Accessibility, HTML, CSS, Broken Links, Spell Check

Application changes made in the last year

For all application changes in the last 3 years see the extended change log.
For changes to our browser extension see the extension change log.

7th January 2023 - v17.1.0

• Issues options reorganised and new options added:
  • The Error type can now be ignored
  • New Except these option
  • New option to Ignore -tv- markup
• New API compatible option for CI users
• The contents of <iframe> srcdoc are now validated
• Improvements to reports including:
  • When available the Page report now includes the "Referer"
  • More links from issues to the reference have been added
• UI updates to the application including:
  • New macOS-like, light and dark themes
  • Auto-selection of separate themes when the O/S is light or dark
  • The Heritage themes have now been removed
• Support for macOS Ventura
• Support for Manifest v3 extensions, out later in 2023
• Accessibility test updates and improvements, with several new tests added
• Tests updated in line with official specifications:
  • HTML5 Living Standard updated to 26 December 2022
  • HTML Accessibility API Mappings 1.0 updated to 12 December 2022
  • Core Accessibility API Mappings 1.2 updated to 22 November 2022
  • ARIA in HTML updated to 21 December 2022
  • CSS Text Module Level 4 updated to 31 December 2022
  • CSS Ruby Annotation Layout Module Level 1 updated to 31 December 2022
  • CSS Overflow Module Level 4 updated to 31 December 2022
  • CSS Overflow Module Level 3 updated to 31 December 2022
  • CSS Pseudo-Elements Module Level 4 updated to 30 December 2022
  • CSS Values and Units Module Level 3 updated to 01 December 2022
  • CSS View Transitions Module Level 1 updated to 24 November 2022
  • CSS Display Module Level 3 updated to 18 November 2022
  • CSS Shapes Module Level 1 updated to 15 November 2022
  • CSS Inline Layout Module Level 3 updated to 14 November 2022
  • Selectors Level 4 updated to 11 November 2022
  • CSS Box Model Module Level 4 updated to 03 November 2022
  • CSS Box Model Module Level 3 updated to 03 November 2022
  • CSS Color Module Level 4 updated to 1 November 2022
  • CSS Containment Module Level 1 updated to 25 October 2022
  • CSS Values and Units Module Level 4 updated to 19 October 2022
  • CSS Containment Module Level 2 updated to 17 September 2022
  • CSS Positioned Layout Module Level 3 updated to 1 September 2022
• Bug Fixes:
  • For Test, Basic and Pro (without CSS validation), some CSS attributes that hide elements were not being applied
  • Potential for false negatives with id matching for usemap,list, and headers attributes
  • Potential for false positives for <li> and <tr> when parent had presentation role
  • <iframe> allowed content within the start/end tags
  • sandbox was not allowed to have an empty value
  • aria-relevant didn't accept the value all
  • Linux tray icon never displayed the menu

15th September 2022 - v17.0.1

• Bug Fixes:
  • With multi-page validation the Summary report should always display the Pages tab (not the Page tab) even if only 1 page with issues
  • End tags were allowed after </html>
  • Test version File Menu had unnecessary separators
  • Several minor report formatting issues fixed

3rd September 2022 - v17.0.0

• New tabbed report format introduced for a cleaner, clearer look:
  • Old Issues report merged into Summary for easier location of issues and where they occur
  • Page report now includes an Issues tab, for an alternative view of the issues
  • All Issues tabs contain descriptions of the issue, removing the need to use the reference
  • The Summary and Page reports are merged when only 1 page tested
  • The slow javascript show/hide options are no longer required and have been removed
  • Issues are now fully reported by the 4 types, instead of just Errors and Warnings
  • An option to still use the pre-17.0 format has been added
• Common Page report changes:
  • Page layouts are now bordered and line numbers highlighted for clarity
  • All issue messages are now prefixed with their validation type for easier separation
  • CSS at-rule/selector errors have clearer formatting
• The issue numbering system has changed, to allow clearer descriptions and advice, and easier targeting of options:
  • Many issues have now been subdivided into more distinct cases
  • Where subdivisions occur, the old number is extended by a digit. For example E609 has now been split into E6091 to E6098.
  • Leading zeroes are no longer required. For example E005 becomes E5
  • Fully backwards compatible, so no changes to existing options are required
  • When using an old number, the report will display a mapping to the new one(s)
• UI improvements on macOS
• Tests updated in line with official specifications:
  • HTML5 Living Standard updated to 21 July 2022
  • HTML Accessibility API Mappings 1.0 updated to 29 August 2022
  • Core Accessibility API Mappings 1.2 updated to 26 May 2022
  • CSS Color Module Level 4 updated to 5 July 2022
  • CSS Custom Properties for Cascading Variables Module Level 1 updated to 16 June 2022
  • CR CSS Color Adjustment Module Level 1 updated to 14 June 2022
• Bug Fixes:
  • CSS properties with badly escaped values caused internal error
  • Isolated systems eventually deactivated, but could not be reactivated
  • HTML5 false positive for 'class' attribute with repeated items
  • When upgrading from within the app, the Windows (.msi) version displayed a Windows installer message and failed

14th May 2022 - v16.7.0

• Accessibility test updates and improvements, and new tests added
• UI improvements including:
  • A password reveal button for hidden fields
  • A clear button for all text fields
  • The Integrated Menu menu option has been moved to the Themes dialog
  • Several new customisation options added to the Themes dialog
  • Improved progress bar, and better text contrast in core themes
• Tests updated in line with official specifications:
  • HTML5 Living Standard updated to 10 May 2022
  • HTML Accessibility API Mappings 1.0 updated to 04 May 2022
  • Core Accessibility API Mappings 1.2 updated to 15 February 2022
  • Selectors Level 4 updated to 7 May 2022
  • CSS Text Module Level 4 updated to 5 May 2022
  • CSS Will Change Module Level 1 updated to 5 May 2022
  • CSS Text Decoration Module Level 3 updated to 5 May 2022
  • CSS Text Decoration Module Level 4 updated to 4 May 2022
  • CSS Color Module Level 4 updated to 28 April 2022
  • Media Queries Level 3 updated to 05 April 2022
  • CSS Conditional Rules Module Level 4 updated to 17 February 2022
  • CSS Color Adjustment Module Level 1 updated to 10 February 2022
  • CSS Color Module Level 3 updated to 18 January 2022
  • CSS Cascading and Inheritance Level 4 updated to 13 January 2022
  • CSS Conditional Rules Module Level 3 updated to 13 January 2022
  • Media Queries Level 4 updated to 25 December 2021
  • CSS Box Alignment Module Level 3 updated to 24 December 2021
• Bug Fixes:
  • Broken Link errors with id attributes containing a % character
  • False positive for <link> when using imagesrcset instead of href
  • Missing WCAG v2 and HTML5 warnings when the <html> tag was missing
  • Redirected links were sometimes tested despite being excluded
  • Missing semicolon on report with CSS issues

4th January 2022 - v16.6.0

• "Apple M" build of all products made available
• Minor UI changes and updates
• Tests updated in line with official specifications:
  • HTML5 Living Standard updated to 21 December 2021
  • ARIA in HTML updated to 09 December 2021
  • WAI-ARIA 1.2 updated to 08 December 2021
  • CSS Overflow Module Level 3 updated to 23 December 2021
  • CSS Fonts Module Level 5 updated to 21 December 2021
  • CSS Fonts Module Level 4 updated to 21 December 2021
  • Media Queries Level 5 updated to 18 December 2021
  • CSS Box Sizing Module Level 3 updated to 17 December 2021
  • CSS Values and Units Module Level 4 updated to 16 December 2021
  • CSS Positioned Layout Module Level 3 updated to 16 December 2021
  • CSS Color Module Level 4 updated to 15 December 2021
  • CSS Custom Highlight API Module Level 1 updated to 15 December 2021
  • CSS Scrollbars Styling Module Level 1 updated to 09 December 2021
  • CSS Cascading and Inheritance Level 4 updated to 03 December 2021
  • CSS Ruby Annotation Layout Module Level 1 updated to 02 December 2021

4th December 2021 - v16.5.0

• Check for Updates option can now download and install new versions
• CI version improvements:
  • New -showsource option displays the page source for easier debugging
  • Easier activation key management with new names and new -showkey option
  • Web API now returns -showresultspath value in X-Results-Path header
• Support for Windows 11
• Support for macOS Monterey
• Updated documentation to be more accessible
• Moved to Adoptium OpenJDK 17 for LTS support
• Code improvements and performance enhancements
• UI updates to desktop applications
• Tests updated in line with official specifications:
  • HTML5 Living Standard updated to 24 November 2021
  • WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices 1.2 updated to 29 November 2021
  • ARIA in HTML updated to 30 September 2021
  • HTML Accessibility API Mappings 1.0 updated to 13 August 2021
  • CSS Custom Properties for Cascading Variables Module Level 1 updated to 11 November 2021
  • CSS Transforms Module Level 2 updated to 9 November 2021
  • CSS Values and Units Module Level 4 updated to 16 October 2021
  • CSS Cascading and Inheritance Level 4 updated to 15 October 2021
  • CSS Multi-column Layout Module Level 1 updated to 12 October 2021
  • CSS Scrollbars Module Level 1 updated to 8 September 2021
  • CSS Display Module Level 3 updated to 3 September 2021
  • CSS Masking Module Level 1 updated to 5 August 2021
  • CSS Color Module Level 3 updated to 5 August 2021
• Bug Fixes:
  • Was following links to browser extension files
  • Some help links and tooltips in the desktop applications were not working
  • Default code spelling option was not being saved
  • Some of the options being used were not displayed on the results pages