Accessibility testing that can help you ensure the technology is accessible to everyone: color contrast changes, navigation with keyboard, screen readers, and many more. Accessibility testing tools are one tool companies can use to support the development of digital products that are accessible. Accessibility testing tools not only identify issues, but they also help companies make sure digital accessibility is achieved.
The Importance of Accessibility in the Digital Age
Digital accessibility involves the development of digital products, apps, sites, and content that can be accessed and/or used by people with a multitude of disabilities: visual, auditory, motor, cognitive disabilities, and others. Accessibility is vitally important, especially now when so many of us rely on digital means to perform everyday tasks related to shopping, banking, studying, communicating and so on.
The World Health Organization (WHO) states there are over 1 billion people with some type of disability, and many people face significant barriers when accessing digital content. For anyone with a duty to care for a specific organization, having an overall accessible website is more than a means to fulfill legal and ethical obligations; it can be an avenue to provide a greater market share and an understanding of the needs of visitors. Research has consistently shown that, in more ways than not, accessible websites reach and engage users better than inaccessible websites, which ultimately means better SEO and user satisfaction.
So how can you determine if your website or application is accessible? Manual checks and browsers’ accessibility support are both helpful, although they can be tedious, time-consuming, and error-prone. This is where accessibility checkers come in. They provide an electronic means of conducting accessibility checks, providing you with some indication of issues that need attention, recommendations, and practical recommendations for developer and designer improvements to accessibility.
Understanding Accessibility Testing Tools
Accessibility testing tools are software applications that evaluate digital content for compliance with commonly recognized accessibility standards like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Section 508, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Accessibility testing tools deliver an evaluation of many elements of a website or web application. Accessibility testing tools assess visual compliance, such as color contrast and keyboard navigation.
They assess the appropriate use of alt tag text for images, the appropriate use of semantic HTML, and they validate a website’s compatibility with screen readers. Accessibility testing tools offer an automated evaluation of a web page and help users quickly identify compliance barriers. This is helpful in reducing the time and resources dedicated to assessing accessibility during a website development process.
Modern testing frameworks and browser automation tools, such as Selenium ChromeDriver, can also be integrated with accessibility testing tools to automate the validation of accessibility standards during web testing. This ensures that accessibility checks are part of every browser test execution and helps maintain consistency across environments.
There are many tools available in the marketplace, each with its benefits and features; some tools focus on visual testing, while others focus on functionality, and some provide both visual and functionality checks. Additionally, these tools can be incorporated into a total development life cycle in order to make sure that accessibility is part of the design process and not viewed as an afterthought.
The Role of AI in Accessibility Testing
Artificial intelligence (AI) has changed the way many fields approach new challenges, and accessibility testing is not an exception. Accessibility testing tools that utilize AI can offer new dimensions of analysis of websites and applications in ways that traditional testing tools cannot. AI algorithms can recognize complex patterns, identify visual anomalies, and even emulate how screen reader technology will interpret a website’s content.
The benefits of using AI-based accessibility testing tools, and especially their ability to do bulk tests on many accessibility challenges, are a significant improvement. When AI tools evaluate the various visual components of a webpage (text contrast, font size or image alt text), they give you immediate feedback on how users who are disabled would engage with these elements.
For instance, AI tools can evaluate how different elements will affect keyboard-only users and verify that the website is usable for users who, not having a mouse, have to use keyboard shortcuts and navigation.
AI in accessibility testing improves user accessibility in other ways. AI can also simulate real-world access. AI can create scenarios where users and disabled users, including color-blind users and cognitive disabilities, will be using a website. AI tools can relay information from their simulations to help developers identify where they can adapt or modify their designs.
AI-based tools such as LambdaTest provide continuous testing. By utilizing AI in the testing process, developers can continuously monitor the accessibility, in real-time, of their digital products as they operationalize features or add content. The trend toward continuing monitoring enables organizations to be proactive with their access in advance of their products changing over time.
Key Accessibility Testing Tools to Consider
There are many accessibility testing tools available. Below are some of the more familiar and well-established tools that companies can use to create digital inclusion:
- LambdaTest: LambdaTest is a GenAI-native test execution platform that enables you to perform both manual and automated testing at scale across 3000+ browser and OS combinations. It not only supports web and mobile automation but also offers tools like Accessibility DevTool, which helps you conduct accessibility testing in real time across browsers and real devices.
This makes it seamless for businesses to integrate accessibility testing into their workflows. LambdaTest incorporates accessibility testing within its broader automation suite, allowing teams to track, monitor, and maintain accessibility issues over time as part of their CI/CD pipeline.
It also supports integrations with automation frameworks like Selenium ChromeDriver , ensuring that accessibility testing becomes a continuous part of cross-browser automation pipelines.
- Wave: WAVE is a web accessibility evaluation tool that provides visual feedback on accessibility errors. It is a browser extension that can evaluate multiple areas of a web page, such as color contrast, missing alt text, and heading structure.
- Axe: Axe is an open-sourced accessibility testing tool. Axe can either be integrated directly in the browser or as part of a CI/CD pipeline, depending on the implementation. Axe provides developers with thorough reports that show compliance with WCAG to identify and fix accessibility issues.
- Lighthouse: Lighthouse is a web auditing solution from Google. Lighthouse is also open-source and can analyze a number of areas of a web page for accessibility, performance, SEO, or best practices. Lighthouse generates a score and suggests areas to improve for accessibility.
- Tenon: Tenon is a complete accessibility testing tool. Tenon can help businesses identify WCAG violations. Tenon can be included in the development pipeline and allows teams to incorporate web testing at several phases in their development.
The Benefits of Advanced Accessibility Testing Tools
When an organization employs advanced accessibility testing tools, they are able to take advantage of a number of benefits that support both digital inclusivity and ultimately business success. These benefits include:
- Improved User Experience: When organizations ensure their digital products are accessible, they enhance the experience for all users, and users with disabilities. User experience improvements usually result in increased customer satisfaction and increased customer loyalty.
- Larger Audience Reach: Accessible websites and applications have increased potential to broaden the user audience, especially in relation to the vast and diverse audience the disability community represents. This is often referred to as the ‘underserved market’, as persons with disabilities are often not catered to by other markets, and once organizations become much more inclusive to individuals with disabilities, they are much more likely to reach a larger and diverse audience.
- Avoiding Legal Issues: Accessibility is not just best practice; it is favourably mandated in many parts of the world. If accessibility is not met (ADA and WCAG standards, etc.), then virtually all organizations position themselves and their legal teams at risk from litigation or penalties for accessibility deficiencies.
- Cost Savings: Powerful accessibility-testing applications provide organizations with the ability to find accessibility barriers earlier in the design and development processes. Finding barriers early means that costly remediation can be avoided later. More often than not, automated tests either do not require human intervention or minimal, which provides a large investment of resources in time saved, versus staff requesting updates on fixes that were found too late in the development process.
- Improved SEO and Brand: Websites that are more accessible are also usually better suited for search engines. These pages often rank higher than non-accessible pages for all iterations of search engines. In addition, organizations that have a focus on accessibility are often seen as more socially responsible, which improves their brand.
- Continuous Monitoring: AI-powered accessibility-testing tools enable continuous accessibility monitoring. Continuous monitoring is a necessity, especially as products go through their lifecycle. These AI-powered tools prevent organizations from having to react to accessibility issues; automated testing for accessibility means that they can be proactive.
Conclusion
Although digital inclusivity is a dimension of digital accessibility, accessibility testing has marked a fundamental shift that is now a burden of responsibility versus a ‘nice to have’ in web development. Digital technology is developing at a rapid pace, and it is the responsibility of businesses to ensure they are using up-to-date accessibility testing tools to ensure their digital products are open to all users, able and/or disabled.
Advanced digital accessibility testing tools, such as LambdaTest, assist with accessibility testing. The advanced AI-powered accessibility testing tools provide automated accessibility testing that is automated via AI, with real-time accessibility tests and reports. Combined with automation frameworks like Selenium ChromeDriver, these tools enable cross-browser accessibility validation as part of a continuous delivery workflow.
By implementing this advanced testing via digital deck practices, organizations are not only fulfilling their obligations of compliance and their moral obligation, but they are also enhancing user experience, increasing their audience, and bettering their digital approach. Ultimately, accessibility testing is much more than just compliance; it is about being inclusive and enhancing positive digital design experiences for all users.
