Website Accessibility Testing

Why consider accessibility People with disabilities – Visual, Hearing, Physical, Cognitive (learning, reading, attention deficits, etc) Elderly people Non-English speaking Old equipment Slow telecommunications Mobile devices Search engines

Components of Web Accessibility Developers and Users interact in many different ways via web content Guidelines exist for: – Content (web sites) – Authoring tools (including WYSIWYG editors, Content Management Systems, save as HTML options, etc) – User agents (browsers, media players, assistive technology) Technical specifications: – HTML, XML, CSS, SVG, SMIL, etc

Components of Web Accessibility

When to consider accessibility At all stages of a project Business requirements Technical specifications Wire frames Graphical design Templates Content preparation Maintenance

Fundamental Concept On a web page, keep the following separate: Content – Text + informative images Structure – Headings, lists, paragraphs, tables, etc Presentation – Visual style, presentational & design elements, positioning and interactivity Along with standards compliant coding, this separation will avoid many accessibility problems.

Concept and Design Review Critical consideration of end-to-end process from user perspective – use common business activities and include any critical 3rd party applications Assess strategies that could be used – What are the options for users and for the business to achieve the delivery goals Check: Have people with disabilities been considered in the business requirements? Has accessibility been considered in the technical specification?

Checking & Testing Requires knowledge and understanding Involves: – Reviewing content – Reviewing code – User testing Ref: Evaluating Web Sites for Accessibility

Accessibility Evaluation Tools Automated tools – Cover a limited range of objective issues – Scan many pages – Generate a report Manual tools – More thorough coverage – Single page based – Assist with subjective issues No tool can automatically determine the accessibility of Web sites

Selecting an evaluation tool References: Selecting Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools Database

Automated Tools Only do a partial job Can usually only tell if you fail Can’t give you a pass Still require manual checking Need interpretation Have flaws or weaknesses Still have a place for large sites, e.g. Maxamine

Automated Tools - References Comparison of Web Accessibility Testing Tools ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw03/papers/arch/ ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw03/papers/arch/ Automated testing - How useful is it? The problem with automated accessibility testing tools web-accessibility/automated-tools.shtml web-accessibility/automated-tools.shtml

Manual Tools Many “pseudo tools” are available by using the options included as standard within your computer Use the keyboard not the mouse to navigate Try different browsers & versions – Use different browser settings

Browser Setting Options Change the font to a larger size View pages without images View pages with styles sheets and page colours/fonts disabled View pages with an alternative, high contrast, colour scheme Disable scripts, applets and/or plugins

Browser-based Evaluation - References Getting started with accessibility assessments (using Internet Explorer) – ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw03/papers/arch2/ ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw03/papers/arch2/ Using Opera to check for accessibility – Evaluating websites with Firefox – evaluatingwithfirefox evaluatingwithfirefox

Accessibility Toolbar for IE & Opera Features: Validate Resize CSS Images Colour Structure Tools Doc Info References IE Options Magnification

Accessibility Toolbar AIS Accessibility Toolbar: – Toolbar Functions: – Toolbar Tutorials: – web-accessibility/accessibility-toolbar.shtml web-accessibility/accessibility-toolbar.shtml – Toolbar News: – web-accessibility-toolbar.blogspot.com/ web-accessibility-toolbar.blogspot.com/ –

The WAVE Features – Visual – Identifies errors, alerts & accessibility features – Shows reading order – Shows structural and semantic elements

Colour Checkers Colour Contrast – – – Colour testing – colour blindness – –

Link Checkers Link checkers: non-existent URLs – - free – - free version available – - free trial of some elements – - free trial Cannot check for incorrect addresses

Code Validators HTML Validators – W3C: – Web Design Group: CSS Validator –

Site Testing by Assistive Technology Users Complements technical accessibility testing, but does not replace it – Purpose is to appreciate usability issues for users of assistive technology – User testing CANNOT determine if a site or online object works with all assistive technology User testers need to be skilled, but not expert with their technology Ref: Involving Users in Web Accessibility Evaluation

How to test: Understand the diversity of your audience Incorporate their needs Use some tools Engage an expert Undertake some user testing

When to test: Test early Test often Test for WGAC Test for usability Test for readability

Thankyou Andrew Arch Accessible Information Solutions Vision Australia 454 Glenferrie Road, Kooyong Vic