Access · 04 of 04
Test beyond the automated report
Combine automated checks with manual evaluation and feedback from users.
The idea
Automated checks can detect some accessibility issues, but a clean report cannot establish that an experience works for everyone.
Meaningful labels, understandable reading order and successful task completion need human evaluation as well.
Test representative flows with the relevant assistive technologies and include people who use them. Listen to the names and states of controls, check error recovery and review image descriptions in context. Record the task, environment and observed problem so fixes can be verified. There is no single reliable percentage of issues that every tool will catch.
How to see it
Terms used in this lesson
The parts
- Automated check
- A tool-based test for detectable issues.
- Screen reader
- Software that presents interface information through speech or braille.
- Task evaluation
- Observing whether someone can achieve a realistic goal.
In practice
- Combine automated and manual evaluation
- Test error and recovery paths
- Include experienced assistive-technology users
Avoid
- Treating a clean report as proof of access
- Unhelpful names and image descriptions
- Announcing every minor update unnecessarily
The test
Complete a real task with a screen reader, including an error and recovery. Record where the information or next action becomes unclear, then retest after the fix.
Reviewed against all forty, on your product.
The audit is the cheapest thing we sell, and it regularly concludes that you do not need the project you came for.