Types of Accessibility Testing
Over 1 billion people worldwide live with a disability, according to the World Health Organization. That’s a massive potential customer base that could be excluded if your healthcare or fintech platform isn’t accessible.
Understanding the different approaches to accessibility testing empowers you to craft a comprehensive strategy for your healthcare or fintech platform:
- Manual Testing: Involves carefully reviewing your application to pinpoint accessibility barriers. Testers with disabilities use assistive technologies like screen readers to experience your platform firsthand, uncovering issues that might escape automation.
- Automated Testing: The powerful scanners swiftly analyze your web pages, identifying common accessibility roadblocks. This method is ideal for catching low-hanging fruit and ensuring consistent baseline accessibility.
- Screen Reader Testing: Special focus is given to screen readers, the digital lifelines for people with visual impairments. Testers meticulously evaluate navigation, element labeling, and overall functionality through the lens of a screen reader, guaranteeing a smooth and intuitive experience.
- Keyboard Navigation Testing: Not everyone relies on a mouse. Keyboard navigation testing ensures your platform is fully accessible to users with physical disabilities. Testers carefully assess tab order, keyboard shortcuts, and the ability to interact with all elements using only the keyboard.
Why Is Accessibility Important for software development
Accessibility isn’t just about being nice – it’s about ensuring everyone can leverage your platform, irrespective of ability. Why accessibility is critical:
- Inclusive Design for a Wider Audience: Accessibility opens doors to a vast user base with diverse needs. By implementing accessible features, you cater to users with disabilities who rely on assistive technologies like screen readers or keyboard navigation tools. This translates to increased market reach and potential user growth.
- Compliance with Regulations: Regulatory landscape plays a crucial role. Laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandate accessibility for public-facing services, encompassing websites and apps. Accessibility testing helps navigate these legal complexities and avoids potential lawsuits.
- WCAG as a Roadmap: The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) serve as a blueprint for crafting accessible digital experiences. Sticking to WCAG principles ensures your software integrates flawlessly with a broader spectrum of assistive technologies, empowering users with various limitations.
- Ethical Responsibility and User Empowerment: Healthcare and fintech platforms are fundamental to user well-being and financial security. Accessibility testing reflects your commitment to inclusivity. It empowers people with disabilities to manage their health and finances independently, fostering a sense of control and agency.
- Universal User Experience Benefits: Accessible design principles aren’t limited to users with disabilities; they benefit everyone. Clear language, intuitive navigation structures, and proper color contrast enhance the overall user experience for all.
- Proactive Cost Savings: By identifying and resolving accessibility issues early on, you avoid costly website redesigns down the line. Additionally, you minimize the risk of potential lawsuits related to non-compliance with accessibility regulations.
“Accessibility testing isn’t just about doing the right thing; it’s about making smart business decisions.
Tailoring Accessibility Testing for Healthcare and Fintech Platforms
Accessibility testing isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Here’s how to ensure your healthcare and fintech platforms cater to specific user needs:
Healthcare:
- Screen Reader Compatibility: For users with visual impairments, ensure seamless compatibility with screen readers. This involves clear element labeling, proper heading structures, and logical content organization for smooth navigation and information retrieval.
- Assistive Technology Integration: People with motor limitations may struggle with complex navigation. Offer clear and intuitive navigation tools, including keyboard shortcuts, to empower users who cannot rely on a mouse.
- Plain Language: Medical information can be intricate. Use straightforward language, avoiding medical jargon, to ensure all patients can comprehend their healthcare options, regardless of literacy level.
Fintech:
- Alternative Text Descriptions: Financial graphs and charts provide valuable insights. Include concise and accurate alt text descriptions that screen readers can vocalize for visually impaired users.
- Robust Keyboard Navigation: Secure financial transactions often rely on forms. Ensure all form fields are accessible via keyboard navigation, allowing users with motor limitations to complete transactions independently.
- Color Contrast Adherence: Color blindness is a common visual impairment. Use high color contrast and avoid relying solely on color to convey information. This ensures users with color blindness can access financial data clearly.
Tips for Increasing Accessibility Testing with Automation
While manual testing remains an essential component of a comprehensive accessibility strategy, automation offers significant advantages by streamlining the process and ensuring consistent baseline accessibility.
- Integration into Development Workflow: Embed accessibility testing tools into your CI/CD pipeline. This allows for automated accessibility checks alongside unit and integration tests, catching accessibility regressions early in the development cycle.
- Prioritization of Automated Tests: Focus your automated tests on frequently changing areas of your platform or core functionalities. This ensures consistent accessibility across your application’s foundation.
- Complementing Manual Testing: Automation excels at identifying low-hanging fruit and spotting common accessibility roadblocks. However, it cannot fully replace manual testing, which remains crucial for evaluating user experience and uncovering context-specific accessibility issues.
- Open-Source vs. Paid Tools: A variety of open-source and paid accessibility testing tools are available. Open-source tools offer a cost-effective entry point, while paid solutions might provide more advanced features and comprehensive reporting capabilities.
- Custom Script Development: For highly specialized needs or complex web applications, consider developing custom accessibility testing scripts. This allows you to tailor the testing process to address the unique functionalities of your platform.
Beyond Efficiency: Benefits of Automation
- Improved Scalability: Automated testing allows you to efficiently scale your accessibility testing efforts as your platform grows and evolves.
- Reduced Costs: Streamlining accessibility testing through automation can lead to cost savings in the long run, especially when compared to the time and resources required for manual testing alone.
- Increased Development Speed: By catching accessibility issues early on, automation helps prevent costly rework and delays down the line, contributing to faster development cycles.
- Enhanced Developer Focus: By automating repetitive accessibility checks, developers are freed up to focus on more complex accessibility challenges and user experience optimization tasks.
Serhii
Lead UI/UX Designer
Ralabs can help you strategically integrate automation into your accessibility testing process.
What are the tools used for Accessibility testing?
Automated Testing Tools:
- WAVE (WebAIM): This free web evaluation tool identifies accessibility issues within your website’s code. It offers clear explanations of potential problems and suggestions for remediation.
- Pa11y: An open-source favorite, Pa11y allows you to create customized accessibility test suites. It provides a user-friendly dashboard, command-line interface, and web service for scheduling automated tests.
- Color Contrast Analyzer: Ensuring proper color contrast is crucial for users with visual impairments. This tool analyzes color combinations within your web pages, highlighting potential contrast issues.
- Achecker: Evaluate web accessibility by uploading your HTML file or entering a URL directly. Achecker supports various accessibility guidelines and generates detailed reports for developers.
- Tenon.io: This cloud-based platform integrates seamlessly with existing development tools. Tenon uses an API to analyze your web pages and applications, providing comprehensive accessibility reports in multiple formats (HTML, CSV, XML, JSON).
Manual Testing Tools:
- Screen Readers: Testing your platform with a screen reader allows you to experience it from the perspective of a visually impaired user. Popular options include NVDA for Windows and VoiceOver for Mac.
- Keyboard Navigation: Ensure all functionalities can be accessed and operated using just the keyboard. This caters to users with motor limitations who may not be able to use a mouse.
- DOM Inspector: This built-in browser developer tool (e.g., in Firefox) allows you to inspect the Document Object Model (DOM) of your web page, providing insights into the underlying structure and potential accessibility concerns.
Additional Resources:
- WCAG Accessibility Guidelines: The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide a clear framework for creating accessible digital experiences. Familiarize your development team with these guidelines to ensure your platform adheres to accessibility best practices.
- Accessibility Testing Communities: Join online forums and communities dedicated to accessibility testing. This is a valuable resource for staying updated on the latest tools, trends, and best practices in the accessibility space.
Serhii
Lead UI/UX Designer
Ralabs will help you incorporate these tools and resources into your development workflow.
Accelerate Web Accessibility Testing with Ralabs
In-house accessibility testing is a solid start, but collaborating with an experienced accessibility partner can yield significant advantages:
In-depth Technical Evaluation: Our specialists conduct meticulous WCAG 2.1 audits, uncovering every accessibility barrier beyond what basic automated testing misses.
Accessibility Roadmaps and Prioritization: We collaborate to pinpoint the most critical accessibility issues first, maximizing your return on investment.
Automated and Manual Testing Expertise: Ralabs merges automated testing efficiency with the human expertise of accessibility specialists. You get a comprehensive, in-depth view of your platform’s accessibility.
Custom Accessibility Testing Solutions: Our team crafts bespoke testing solutions tailored to the specific accessibility considerations of healthcare and fintech platforms.
WCAG Compliance Guidance: Ralabs stays current with the latest WCAG guidelines and best practices. We can provide expert guidance to ensure your platform adheres to these accessibility standards, mitigating legal risks and fostering a more inclusive user experience.
A Culture of Accessibility: Partnering with Ralabs fosters a long-term commitment to inclusive design within your organization.
We collaborated with Cludo, a next-generation search platform, to ensure their platform was accessible to all in just 32 hours.
Ready to unlock the transformative power of accessibility testing?
Let Ralabs be your guide. We start with Accessibility Compatibility Audit and offer a comprehensive suite of accessibility testing services, empowering you to create a more inclusive digital experience for your healthcare or fintech platform.
Contact us today to discuss your specific needs and unlock the full potential of your platform for every user.