Automated Accessibility Testing Tools: What to Look For

In today’s digital age, applications have become a part of everyday life. From banking, retail, healthcare, and finance to entertainment and communication, mobile apps are vital to our daily interactions. Ensuring accessibility for all users is therefore essential for any organization. 

Accessibility testing helps organizations identify and eliminate barriers that may prevent individuals with disabilities from accessing applications. Not only does accessibility testing allow your app to be utilized by as many people as possible, but it also ensures that your application complies with regulations. 

While manual accessibility testing is valuable, it can be time-consuming and burdensome. This is where automated accessibility testing tools come into play.

In this blog, we will explore the key factors to consider when choosing automated accessibility testing tools as well as their importance in creating and testing successful applications. 

Related Reading: The Buyer’s Guide to Web & Mobile Test Automation Tools

What Are Automated Accessibility Testing Tools?

Automated accessibility testing tools refers to software designed to detect any potential issues in the code, interface, or user experience of an application that may prevent differently abled users from properly interacting with an app. Automated accessibility testing tools help ensure that your apps are usable to as many people as possible while expediting the testing process. 

Benefits of Utilizing Automated Accessibility Testing Tools

Automated accessibility testing tools are essential for creating apps that are inclusive. 

Making an app accessible to as many users as possible is the right thing to do to ensure everyone has access to your applications—including those with visual, hearing, physical, or cognitive impairments. 

Some benefits of utilizing automated accessibility testing tools include:

Compliance With Accessibility Testing Regulations

Not only is accessibility testing a regulatory requirement (see the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Section 508, and the Americans with Disabilities Act), but it is also a social one. Failure to ensure accessibility could result in fines of up to $150,000. When you incorporate automated accessibility testing tools into your testing pipeline, you will easily ensure compliance with regulations while increasing your user base. 

Speed and Efficiency 

Oftentimes, accessibility testing is done manually or not at all—or it is treated as an afterthought. When you utilize automated accessibility testing tools, you not only speed up the testing process, but you also save time and resources that would otherwise be wasted on cumbersome manual testing. Furthermore, automated accessibility testing tools minimize escaped defects, creating a more efficient and accurate testing process and more functional applications. 

Test Coverage and Accuracy

With automated accessibility testing tools, it is possible to test multiple mobile applications and web pages simultaneously. This ensures that accessibility issues are pinpointed and resolved faster, which saves time and enables teams to quickly shift testing left as needed. 

Related Reading: A11Y Accessibility Testing Trends

What to Look for In Automated Accessibility Testing Tools

Now that we have established the benefits of adopting automated accessibility testing tools into your testing pipeline, let us explore some key points to look for when choosing the right automated accessibility testing tools for your team. 

Your automated accessibility testing tools should ideally incorporate:

Unified Testing – You should be able to test both web and mobile applications, including iOS and Android, in one unified platform.

Full Toolchain Integration – You should be able to sync with your existing accessibility testing tools as well as with everything else in your toolchain. 

Advanced Automation – Automated accessibility testing tools should allow you to automate accessibility tests and other advanced and complex scenarios.

Reporting and Analytics – Performance metrics and results should be located in one convenient dashboard.

Testing for Advanced Use Cases – Automated accessibility testing tools should work with screen readers, speech recognition software, screen magnification, and much more. 

Some additional use cases that your automated accessibility testing tools should account for include:

• Labels—Used by assistive technologies, like VoiceOver or TalkBack.
• Text contrast—Ration between text or images and background color.
• Hit area size—Area designated for user interaction.
• View hierarchy of UI—Determines how easy the Android app is to navigate.
• Dynamic font size—Option for users to increase font size to fit their needs.

The right automated accessibility testing tool will help you test accessibility scenarios for both iOS and Android, as well as web applications. The right tools will also ensure that your apps meet the guidelines for an accessible app.

Related Webinar: Accelerate Accessibility Testing With Perfecto

Examples of Automated Accessibility Testing Tools

The following automated accessibility testing tools are ideal choices for teams looking to create fully accessible applications:

Google Lighthouse

Google Lighthouse is a popular open-source automated accessibility testing tool that helps improve the performance, quality, and accuracy of web applications. Lighthouse is an effective tool for testing accessibility and is available automatically or as an extension for Chrome or Firefox. While Google Lighthouse may be convenient, it can seem underdeveloped for teams looking to perform comprehensive accessibility testing. For testers that do not need to get into the details, however, this tool will still catch many accessibility issues.  

Siteimprove

Siteimprove Accessibility Checker allows you to easily check the accessibility of your web pages directly in Chrome. This automated accessibility testing tool provides instant feedback and recommendations, allowing you to immediately identify and address accessibility issues. Siteimprove is limited to web accessibility testing and does not encompass mobile app accessibility testing. 

Perfecto

With Perfecto, teams can automate a large portion of accessibility tests for web and mobile apps and reduce the overall time it takes to run them. In addition, Perfecto will generate an accessibility test report that can help your developers find and fix accessibility issues in advance.

Evinced is an automated accessibility testing tool that automatically detects and pinpoints accessibility issues and suggests fixes. By combining the capabilities of Evinced with Perfecto, testing teams can speed up their testing cycle.

Accessibility Testing With VoiceOver & TalkBack

Accessibility testing is continually evolving, and new technological developments, such as VoiceOver and TalkBack, are making it easier than ever to incorporate accessibility testing into your testing strategy.

VoiceOver and TalkBack assist those with visual impairments. These screen readers make it possible for anyone with a visual impairment to interact with a device or application. 

• VoiceOver (iOS) – Provides audible descriptions of the device screen.
• TalkBack (Android) – Describes user actions using spoken words and provides alerts and notifications through vibrations and other audible feedback.

Perfecto leads the market with accessibility testing support, particularly for Android TalkBack and iOS VoiceOver—without the need for physical devices in hand. With Perfecto, testing teams can test on devices in the cloud, eliminate dependency on physical devices, and increase automation, scalability, and speed. 

Bottom Line

When it comes to choosing the right automated accessibility testing tools, Perfecto is the ideal solution. Accessibility testing with Perfecto is a seamless experience and allows testing teams to keep pace with accessibility requirements. 

When you test your apps with Perfecto, you will experience:

• Unified testing
• Advanced automation.
• Full toolchain integration.
• All results in one place.
• Accelerated testing.
• Shift Testing Left.

There is a reason why Perfecto is the most trusted testing platform in the industry, especially when it comes to accessibility testing. Experience complete accessibility testing for yourself by signing up for a free 14-day trial of Perfecto today. 

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