Bobby is Gone
If you’ve been following the news, you know IBM bought Watchfire for their web security software. This stuff happens all the time and rarely are we directly affected. This time, though, we will feel the loss. Rather, anyone who used to use the Bobby “WebXact” accessibility evaluation tool will feel the loss. It’s a temporary condition, though, at least according to IBM.
Here’s the full announcement:
PLEASE NOTE: As of February 1, 2008 the Watchfire WebXact and Bobby Online products will no longer be publicly available. As an IBM Company, Watchfire will continue to invest in accessibility through the IBM Rational Policy Tester Accessibility Edition solution (previously WebXM Accessibility Module). This enterprise platform leverages the Bobby technology alongside a next-generation scan engine, providing the accessibility community with technology that allows users to scan, test, remediate and understand compliance with current accessibility legislation. Watchfire is working closely with the IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center to continue to evolve this product line to meet this growing market demand. For more information please see ibm.com/software/awdtools/tester/policy/accessibility and ibm.com/able. — IBM
So, according to this, a next generation scanner is in the works. This should be interesting. As far as evaluation tools go, we think WebXact (Bobby) was pretty good. Better than some, no worse than the best of the lot. Speaking of which, you can find a number of alternative testers on our Resources page.
For now, this leaves us with one immediate questions: Is Cynthia mourning the loss of Bobby?
RIP Bobby… « Rob Gray’s blog responds:
Posted: February 12th, 2008 at 5:28 pm →
[…] RIP Bobby… This post from accessites.org talks about the final resting of Bobby, the rather outdated accessibility testing tool from IBM that was acquired as part of the Watchfire deal. […]
David Zemens - 1955 Design responds:
Posted: February 13th, 2008 at 9:18 am →
May he (was Bobby a “he” or a “she”) rest in piece. I shall miss him…or her.
On a serious note, I did use the service regularly and was quite disappointed when I noticed it was no l onger available.
Life goes on. Without him. Or her.
David Zemens - 1955 Design responds:
Posted: February 13th, 2008 at 9:19 am →
Or, perhaps, he or she could rest in “peace”. Believe it or not, I do know how to spell!
Mike Cherim responds:
Posted: February 13th, 2008 at 10:25 am →
I think it would Bobbie if it were a she
Addio Bobby, il più famoso tool per l’accessibilità - TomStardust.com responds:
Posted: February 13th, 2008 at 12:48 pm →
[…] Al momento quindi, se avete bisogno di verificare l’accessibilità del vostro sito, il mio consiglio è di dare un’occhiata all’elenco degli strumenti suggeriti da Accessites.org, dove ho letto questa stessa notizia. […]
Jake Reilly responds:
Posted: March 3rd, 2008 at 6:11 am →
hmmm…
Bobby was a male accessibility police officer !
The old school Bobby logo clearly shows Bobby wearing a blue officers helmet with an integrated wheelchair logo
Anyway….
Its sad that Bobby has been taken offline. It was a very handy resource for web designers to make sure their site was accessible to all. Hopefully IBM will offer a similar service in the near future.