Files (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_booklet.html)

8. Advanced Techniques for Creating Accessible Adobe PDF Files (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/pdfs/CreateAccessibleAdvanced.pdf)

9. Best Practices for Accessible Flash Design (http://www.adobe.com/resources/accessibility/best_practices/best_practices_acc_flash.pdf)

10. Inaccessibility of CAPTCHA (http://www.w3.org/TR/turingtest/)

11. CAPTCHA: The FAQs (http://www.accessiblecontent.com/online/v2n1/index.php?view=captcha)

12. Accessible Digital Media: Design Guidelines for Electronic Publications, Multimedia and the Web (http://ncam.wgbh.org/publications/adm/)

Viewers & Plug-ins

1. Word Viewer 2003 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=95E24C87-8732-48D5-8689-AB826E7B8FDF&displaylang=en

2. Excel Viewer 2003 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c8378bf4-996c-4569-b547-75edbd03aaf0&displaylang=EN

3. PowerPoint Viewer 2003 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=428d5727-43ab-4f24-90b7-a94784af71a4&displaylang=en

4. Shockwave & Flash Player - http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash

5. RealPlayer - http://www.real.com/

6. QuickTime - http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html

7. Windows Media Player - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/AllDownloads.aspx?displang=en&qstechnology=

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