Website Accessibility Testing Todd M. Weissenberger Web Accessibility Coordinator University of Iowa

The Line on Accessibility As many as 1 in 5 web users may experience accessibility issues Accessibility strategies often provide a concrete response to universal usability issues Guidelines and tools exist to assist designers and developers – Web standards – Accessibility Legislation – Development and Evaluation Tools – End-User technologies Tools can indicate the presence of accessibility barriers Human testing is a necessary part of accessibility testing

An Accessibility Assessment can… Provide insight into your site’s accessibility Generate a roadmap of corrective tasks Expose non-standard practices and outcomes Help you understand your site’s core functions in a deeper context

Site Assessments Self-Assessment – Performed by site managers prior to initial Web Accessibility Evaluation – Addresses “low-hanging fruit” and common compliance flags – Likely to catch numerous occurrences of non-conforming code Site assessment by ITS Web Accessibility Coordinator – Automated evaluation tool – Recommendations and best practices – Assistance with remediation/rebuilding

Evaluation Scope: the 3 C’s Content – Site segments – Content types (HTML, PDF, Media, Office) Criteria – Guidelines, standards, policy – Tasks, outcomes Conformance – Essential conformance (Yea/Nay) – Detailed review (number of issues, where they are located) – In-depth analysis (remediation/repair options)

What to check What content do you want to test? – Top 20% of visited content – Content that supports core function of unit – Content with an accommodation request What file types are involved? – Can content be presented in alternative formats? What content is under review? – Remediate – Rebuild – Discard

What standards to apply WCAG 2.0, Level AA – Wide adoption, including the University of Iowa – Basis for forthcoming update of Section 508 – Outcomes based Section 508 – Federal legislation – Includes web, software, telecommunications, and other technical categories – Is not the Americans with Disabilities act (ADA) State, regional, institutional standards

What to look for Text Alternatives Keyboard Operability Document Structure/Heading Levels CSS Contrast/Element Styles Forms Tables

What to use Online Tools – WAVE – FAE – Juicy Studio Plug-Ins and Extensions – Web Developer – WAVE – Web Accessibility (FAE) – Juicy Studio – FANGS – Web Accessibility Toolbar Manual examination – Title and heading text – Visual focus indicators – Script and timing control – Client-side forms validation – Indicating changes in language – Multimedia captioning checks

Identifying Tasks How does the user enter and exit the application? What are the tasks and outcomes? How does the user know when the task is successfully completed? Is there a time component or limitation?

Types of Assessment Automated assessment – Covers a lot of ground – Yields objective results – Defined by the tool’s algorithms Manual assessment – Covers ground more slowly – Results may be informed by user experience – Task and process based

Text Alternatives ALT text provided for images – ALT text accurately conveys meaning and function – Empty ALT attributes employed for decorative images Links containing images and text are combined into a single link Text alternatives to non-text content – Links and other ALT content provided for embedded objects CAPTCHAs are visually accessible FRAME and IFRAME use the TITLE attribute

Missing or questionable ALT text (WAVE)

Missing or questionable ALT text (WAT)

Keyboard Accessibility All content and functionality are available using the keyboard Keyboard event handlers are equivalent to mouse handlers No keyboard traps exist Objects are highlighted onfocus Custom key shortcuts don’t conflict with the parent application or operating system

Document Structure/Heading Levels Pages use an appropriate DTD All pages include a descriptive Pages include appropriate meta information Page language identified by the LANG attribute Changes in human language are indicated by the use of the LANG attribute

Document Structure/Heading Levels Pages use an appropriate DTD All pages include a descriptive Pages include appropriate meta information Page language identified by the LANG attribute Changes in human language are indicated by the use of the LANG attribute

FAE Toolbar: Missing DTD, Title, and LANG

Heading Levels Open page or document In WAVE toolbar, select Outline In Web Accessibility toolbar, select Information >> View Document Outline Questions: – Does heading structure skip levels? – Does page include ? – Are there elements preceding navigation lists?

Visual Appearance

Broken Heading Structure (WAT)

CSS, Contrast and Text Size Color contrast ratios – 4.5:1 (14 point text or smaller) – 3:1 (larger than 14 point) Font sizes described in em, % or names Text in form inputs is scalable Pages equally legible when style sheets are omitted

CSS Open the page or document In WAVE toolbar, select Disable Styles In Web Accessibility toolbar, select CSS >> Disable Styles >> Disable All Styles Questions: – Is page still legible? – Does the page order make sense?

Color Contrast Open Colour Contrast Analyser Use eyedropper to select foreground/background colors Results visible in CCA Questions: – Does large text meet contrast standards? – Does small text meet contrast standards?

Colour Contrast Analyser

Text Size Open the page or document Firefox – Select VIEW >> ZOOM TEXT ONLY – Increase Zoom (Win: Ctrl ++, Mac: Cmd ++) Internet Explorer – Select VIEW >> TEXT SIZE >> LARGEST Questions: – Does text zoom at all? – Does text remain legible within page layout? – Are form inputs scalable?

Text Zooming in Firefox

Forms Form inputs accompanied by OR use the TITLE attribute Forms are keyboard operable Users can review and correct inputs before submitting form Form validation and alert include descriptions of errors Form validation and alert are interactive for users of assistive technologies

Check Form Labels Web Accessibility Toolbar – Select Forms >> View Form Information – All input elements should have ID attributes, and be accompanied by labels WAVE – Run Errors, Features, and Alerts report – Note missing label tags positioned next to form inputs

Missing Form Labels: Web Accessibility Toolbar

Missing Form Labels: WAVE

Data Tables Tables are not used for page layout Tables use and to structure and present data Table headers include SCOPE and ID attributes Data cells include HEADERS attribute Tables include CAPTION and SUMMARY

FAE: Table construction

Dynamic Content Content that updates automatically can be user-controlled Content that updates automatically uses ARIA alert or live role to notify user as appropriate User can obtain extension for timed events

Multimedia Captioning and Transcripts – Synchronized delivery – Searchable Keyboard operable

Common Compliance Issues* Missing or inadequate text equivalents Insufficient color contrast Missing LANG attribute Non-adaptive font size Nested headings construction elements