Accessibility Testing

The Accessible Technology Initiative (ATI) Web Accessibility strategy includes an enterprise level automated testing tool that campus staff use to conduct automated scanning and supports manual evaluation with a browser based tool and remediation resources.

Automated testing for web accessibility issues has both benefits and inherent limitations. Manual testing when combined with automated testing provides a comprehensive approach to accessibility evaluation within an enterprise level environment. For more information on available automated testing solutions, please visit the Web Accessibility Tools section.

Benefits of using automated testing:

Accurately and reliably identifies certain types of accessibility barriers across a large web domain
Clearly defined heuristics identify real barriers while generating as few false positives as possible
Develop baseline levels of accessibility and track improvements over time
Supports conformance testing using specific Accessibility standards (e.g. Section 508, WCAG 2.1)
Allows easily identified accessibility barriers to be caught early in the web development process

Limitations:

Automated testing cannot evaluate the accessibility of items that require human subjectivity (e.g. alternate text may be present, but a human has to determine if is it meaningful, accurate)
Automated testing can only identify about 25% of possible barriers

Quick manual testing

There may be times when a quick check will provide enough information to inform further decision making towards the use of accessible technology. The quick manual checks listed below provide an organized approach to quickly review an application.

Keyboard access and visual focus

Goal: Full functional access to the interface using only the keyboard with a visual indication of where the active cursor is located.
How to: W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Easy Checks-Keyboard access and visual focus This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

Enlargement of content without loss of function

Goal: Raise the text size to 200% does not lose content information or functionality.
How to: W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Easy Checks – Resize Text This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

Structural Navigation

Goal: To check the basic structural functionality of a web site by removing style sheets (CSS) and confirming that the application is still fully functional and displayed in a logical order without the style sheets enabled.
How to: W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Easy Checks – Basic Structure Check This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

Alternative Text for images

Goal: Descriptions of meaningful images should be included to provide information to those that may not perceive the images.
How to: W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Easy Checks – Image text alternatives ("alt text") This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

Multimedia equivalents

Goal: All multimedia and audio presentations should provide an accessible alternative way of presenting the information or navigating the media, e.g., Captions, Audio Description, and Transcripts.
How to: W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Easy Checks – Multimedia (video, audio) alternatives This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

As technology evolves and new devices are developed, consideration must be given to the adaptability of content to be displayed and manipulated seamlessly.

The Mobile Accessibility at World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. page provides developers with many important resources including technical guidelines, research reports, and implementation projects.