Accessibility testing is quickly becoming one of the most important parts of a software tester’s toolbox. As the federal government and more and more provinces begin passing legislation mandating web accessibility for its residents, everyone in the digital space is looking into how they can ensure that all users have equal access to everything on the internet, from websites to games, to apps.

Building accessibility into every step of your process, from ideation and design, through development and testing to production requires careful consideration. So if you are kicking off a new web project, doing some research on how to incorporate accessibility principles should be top of mind. We’ve got accessibility sessions that can help with that if needed, give us a shout! But what if you have already a website, application, or platform up and running?

Accessibility graphic

Still brushing up on your accessibility fundamentals? Check out our accessibility cheat sheet to understand the basics.

You may look to any number of free accessibility checking tools that have popped up recently. Most work the same way by asking you to provide a website URL on their site and then an email address where they will send your accessibility report. The whole scan process takes no more than 30 seconds and usually provides you with an inventory of compliance for your webpages along with an overall score.

The majority of these reports will show that sites need improvement to become more accessibility compliant, which often means bringing in designers, developers, business analysts, and others to reassess and rethink elements of, in this case, a website. Certainly strengthens the case for considering accessibility earlier in the process!

While the free accessibility checking tools are a good first start (and who doesn’t love something free?) if you are serious about accessibility and want to have full coverage on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) in specific standard (2.0/2.1) with (61/78) success criteria and compliance level (A/AA/AAA), then you may want to consider the benefits of bringing in an independent accessibility testing team to help. The free accessibility reports can definitely give you an idea where to start by identifying direct violations of WCAG success criteria, but an experienced accessibility testing team will ensure that full test coverage is planned and executed with the correct mix of automated scans and dynamic manual tests from accessibility experts.

While an accessibility testing team will have more upfront costs, the benefits will outweigh the risks in the long run, giving you the confidence of knowing all users, regardless of their ability, are able to experience your digital presence exactly as intended.

Onboarding a dedicated accessibility testing team can bring you the following benefits:

  • Develop an organization-wide accessibility testing strategy
  • Raise accessibility awareness from the top of the organization down through accessibility training sessions
  • Develop a testing approach based on your application technology landscape and product usage
  • Ensure you are relying on the correct mix of accessibility tools
  • Report accessibility issues in a specific WCAG testing report and
  • Help in defect triaging by reviewing false positives, a key downfall of the automated scans

There are many elements that need to be considered when doing accessibility testing. We’ve put together a helpful guide that gives you an idea of where the free tools work and when it may be time to bring in the accessibility testing experts.

 

 

Both dedicated teams and free scans have their place in accessibility testing. Wondering about how your own digital presence stack up? Give us a shout.

Abhishek is a QA evangelist who is passionate about quality assurance and testing at all levels of the organization. He is currently the Director of Service Delivery, Ontario, and also leads Web Accessibility TCoE at PLATO. Abhishek is PMP and has played key roles throughout his career in positions like Service Center Manager, Delivery Manager, QA Portfolio Manager, and led Managed Services Testing Teams spread across the globe. Abhishek loves to train and coach teams in software testing and its principles.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhishek-gupta-pmp/