Quick Accessibility Testing

 by Nicole Ferraro

A recent project of mine required me to do a quick review of the accessibility level of a site. Nothing serious, just to show what was possible to test and where the site scored right now. I managed to assemble a small list of tools that I believe did a rather good job. This article is a list of those tools, and some tips on how to use them.

First off, to do a real accessibility test, you need real people, with real tasks to accomplish. These are not tools to replace people. Instead, they can give you a quick rundown on where you stand, and find things you’ve missed. I like to compare it with HTML validation: Validation is a great way to find your errors, but just because you validate does not mean you have good code.

Oh, by the way, I limited this to only free tools. Thought you’d like that. Also, for your enjoyment, I’ve split this article into three parts :

• Automatic testing
• Semi-automatic testing
• Manual testing

 valant

(more…)