“CLiFf Says” Provides Cost-Free Educational Resource for Web Site Accessibility Testing and Government of Canada Common Look and Feel Compliance

Wats.Ca and HiSoftware Company collaborate to provide cost-free educational resource for Web Site accessibility testing

Ottawa, ON Canada and Concord, NH USA – December 2, 2003 - HiSoftware, Inc. and WATS.ca, today announced the launch of a new service, CLiFf Says™, that will provide testing of Web sites for compliance with Government of Canada (GoC) Common Look and Feel (CLF) Standards, including accessibility requirements as designated in the W3C web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG – Priority 1 & 2). CLiFf Says™ will test Web Sites and report both CLF and Accessibility issues immediately through simple and easy-to-understand Web browser based reports. HiSoftware Company’s AccMonitor Server powers CLiFf Says™.

By separating the WCAG Accessibility requirements from the other CLF Standards, CLiFf Says™ will help developers of not only GoC web sites but also non-governmental sites to ensure that their Web sites have the functionality needed for a diverse population of user needs and preferences, including people with disabilities. With the emergence of accessibility legislation in countries around the world, Web accessibility for people with disabilities is on the minds of CIO’s at many Canadian corporations and organizations, and is already mandated at many Federal, Provincial and municipal government agencies in Canada.

The CLiFf Says™ portal testing service allows users to quickly receive an immediate ”pass/fail” of their Web site accessibility along with direct links to the technical rule passed/violated. Accessibility issues are detected within web sites from Web-based applications, dynamic pages, or static HTML pages. CLiFf Says™ utilizes HiSoftware AccMonitor Server technology and deploys USER Agents (crawlers/scanners) to collect individual page or dynamic page accessibility data. This information is then sent to the central server where actual accessibility verification is performed. The output of the Accessibility verification results in easy to read reports that can then be viewed securely over the Internet through the users own Web browser.

“CLiFf Says™ provides an ideal solution for Canadian organizations to educate themselves regarding accessibility issues on their Web sites," said Robert B. Yonaitis, HiSoftware Company CEO. “We are extremely pleased to provide this resource based on our software to assist in a project with the underlying goal of education and advocacy. HiSoftware solutions empower users to develop, implement and maintain a strategy for delivering pervasive accessibility within their organizations.”

“The scalability of HiSoftware’s technology allowed us to partner with them and develop custom checks for Common Look and Feel Standards, including but not limited to accessibility issues,” said John Foliot..., co-founder of WATS.ca. “While the reports produced address specific CLF requirements (including privacy policy compliance, Official languages act, etc.), the Priority 1 and 2 WCAG guidelines highlight accessibility requirements for any and all businesses or organizations with a presence on the internet, making the CLiFf Says™ portal valuable not only to GoC web developers, but to any serious developer seeking to work towards these accessibility guidelines.”

More information about the CLiFf Says™ project and the beta test site is available on the Web at: http://www.hisoftware.com/cliffsays/ 

About WATS.Ca
WATS.ca work with both public and private sector clients to create web sites that are universally accessible, fast, focused and easy to use. Their diverse experience in development, training, auditing and web site planning affords them the ability to assist clients in every stage of their web development cycle. As technical consultants to the Canadian Treasury Board Secretariat’s Website Accessibility Testing Service, the principals of WATS.ca evaluated and assessed over 200 Government of Canada websites. They are intimately aware and experienced with both international Accessibility requirements as well as Government of Canada Common Look and Feel standards. The WATS.ca team provides Web Accessibility and CLF testing, audits, assessments, and consulting, as well as Accessible and CLF compliant Web development services, hands-on training and informational seminars. Their client list includes Communication Canada, The National Research Council, The Canadian Space Agency, Human Resources Development Canada, Industry Canada - International Business Branch, as well as educational institutions and private companies in both Canada and the United States. Based in Ottawa, Ontario, more information about WATS.ca may be found at their website: http://www.wats.ca/ 

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ABOUT HISOFTWARE
HiSoftware Company, the leader in enterprise content quality management solutions, provides innovative products that empower quality assurance teams, content developers, Web site architects, and company executives to work collaboratively on their efforts to create and manage corporate Web standards for Accessibility, Privacy, Searchability, Usability and custom guidelines and policies. HiSoftware’s integrated, full lifecycle solutions dramatically reduce the time required to test, manage and deploy e-business Web sites.

HiSoftware works closely with industry leaders and visionaries to provide solutions for today's information accessibility, content quality, search and retrieval needs. HiSoftware’s customers represent Fortune 500 companies, and many of the largest e-commerce, government, and educational sites in North America and around the world and include ChevronTexaco, Commerce One, Mercury Interactive, and Microsoft Government.

Founded in 1998, HiSoftware Company maintains North American corporate headquarters in Concord, New Hampshire. Further information about HiSoftware can be found online at www.hisoftware.com

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