pageoneresults - 6:31 pm on Feb 19, 2008 (gmt 0)

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).

For many years, I've used the tools from Watchfire to perform spot checks on websites from an accessbility perspective, it was a great online tool at no charge. As of 2008 February 1, that tool is no longer available.

IBM has enhanced the initial product and you can now purchase it for...

IBM Rational Policy Tester Accessibility Edition Resource Value Unit License + SW Maintenance 12 Months 1,580.00

Yes, $1,580.00, yikes. I've now reverted over to additional tools that I have available to me through FrontPage and Expression Web which are just as powerful as the original Bobby Validator.

Now I have quite a few sites to go through and remove my Bobby icons and links to the WebXact tool which is no longer there.

Imagine the W3C doing something similar? I mean, I use those /referer links on W3C icons all over the web. I sure hope they don't have any plans for eliminating their free validation services. I've sent them support money (donations) for my use. :)