Accessibility Testing

An accessibility audit is a comprehensive review of a product's accessibility, combining automated scanning with manual expert and assistive-technology testing, typically producing a structured report of findings mapped against a standard like WCAG, along with severity ratings and remediation guidance.

Accessibility testing verifies that a product can be used by people with disabilities — visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive — checking screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, color contrast, and adherence to standards like WCAG. It's both a quality practice and, in many jurisdictions, a legal requirement.

Alt text validation checks that images have appropriate, descriptive alternative text — conveying the image's purpose or content to users relying on a screen reader — and that purely decorative images are correctly marked to be skipped rather than announced with unhelpful or redundant text.

ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) is a set of HTML attributes that add accessibility information to dynamic, interactive web content — roles, states, and properties that tell assistive technologies what a custom UI component is and how it currently behaves, when native HTML alone doesn't convey that.

Assistive technology testing verifies a product works correctly with the actual tools people with disabilities use to interact with software — screen readers, switch devices, voice control software, screen magnifiers — going beyond automated scanning to real, hands-on testing with those tools.

Color contrast testing verifies that text and important visual elements have sufficient contrast against their background to be readable by users with low vision or color blindness, measured against specific ratio thresholds defined by WCAG (typically 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text).

Focus order testing verifies that pressing Tab moves keyboard focus through interactive elements in a logical, predictable sequence — matching the visual reading order — rather than jumping around unpredictably, which is disorienting for keyboard-only and screen reader users alike.

Keyboard navigation testing verifies that every interactive element and function is fully usable without a mouse — reachable via Tab, activatable via Enter or Space, with a visible focus indicator at all times — essential for users with motor disabilities who can't use a pointing device.

Screen reader testing verifies a product using actual screen reader software — VoiceOver, NVDA, JAWS, TalkBack — confirming content is announced correctly, in a logical order, with proper labels and roles for interactive elements, the way a blind or low-vision user would actually experience it.

Section 508 compliance verifies that technology meets the accessibility standards required under Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act, which mandates federal agencies (and often their contractors and vendors) make electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities.

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is the internationally recognized standard defining how to make web content accessible to people with disabilities, organized around four principles — Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust — and three conformance levels (A, AA, AAA). Most legal and organizational accessibility requirements, including the ADA and Section 508, reference WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 Level AA as the practical bar.