Accessibility Quick Checks
There are tools and methods that can be used to perform quick accessibility checks on a web page. None of these methods are a substitute for a complete assessment. Quick checks can give you an idea of where issues may lie, but if the goal is a site that is compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA, a more complete review is needed.
Quick checks are not enough to fully confirm the accessibility of a site. A web page can pass these checks, yet still have significant issues.
Automated Tools
Automated accessibility tools review the front-end code that makes up a site. They identify roughly 25% of all accessibility issues. They can generate false positives and false negatives and cannot identify errors of intent. Within those limitations, they are a reasonable starting point for quick checks.
Recommended tools:
- WAVE offers both a page checker and a browser extension
- axe is a browser extension available for Chrome or Firefox
Manual Checks
Manual testing helps uncover issues that are missed by the automated tools.
Quick Checks
- Contrast. Set the brightness of your mobile device to its lowest setting, open the website and begin browsing. Can you read everything?
- Zoom. Open the website and click Ctrl + (Windows) or Command + (Mac) several times. Does any text get cut off? Is the site still usable at the biggest setting?
- Heads. Use an automated tool to make sure all heads are wrapped in the correct H tag. WAVE is a good choice since it identifies heads directly on screen. Many accessibility tools use heads to navigate a page.
Keyboard-Only Navigation
Testing keyboard-only accessibility is strongly recommended. Sites that can be navigated using only a keyboard are more likely to work well with other assistive technologies such as switches.
- To test, press tab to move between interactive elements, and press enter or space to interact with them.
- Make sure you can navigate to different pages on the site.
- Make sure all interactive elements such as forms can be completed.
- Make sure all interactive elements have a visible focus ring, so that you can see where you are on the page.
- As you tab, your focus should follow the logical order of elements on the page.
More on keyboard accessibility
Screen Reader Testing
Testing with a screen reader has a steeper learning curve, but it’s a great way to identify problems that are difficult to detect visually. Using a screen reader offers some understanding of how a visually impaired person accesses a website. Learn more about the benefits of testing with screen readers.
W3C WAI Easy Checks
The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative has published checks that can uncover whether a website has addressed accessibility in a basic way.