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Accessibility Testing 101

For anyone wanting to create accessible content, we encourage you to use automated accessibility testing tools. These testing tools will help content creators as they build their content by finding errors and offering suggestions to improve the accessibility of their product, application or web site. On this page a list of recommended accessibility testing tools has been made available

Building your toolset

Please note that some of the accessibility testing tools listed will require administrative permissions to install on your device.

Tool: WAVE Browser Extensions

WAVE for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge extensions allows you to evaluate web content for accessibility issues directly within your browser. Because the extension runs entirely within your web browser, no information is sent to the WAVE server.

While WAVE is most effective when used by someone knowledgeable about web accessibility, people who are not web accessibility experts can also benefit from WAVE.

If you are new to WAVE, take advantage of the Introduction to WAVE video.

Browser Compatibility:

Additional WAVE Documentation:

WAVE Tips and Tricks:

The WAVE sidebar indicates if WAVE has detected any errors or not. The absence of errors DOES NOT mean your page is accessible or compliant. RED icons indicate accessibility errors that need to be fixed. GREEN icons indicate accessibility features—things that improve accessibility (though these should be verified). The other icons and indicators, particularly the yellow alert icons, highlight other elements that you should look at. WAVE brings the underlying accessibility information of a page to the forefront so it can be easily evaluated in context.

Styles and Code:

WAVE provides functionality for disabling page CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) styles. Complex, CSS-powered layouts may become difficult to read, especially after the WAVE icons have been embedded, so disabling styles can simplify the page presentation. Disabling styles also allow you to view the underlying reading and navigation order, the order in which keyboard-only and screen reader users will access the page. To view the relevant code for a particular WAVE icon, you can select the Code tab at the bottom of the page to view the underlying markup/DOM of your page.

Tool: Accessibility Insights for Web

Accessibility Insights for Web is an extension for Chrome and Microsoft Edge that helps developers find and fix accessibility issues in web apps and sites.

The tool supports two primary scenarios:

This is a tool for all levels, you do not need to know accessibility to use it, it will guide you through each step.

Browser Compatibility:

Accessibility Insights Documentation:

Tips and Tricks:

Keyboard Shortcuts:

Tool: LightHouse

Lighthouse is an open-source, automated tool for improving the quality of web pages. You can run it against any web page, public or requiring authentication. It has audits for performance, accessibility, progressive web apps, SEO, and more. A very useful tool for Multimedia Developers and Web Accessibility Testers.

Browsers:

LightHouse Extension Documentation:

Additional Help:

Additional Help and Resources

Keyboard and Manual testing of your site

Automated tools and validators to identify accessibility issues:

Keyboard testing basics

Review or test your site periodically to ensure there are no new errors and the site remains accessible.

Additional Resources

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