Presentation on testing web sites for accessibility without spending much money. Includes links to tools I use for automatic testing, like the WAVE toolbar from WebAIM, The Paciello Group Colour Contrast Analyzer and others.

1. Accessibility
Testing on the
Cheap
Tools and tips to creating and maintaining
an accessible web presence.

2. TEST? WHAT FOR?
What accessibility testing actually tests for

3. Accessibility in three
thoughts
• Technology compatibility
• Make digital content as understandable to technology as
possible.
• Fair and equal
• Make the experience equivalent regardless of factors we cannot
control.
• Universal access
• Don’t restrict anyone from getting where they want to go.

4. POUR, as per the W3C
• Perceivable
• Users must be able to perceive the information being presented (it can't be
invisible to all of their senses)
• Operable
• Users must be able to operate the interface (the interface cannot require
interaction that a user cannot perform)
• Understandable
• Users must be able to understand the information as well as the operation
of the user interface (the content or operation cannot be beyond their
understanding)
• Robust
• Users must be able to access the content as technologies advance (as
technologies and user agents evolve, the content should remain
accessible)

5. Standards and policy
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
• 1.0 and 2.0
• Section 508 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 1998
• Oklahoma Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility
(EITA) statute, effective 2005
• Based on WCAG 1.0
• Still helpful, just limited

6. Some elements of
accessibility
• What is the user interaction like?
• Keyboard access
• Visible focus
• Color use and contrast
• Assistive technology compatibility
• Semantic structure
• <h1>, <label>, <ul>, <th>, <td> etc.
• Multimedia
• Browsers
• Assistive technology

7. Wide spectrum of AT

8. TESTING ON THE
CHEAP
Tools to help you verify accessibility
without spending a pile of cash.

9. Browser toolbars (mostly)
• Browser plug-ins and add-ons
• WAVE toolbar for Firefox and website
• http://wave.webaim.org/toolbar/
• http://wave.webaim.org/
• Firefox Developer toolbar
• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/web-developer/
• Juicy Studio Accessibility Toolbar for Firefox
• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/juicy-studio-accessibility-
too/
• Jim Thatcher’s Favelets for Firefox
• http://jimthatcher.com/favelets/
• The Paciello Group Toolbar for Internet Explorer
• http://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/wat-ie-about.html

10. More free, included or low-
cost testing tools
• Stand-alone tools
• The Paciello Group Colour Contrast Analyser
• http://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/contrastAnalyser
• Native authoring tool accessibility checkers
• Microsoft PowerPoint, Word 2010, 2013
• Adobe Acrobat Professional X, XI
• Screen reading software
• Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) for Windows
• http://www.nvda-project.org/
• JAWS for Windows
• http://www.freedomscientific.com/products/fs/jaws-product-page.asp
• VoiceOver is native on Mac OS and iOS

11. Caveats and tips
• Don’t focus on one screen reader for testing
• Don’t rely on one testing method, especially for dynamic sites
or software
• Unplug your mouse
• Inspect Element(s)
• Use a good checklist
• Know what the checklist is trying to find
• Focus on your content

12. Checklists and resources
• Oklahoma EITA Technical Assistance Document
• http://www.ok.gov/about/documents/tad%202005.pdf
• WebAIM Section 508
• http://webaim.org/standards/508/checklist
• WebAIM WCAG 2.0 (A, AA and AAA)
• http://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist
• Accessibility Priority Tool
• http://usability.com.au/2013/01/accessibility-priority-tool/
• Goodwitch Hands-On Checklist
• Google ahoy…