What are some best practices for web accessibility testing and reporting?

1 Why test web accessibility?

Testing web accessibility is not only a legal and ethical obligation, but also a business opportunity. By making your website accessible, you can reach a wider audience, improve your user experience, enhance your brand reputation, and avoid potential lawsuits. Moreover, testing web accessibility can help you identify and fix usability issues, improve your SEO, and comply with the WCAG, which are the internationally recognized standards for web accessibility.

2 How to test web accessibility?

Testing web accessibility can be done in various ways and with different tools, depending on your goals, resources, and expertise. Manual testing, for example, involves checking your website manually for accessibility issues, using a browser, a keyboard, a screen reader, and other assistive technologies. This can help you understand the user perspective, and catch issues that automated tools may miss. Automated testing, on the other hand, involves using software or online tools to scan your website for accessibility errors. This can help you save time, and cover a large number of pages and elements. Lastly, user testing involves inviting real users with disabilities to test your website, and collecting their feedback and suggestions. This can help you validate your accessibility efforts, and identify areas for improvement.

3 What are the WCAG?

The WCAG are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the main international organization for web standards. The WCAG provide a set of principles, guidelines, and success criteria for making web content accessible for people with disabilities. The WCAG are organized into four principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Each principle has a number of guidelines, and each guideline has a number of success criteria, which are testable statements that define the level of accessibility. The WCAG have three levels of conformance: A, AA, and AAA, with A being the minimum and AAA being the highest.

4 How to test WCAG compliance?

To test WCAG compliance, you need to evaluate your website against the success criteria of the WCAG, using a combination of manual, automated, and user testing methods and tools. You should begin by choosing the level of conformance you want to achieve (A, AA, or AAA), and then select the pages and elements you want to test based on your priorities, goals, and resources. Manual testing tools, such as the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool or the Accessibility Insights for Web, can be used to check your website for accessibility errors and warnings, while automated testing tools, such as the axe DevTools or the Lighthouse Accessibility Audit, can scan your website for accessibility issues and generate a report with the WCAG success criteria and the level of conformance. Finally, user testing tools, such as the UserTesting platform or the Loop11 accessibility testing service, can be used to recruit and engage users with disabilities, and collect their feedback and recommendations.

5 How to report web accessibility testing results?

Reporting web accessibility testing results is an essential part of the quality assurance process, as it helps communicate findings, document progress, and demonstrate compliance. Depending on the audience, purpose, and scope, there are various formats and templates for reporting web accessibility testing results. Generally, a web accessibility testing report should include an executive summary, a detailed analysis, a compliance statement, and a conclusion and next steps. The executive summary should provide an overview of the testing objectives, methods, tools, and results, and highlight the main issues and recommendations. The detailed analysis should present the testing data, findings, and evidence, and explain the impact and severity of the issues, as well as the suggested solutions. The compliance statement should indicate the level of conformance with the WCAG, and the limitations and exceptions of the testing. Lastly, the conclusion and next steps should summarize the main outcomes and challenges, and provide a plan and timeline for addressing the issues and improving the accessibility.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?