Automated accessibility testing will find common accessibility issues quickly and consistently. It’s an excellent first step in testing a digital product or service for accessibility.
However, automated accessibility testing doesn’t test for every type of access need. Because of this, it’s essential to combine automated testing with manual testing and assistive technology testing to ensure our digital products and services are accessible to everyone.
When to use automated accessibility testing
Automated accessibility testing is helpful in verifying accessibility issues in code quickly. As anyone can run the tests, all team members can support quality assurance phases by understanding how to automatically check for accessibility issues.
For best results, automated accessibility testing must occur throughout the development phase. Done early enough, it can surface up to 57% of accessibility issues in code and help to reduce remediation efforts during later development and testing phases.
Validate the HTML first
Before you run any automated accessibility testing tools, you must ensure the HTML code for the website is valid, e.g. written according to the HTML5 specification. While browsers and some assistive technologies are very good at interpreting poor HTML code, missing or incorrectly used elements and attributes can cause other assistive technologies to misinterpret content.
To check HTML:
- Enable HTML validation as part of your development processes, e.g. in a continuous integration (CI) pipeline using an NPM package such HTML Validator.
- Or use the W3C Mark-up Validation Service to check HTML files or a live webpage.
Recommended automated testing tools
There are several automated accessibility testing tools available for Nationwide teams to use. They cover different aspects of accessibility and will help identify as many issues in code as possible.
axe
The recommended tool for automated accessibility testing is axe by Deque Systems. axe is quick to run, easy to use and, best of all, it’s free. axe can be used to test websites and native apps.
axe must run without critical or serious issues to be acceptable. For better accessibility, axe should run with no problems reported.
For websites:
- For local development, quickly improve the accessibility of features by using axe-linter for VS Code. View the axe linter introductions video for more information.
- Run single-page or quick accessibility tests using axe’s free browser plugins for Chrome and Firefox.
- For websites or single-page applications, use the axe-core library as part of a testing suite or acceptance testing.
For native apps:
- Use axe DevTools for Mobile (iOS and Android) to integrate accessibility testing into your mobile development testing process. Please note axeDevTools for Mobile requires a subscription to axe Enterprise. Please contact the accessibility team [contact us page] for more information.
ARC
ARC is a Chrome plugin developed by TPGi for testing websites. It includes several automated tests which can support manual accessibility testing, such as keyboard testing and text spacing. It is helpful to use ARC combined with axe for a more thorough assessment of common accessibility issues.
Wave
Wave is a suite of accessibility evaluation tools developed by WebAIM for testing websites. Wave will find different things compared to the other automated testing tools, so it is helpful to use in combination with both axe and Arc for the best coverage.
Interpreting feedback
Sometimes, automated accessibility testing tools provide too much feedback, especially if many issues exist on a webpage. If you aren’t familiar with how these tools record issues, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the results. If you need help interpreting, understanding, and triaging your automated accessibility testing results, please contact us for support.