Top Reasons Why You Need Automated Accessibility Testing

What is Accessibility Testing?

Accessibility testing refers to the process of meticulously evaluating and assessing a software product or application to ensure compliance with government accessibility laws and that it provides equal access to all users, including those with impairments, without barriers impeding their experiences.

As per the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), there are specific principles based on which accessibility testing is evaluated. These include:

Perceivability: Both the information and the software’s UI should be presented in a way that users can easily perceive using one or more of their senses.

Operability: The UI elements in the software must be readily operable by users.

Understandability: Users should be able to understand the information and content encompassed within the software.

Robust: The UI content must be robust enough to be able to seamlessly work with current and even future technologies for different users.

There are two ways one can perform accessibility testing for their software. Manually, where human software testers go through the software, testing its accessibility, or with the help of automated testing tools or programs, which make the process rapid, effortless, and more efficient.

Why is Automated Accessibility Testing Important?

While manual accessibility testing is more comprehensive, can catch a higher percentage of faults or flaws, and necessitates an individual team or accessibility experts who specialize in the field, automated accessibility testing requires only the selection, examination, setup, and operation of automated accessibility testing tools. Once set up, these tools can effortlessly trawl through your website, mobile app, or digital product, validating it thoroughly for any compliance issues or defects that act as obstacles to accessibility.

Automated accessibility testing can handle all your software accessibility test checks, allowing you to focus solely on preventing and eliminating the issues identified. It can also help you save quite a bit of time and money that would otherwise have to be spent on manual accessibility testing.

But that’s not all. Automated accessibility testing has the potential to produce a number of benefits for your business. Let’s next take a deep dive into the importance of automated accessibility testing and look at its benefits.

• Increased Efficiency

One of the main benefits automated accessibility testing brings to the table is enhanced efficiency. Manual accessibility, as we’ve touched upon, involves human testers going through each element of the software, pinpointing accessibility issues. Automated testing, on the other hand, significantly streamlines issue identification. The testing tools can perform concurrent tests on your software, detecting accessibility flaws with efficiency and enabling software testers to divert their core focus to mitigating those issues instead of performing manual testing. This can enhance their productivity and allow them to work more efficiently.

• Early Defect Detection

If automated accessibility testing has been integrated into the development life cycle since the beginning, it can help businesses find and address risks or issues before they become more complicated and pricey to fix. This approach guarantees that any accessibility-related issues and defects are found and fixed early in the development cycle, saving significant time and resources. It can help ensure the delivery of a software product to market that’s accessible to all and free of errors.

• Enhanced Market Reach

By making your software products accessible to users with disabilities, you open new avenues to expand your market. Digital assets easily usable by people with diverse abilities allow you to tap into this unexplored territory and capitalize on its benefits. Automated accessibility testing helps you identify, assess, and resolve all potential accessibility issues more effectively, enabling you to create inclusive software accessible to all users, regardless of their individual abilities. In turn, you can reach a larger audience.

• Guarantees Regulatory Compliance

No business would be looking forward to getting burdened with legal troubles or complications. Automated testing enables accurate and efficient analysis of the software components, elements, and functionality against the appropriate legal and regulatory requirements. Having addressed those issues, businesses can not only ensure compliance with accessibility regulations but also steer clear of such complications.

• User Satisfaction & Engagement

Performing accessibility testing is more than just a requirement for businesses. One must ensure there’s an equal and fair environment for everyone, including those with disabilities. Automated accessibility testing enables you to identify and address all issues associated with accessibility, which improves user satisfaction and drives improved engagement. Fulfilling this moral obligation can also help position your brand for success and strengthen its reputation by showing users you care about them.