How to Implement an Accessible Testing Strategy for Your Website or Application?

The meaning of accessibility, in literal terms, is the quality of being able to be reached or entered. As the name suggests, web accessibility is the practice of creating an inclusive and usable environment on your software, websites, or any applications you develop. This ensures everyone can access your web application and use its services fully, including people with disabilities. 

If you want to make your website or application succeed in the market and boost your business, you must make your website accessible to all users. Therefore, hiring a mobile app testing company is essential for developing an app that offers a seamless functioning environment to everyone, including people with disabilities. 

This blog will guide you through the process of implementing accessibility testing strategies step by step.

• Understand the Accessibility Standards and Guidelines

The first step toward accessibility testing is to test the accessibility of your current website to know how much you need to do on it. 

There are several parameters that you need to check for accessibility, such as:

• Keyboard Accessibility,
• Navigation Structure,
• Screen Reader Compatibility,
• Captions and Transcripts for Videos and Podcasts,
• Zoom/Magnification,
• Color Sensitivity,
• Skip Navigation,
• Alt Tags,
• Flashing Lights or Blinking Bright Elements.

At the same time, you need to check the accessibility standards and guidelines for the website to ensure WCAG or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards are met. 

• Create an Accessibility Testing Checklist/Test Cases/Scenarios

Next, you need to set up a testing environment to carry out the whole testing plan, including configuring testing devices and setting up assistive technology. We need to set up the testing environment to ensure your application is tested across various devices and platforms. 

• Conduct Manual Testing

You can conduct manual testing to identify accessibility issues in web pages and applications. Using assistive technologies, you can test the app to find accessibility issues like keyboard accessibility, alt text for images, video and audio transcripts or captions, color contrast, and more.

• Conduct Automated Testing 

You can use various automation testing tools to scan web pages or applications for accessibility issues. Automation testing helps identify common accessibility defaults in the software, such as missing alt text, incorrect heading levels, and color contrast issues. It is recommended to conduct both manual and automation testing to ensure no accessibility issues are left.

• Evaluate the Results

Once you are done finding accessibility issues in the software, you can start evaluating the results based on the severity and impact. 

• Fix the Issues

After prioritizing the accessibility issues that need to be addressed first, you can start mitigating these defects by updating codes and features.

• Retest

The retesting process is needed to ensure fixing an issue does not cause a new error. It will also ensure that the changes are effective in terms of accessibility. 

• Document and Report

Finally, you can document and report on the accessibility testing process and results. Documenting can provide a clear understanding of the accessibility testing process and the fixes made to the website. This report should include everything from the accessibility testing plan to the fixes you made. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, accessibility testing services are crucial to ensure your website or application is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. As you look for testing services, remember to use various testing methods, such as manual testing, automated testing, user testing, and code reviews.  

Moreover, you can hire software testing services to test your web application for accessibility.