What is accessibility testing with example?

Accessibility testing ensures that a website or application is usable and accessible for all users, including the disabled community. There are accessibility standards and guidelines that need to be followed by developing a website. Many countries have made it mandatory to make the websites accessible. Otherwise, legal issues will arise. All the concerns of disabled users are taken into perspective by the team. Then with the help of assistive technologies, accessibility testing is carried out to develop an accessible website. There are many accessibility testing tools that can also be used tactically as and when required based on the project scope. In this article, you will get to know about what is accessibility testing with the help of an example.

What is accessibility testing?

It is a testing method that ensures a website or application is accessible and can be used by all kinds of users, including disabled users also. It uses assistive technologies such as a special keyboard, screen magnification, screen reader and speech recognition software. These assistive technologies are incorporated into testing activities to ensure that the website or web application is disabled-friendly.

When accessibility testing is incorporated into the QA practices, the team can ensure that the web application content is reachable for anyone without any hassles. Testing teams incorporate accessibility testing tools to make sure that the application that is being tested is compatible with assistive technologies.

Accessibility testing example:

1. Speech recognition software can be helpful for visually impaired people as they cannot see and type the keyboard. The application can speak and notify, taking into consideration user specific needs. The software converts the words into text, which acts as input for the application. The language is identified and the text is entered in the language needed by the application.

2. Screen magnification software can be used to increase the text size on the screen. People with movement difficulties can use the specially designed keyboard to enter the text by typing it on the screen, which acts as an input.

Another example of accessibility testing:

This testing method is performed in conformance with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). Hence, the following are a few parameters that need to be checked while testing:

·       Environment

·       Dimension

·       Code

·       Development tools

·       Mark-up languages

·       Text

·       Image alt attribute

·       Webpage title

·       Contrast

·       Heading

·       Paragraph.

Right from the project initiation stage, the above parameters should be implemented so that the cost of fixing accessibility issues can be reduced to a great extent at the later stages of the project.

The strategic significance of WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines):

Accessibility testing should be conducted according to the standards mentioned in WCAG. Following are the four important principles of WCAG:

1. Perceivable: This principle focuses on how the users use the application’s user interface

2. Operable: All user interface components should be navigable without any barriers or issues

3. Understandable: The displayed information presented on the website or web application should be easily understood by the users. The navigation specifics of the application in terms of navigating through the user interface should be clearly understood.

4. Robust: Content can be easily interpreted within an application using assistive technologies.

Types of accessibility testing:

1. Manual accessibility testing: Those test cases that need physical interaction with the application needs to be manually tested by QA testers. The usability of the user interface should also be checked. Examples of manual accessibility testing include text sizing, content scaling, style disablement, UI structural elements and keyboard accessibility. Efficiency and accuracy can also be increased by using accessibility testing tools during the testing process.

2. Automated accessibility testing: Automated accessibility testing tools can be used to identify errors across hundreds of web pages. Automated accessibility testing is considered to be ideal for analyzing application functionality, design styling and image contrasting.   

Conclusion: If you are looking forward to implementing accessibility testing for your specific project, get connected with a professionally acclaimed software testing services company that will provide you with a methodical testing roadmap that is aligned with your project specific requirements.