1. What is the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)
2. What is a Disability According to AODA?
3. WCAG: The Standard for AODA Compliance
4. Role of AODA in Ensuring Website Compliance
5. Who Must Comply With AODA?
6. AODA Compliance Deadlines
7. Results of Failing to Comply With AODA
8. How Can Businesses Evaluate Website AODA Compliance?
9. How Does TestingXperts Help Canadian Businesses Comply With AODA?

What is the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

AODA stands for Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. AODA compliance in Ontario is a provincial regulation in the state, established in 2005. The goal of the AODA is to make Ontario fully accessible for people with disabilities by 2025. It requires organizations to meet specific accessibility standards to remove and prevent barriers for people with disabilities and follow AODA compliance. These AODA standards cover areas such as customer service, transportation, information and communication, and employment.

The AODA also demands organizations to develop an accessibility program that summarizes how they will identify, remove, and prevent barriers for the disabled. In 2021, the AODA mandated that all public sector organizations must be compliant by law. This includes government ministries, municipalities, universities and colleges, hospitals, school boards, etc. In addition to these requirements, AODA laws provide enforcement standards, including penalties or prosecution if an organization fails to comply with its obligations under the Act.

What is a Disability According to AODA?

AODA defines a disability as “any extent of physical disability, infirmity, malformation, or disfigurement induced by bodily injury, genetic disability or illness and, without restricting the generality of the preceding, includes the following:

• Diabetes mellitus

• Epilepsy

• Brain injury

• Any degree of paralysis

• Amputation

• Lack of physical coordination

• Blindness or visual impediment

• Deafness or hearing impediment

• Muteness or speech impediment

• Physical dependency on a guide dog or other animal

• Dependency on a wheelchair or other remedial instrument

• Mental disability as described in the Mental Health Act

• Learning disability within the meaning of the Education Act

• Any other similar condition

In other words, AODA considers any physical impairment – including those caused by illness and congenital disabilities – specific mental disorders and learning impairments to be disabilities.

WCAG: The Standard for AODA Compliance

The AODA requires institutions to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) formed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). WCAG provides guidelines for making web content more accessible to people with disabilities, including those who use assistive technologies such as screen readers. The guidelines cover areas such as page structure, text size and contrast, navigation and link labels, audio & video captions, and more. Organizations must ensure that their websites and other web-based applications meet all applicable WCAG criteria to comply with the AODA. By ensuring that websites are accessible to people with disabilities, organizations can create a better user experience for everyone who visits their website or uses their online services.

Role of AODA in Ensuring Website Compliance

AODA requires organizations in Ontario to make their websites and web content accessible to people with disabilities. This includes ensuring that websites are designed, developed, and maintained following the WCAG. Canadian businesses must ensure that their website comply with AODA & WCAG standards.

Some scenarios include:

• Providing alternative text for images

• Using proper heading tags and defining landmarks on the page

• Creating transcripts for audio and video content

• Adequate colour contrast between foreground and background colours

• Ease of navigation by keyboard

• Availability of descriptive links and page titles

• Ability to adjust the font size and other contrast settings

Who Must Comply With AODA?

The AODA applies to all private sector organizations, non-profit organizations, and public sector organizations in Ontario with at least one employee. This includes businesses, government ministries, municipalities, universities, colleges, hospitals, schools, and other organizations. These organizations must comply with the AODA’s customer service standards as well as its general accessibility standards.

The customer service standard requires all employees to have the training to interact with customers who have disabilities and how to provide goods or services in a way that accommodates their needs. The general AODA accessibility standards cover areas such as information and communications, employment, transportation, and the design of public spaces. Organizations must also create an AODA accessibility plan that outlines how they will meet the requirements. Finally, they must report on their progress in meeting these requirements every three years.

AODA Compliance Deadlines

Canadian businesses needed to submit a compliance report on June 30, 2021. The following are some critical deadlines which Canadian businesses should be aware of:

• By January 1, 2022, all organizations must have complied with the Information and Communication Standard. This standard requires organizations to make their websites and digital content accessible to people with disabilities.

• By January 1, 2025, all organizations must comply with the Employment Standard. This standard sets out accessibility requirements for employers concerning recruiting, hiring, training and accommodating employees with disabilities.

• By January 1, 2031, all public sector organizations must adhere to the Design of Public Spaces Standard. These standard outlines how public spaces such as parks or sidewalks should be designed to be accessible for people with disabilities.

Organizations that do not meet these deadlines may face fines or other legal consequences. Businesses need to take steps now to ensure compliance before the deadlines arrive or they are penalized.

Results of Failing to Comply With AODA

Failing to comply with the AODA can result in penalties being issued. Individuals who fail to comply with the AODA can face a hefty fine of up to $100,000. Corporations and organizations face even higher penalties of up to $500,000 per violation. The government has the right to issue penalties after an investigation into any alleged violations of the AODA.

In addition to monetary penalties, there are other consequences for failing to comply with the AODA. For example, businesses may be required to take corrective action, such as making changes to their policies or practices to become compliant with the law. Furthermore, companies may also be subject to public scrutiny if they are found to violate the AODA.

How Can Businesses Evaluate Website AODA Compliance?

It’s important for Canadian organizations to be aware of their responsibilities under the AODA act and take necessary steps to ensure they are compliant. One way to do this is by using tools to evaluate AODA compliance and perform the AODA test. Here are a few examples of tools that may be used for evaluating AODA website compliance.

WAVE Web Accessibility Tool:

This free AODA website checker tool from WebAIM provides a comprehensive and easy-to-use method for evaluating the accessibility of web content. It can identify errors related to AODA compliance, such as missing alternative text for images, contrast issues, and more.

AChecker:

This online tool is designed to help website authors evaluate the accessibility of their web content according to WCAG 2.0 and Section 508 guidelines. It can detect errors that may not be AODA compliant, such as missing form labels or incorrect heading structure.

Siteimprove Accessibility Checker:

This tool provides an automated scan of your website’s HTML code to identify potential issues or what is missing from the AODA compliance checklist, such as missing alt tags or non-compliant colour contrast ratios. It also provides detailed reports on each page’s overall accessibility score and suggestions for improvement.

Color Contrast Analyzer:

This free desktop application helps users evaluate the contrast ratio between foreground and background colours according to WCAG 2 standards, ensuring that your website meets AODA requirements for colour contrast levels and text legibility.

Axe DevTools browser extension:

It is an ideal solution for development teams to test web applications in order to identify and resolve common accessibility issues. This tool is user-friendly, does not require extensive accessibility knowledge, and produces no false positives.

However, it is important to note that these tools have limitations in the number of issues they can identify. Hence, a manual check by accessibility experts over the automated tool results is always recommended to ensure all aspects of the AODA law are met successfully.

How Does TestingXperts Help Canadian Businesses Comply With?

Businesses registered in Ontario subject to web accessibility requirements must comply with the regulations of AODA. Non-compliance can result in significant penalties imposed by the government. Therefore, businesses must enlist the services of a reliable accessibility partner to help them understand, develop, and implement digital accessibility solutions compliant with AODA.

TestingXperts (Tx) offers automated testing and access to a specialized team for manual verification of digital assets in various settings with the use of assistive technologies. We work closely with digital enterprises to create prioritization reports that identify critical problems, monitor digital properties, and integrate them into backend systems for improved teamwork.

Canadian businesses should adopt WCAG 2.2 accessibility guidelines to ensure equal access to apps for all and meet all legal and regulatory compliances, including AODA accessibility. Tx offers the following range of accessibility testing services for enabling businesses to meet AODA compliance:

Manual accessibility testing:

Experienced testers with WCAG knowledge and expertise review the application manually test all scenarios and ensure WCAG compliance.

Automation accessibility testing:

Our automation testing experts leverage next-gen test automation tools to identify and report accessibility issues faster.

Native and hybrid mobile apps accessibility testing:

AODA testing of all kinds of native and hybrid mobile apps is performed to validate all accessibility scenarios for android and iOS apps.

Web app accessibility testing:

Test engineers evaluate the accessibility of a business’s web apps by verifying different metrics such as content readability, images, video transcripts, ease of navigation, color contrast, etc.

The post Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities (AODA) – A Quick Overview first appeared on TestingXperts.

Content

1. What Is Accessibility Testing?
2. What Disability Challenges Do Accessibility Testing Address?
3. Why Is Accessibility Testing Required?
4. Overview of Web Accessibility Laws and Acts
5. A Glance At Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
6. A Detailed Checklist for Accessibility Testing
7. Types Of Accessibility Testing
8. Tools To leverage For Accessibility Testing
9. Conclusion
10. How Can TestingXperts (Tx) help?

Websites and apps have become essential to human lives, and their usage is rapidly rising. However, many people still need help accessing these apps and websites. To be exact, According to Wikipedia, more than 1 billion people in the world have some form of disability. It indicates that these 1 billion people need better and equal access to apps.

Therefore, no matter the industry, it has become essential to ensure that software applications are designed to be accessible to people with disabilities. Thus, developers should follow web accessibility guidelines while developing the app, and testers should perform accessibility testing to validate the seamless accessibility of an application or software.

What Is Accessibility Testing?

Accessibility testing is a software testing technique performed to ensure that web applications or mobile applications are accessible to everyone, including the different abled sections of society. This software testing technique verifies that an app is developed according to web accessibility standards to ensure equal access to all people, including people with specific disabilities.

What Disability Challenges Do Accessibility Testing Address?

Visible disabilities:

These include disabilities like low vision, color blindness, and partial or complete blindness. People with such disabilities need a special keyboard or braille keyboard, in-app screen reader, text-to-speech feature, etc.

Auditory disabilities:

These include disabilities like lack of hearing and deafness. People with auditory issues need sign language, alternative text for images, captions, and other features in an app.

Cognitive and neural disabilities:

Disabilities like Learning disability, memory impairment, multiple sclerosis, ADHD, Seizure disorder, etc., are some examples of cognitive and neural disabilities. People with disabilities need special app features like text-to-speech, well-written content in plain and easy-to-understand language, limited scrolling, etc.

Physical and motor disabilities:

Disabilities like Arthritis, Amputation, Muscular dystrophy, Spinal cord injury, etc., hamper the normal functioning of the human body. Therefore, people with physical and motor disabilities need special app features and support, like search fields, voice recognition software, eye tracking feature, etc.

Why Is Accessibility Testing Required?

Ensures inclusivity and fulfills societal responsibility:

Accessibility testing helps businesses ensure their apps are accessible to people with specific disabilities. It allows businesses to perform societal responsibility and ensures inclusivity.

Validates accessibility of app to all:

Accessibility testing involves thoroughly checking apps to ensure they comply with all web accessibility guidelines to make them accessible to people with various disabilities.

Uplifts the brand’s image:

When an app is accessible to all, it shows that a brand cares for its customers and ultimately helps to uplift the brand image.

Saves from legal complications:

If an app does not fulfill the web content accessibility guidelines, it can cause businesses to face legal difficulties and lawsuits. However, businesses should leverage accessibility testing of web and mobile apps to avoid legal complications.

Delivers better user experience:

Accessibility testing makes an app equally accessible to all people with or without disabilities and helps provide a better user experience

Helps to rank higher in search results:

Accessibility testing improves a website’s usability and helps to rank it higher on the search engine result page.

Improves the usability of website/app:

Website accessibility guidelines ensure to make web content equally accessible to all and improve the overall usability of an app/website.Businesses can ensure equal access to web content by including proper ALT tags and providing easy navigation through the keyboard.

Helps generate better revenue:

By adopting WCAG guidelines, businesses can significantly increase website visitors and user engagement. It allows companies to generate higher revenues as website visitors/prospects can be converted to leads/customers.

Overview of Web Accessibility Laws and Acts

A Glance At Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

According to Wikipedia, The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are part of a series of web accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the leading international standards organization for the Internet. They are a set of recommendations for making Web content more accessible, primarily for people with disabilities and for all user agents, including highly limited devices, such as mobile phones.

Web content accessibility guidelines consist of WCAG 2.0, 2.1 2.2. According to W3C, WCAG 2.2 is scheduled to be completed and published in early 2023 and is backward compatible with WCAG 2.1.

• It consisted of four principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust.

• Under the four principles are 13 guidelines.

• For each guideline, testable success criteria are provided with three levels of conformance: A (lowest), AA, and AAA (highest)

Four principles of WCAG 2.1

Perceivable:

Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.

Operable:

User interface components and navigation must be operable

Understandable:

Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable.

Robust:

Content must be robust enough to interpret various user agents, including assistive technologies.

Conformance levels of WCAG 2.1 

Level A:

It depicts minimal compliance. For a website to be Level A compliant, it must fulfill specific requirements like the website should be navigable via keyboard, video captions should be present, etc.

Level AA:

It depicts acceptable compliance. For a website to be Level AA compliant, it must fulfill specific requirements like color contrast, navigation elements throughout the website, accurate labels in form fields, etc.

Level AAA:

It depicts optimal compliance. For a website to be Level AAA compliant, it must fulfill specific requirements like sign language interpretation for audio and video, color contrast, availability of context-sensitive help, etc.

A Detailed Checklist for Accessibility Testing

Types Of Accessibility Testing

Manual accessibility testing:

In this accessibility testing method, testers with WCAG technical review knowledge and expertise review the web. Testers manually test all scenarios and identify all non-conformances with respect to WCAG guidelines.

Automation Accessibility Testing:

In this testing technique, testers leverage automated accessibility testing tools to test the accessibility of the web. It helps identify accessibility issues faster and with less effort than manual accessibility testing.

Native and hybrid mobile apps accessibility testing:

This testing method involves accessibility testing of all native and hybrid mobile apps. This testing method tests all accessibility scenarios for android and iOS apps.

Web app accessibility testing:

In this testing method, the testers evaluate the accessibility of web apps by checking various aspects of web content, such as content readability, images, color contrast, etc.

508 Compliance testing:

In this method, testers check whether an app fulfills the standards mentioned under the 508 compliance act. Testers check various aspects of an app, like text equivalents for every essential photo, image, logo, or other non-text elements.

Hardware accessibility testing:

This method involves conducting an in-depth evaluation of the product’s hardware accessibility to ensure conformance with section 508 and other standards. This ensures that the product hardware is accessible to all, including people with specific disabilities.

How to Create Effective Test Cases for Accessibility?

Web applications and software should be designed to cater to a diverse audience, including people with disabilities. Ensuring accessibility isn’t just a one-time task; it requires ongoing efforts, with one crucial aspect being creating effective test cases. Let’s take a look at how to develop effective test cases for accessibility:

Understand Accessibility Guidelines

To start creating impactful test cases, it’s necessary to grasp the fundamental accessibility guidelines. Familiarize yourself with established standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These guidelines provide a solid foundation, helping you comprehend the principles of accessibility and pinpoint potential areas for improvement.

Collaborate with Diverse Experts

Effective test cases are born from collaboration. Engage a diverse group of experts, including accessibility specialists, developers, designers, and testers. This multi-disciplinary approach ensures that every facet of your product is thoroughly examined from different perspectives, enriching the quality of your test cases.

Define Clear Success Criteria

Ambiguity has no place in creating accessibility test cases. Clearly convey what success looks like for each test case. For instance, rather than saying, “The page should be navigable,” specify “, The page must be navigable using keyboard navigation alone, with clear focus indicators at all times.”

Cover Various Disability Scenarios

Accessibility encompasses a broad spectrum of disabilities. Your test cases should comprehensively address various scenarios, including visual, auditory, cognitive, and motor impairments. For example, test for proper screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, high contrast options, and video captioning.

Prioritize Real-World Scenarios

Effective test cases simulate real-world situations. Consider the different devices, browsers, and assistive technologies your users might employ. For example, ensure your test cases cover scenarios like using a screen reader on a mobile device with different orientations.

Test Across Different User Journeys

Users engage with your product in diverse ways. Mapping out different user journeys is crucial. For instance, test the accessibility of a checkout process for an e-commerce site, ensuring that users with disabilities can seamlessly complete a purchase.

Incorporate Negative Testing

Don’t focus on positive scenarios, as negative testing is equally vital. Craft test cases that explore failure points. For instance, test how your application handles form validation errors for users who rely on screen readers.

Include Edge Cases

Edge cases hold valuable insights when testing for situations that might be less common but can still impact users with disabilities. For instance, examine how your application handles sudden font size changes or interruptions in assistive technology usage.

Use a Combination of Manual and Automation Testing

Test automation can significantly speed up the testing process. However, not all accessibility issues can be detected through automated tools alone. Utilize automation to cover the basics, but cover it with manual testing to catch minor errors and bugs.

Document and Iterate

Documenting your test cases in detail is essential. It not only aids in the testing process but also serves as a knowledge repository for future projects. Moreover, accessibility is an ongoing journey. Regularly revisit and refine your test cases to adapt to evolving standards and technologies.

Tools To leverage For Accessibility Testing

Wave:

Wave is a suite of evaluation tools that helps testers make web content more accessible to individuals with disabilities. It can identify many accessibilities and Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) errors and facilitates human evaluation of web content. This tool comes with chrome and Firefox extension and supports various CSS, HTML, XHTML, and Images formats.

Axe chrome plugin:

Axe automatically checks single, password-protected, or restricted pages. This tool supports various formats like HTML and XHTML. Since it is a web-based program, the license for access is free and easily accessible.

Dynomapper:

It is a sitemap generator that checks websites and online applications. This tool includes content inventory and audit, and daily keyword tracking. Dynomapper displays results within visual sitemaps to allow for easy and efficient project discovery and planning.

Automated accessibility testing tools (AATT):

It is an open-source tool that automatically checks single web pages and groups of web pages or sites, including password-protected or restricted pages. This tool contains HTMLCodeSniffer with both PhantomJS and Express.

AChecker –Accessibility Checker:

It is an open-source and customizable accessibility testing tool that allows testers to evaluate accessibility by simply entering URLs or uploading HTML files. This tool enables testers to choose desired guidelines like WCAG 2.0, Section 508, BITV, Stanca Act, etc. Testers can select a report format as per their requirements.

Screen Reader Tools

JAWS Inspect:

JAWS Inspect is a screen reader tool used for accessibility and JAWS compatibility testing. This tool uses transcripts of JAWS output to quickly locate issues and share them easily across quality control and compliance systems.

NVDA:

NVDA allows blind and vision-impaired people to access and interact with the Windows OS and many third-party applications. It is a screen reader that is used to perform accessibility testing by validating the output visual content as audio or braille.

Windows Narrator:

This accessibility feature is natively built into the Microsoft Windows OS. Testers use this screen-reading app to validate the ease of navigation for visually impaired Windows users to whom the text and notifications available on the screen are read out.

Conclusion

Today, it has become essential for businesses to ensure their website content is equally accessible to all people, including people with/without disabilities. People with specific disabilities like hearing loss, partially blind, motor limitations, etc., have special needs while developing an app or website. Correct usage of color contrast, proper placement of multimedia, use of captions and alt text, etc., are some of the best practices that must be considered. Businesses should leverage accessibility testing to ensure their apps and websites meet compliances like WCAG 2.1, Stanca Act, ADA act, etc. Businesses should leverage accessibility testing from a next-gen QA and independent software testing services provider to get equally accessible apps.

How Can TestingXperts (Tx) help?

At TestingXperts (Tx), we believe in a world that is fair to everyone and enable a comprehensive range of accessibility testing services. With high expertise and sound knowledge of accessibility testing regulations like W3Cs, i.e., WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1 (Level A: 30, Level AA: 20, Level AAA: 28), and specific regulations such as Section 508, UK-Equality Act, Stanca Act, Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, etc., we ensure standardized accessibility practices are followed within the application.

TestingXperts Differentiators

• Tx ensures all business-critical applications are accessible to everyone by bringing them in line with the latest accessibility standards like W3C’s, i.e., WCAG 2.0/WCAG 2.1, Section 508, ADA, RPWD & Stanca Act.

• In-house teams consisting of highly skilled team of experts, including differently-abled, who perform accessibility testing of applications

• Exposure to industry-leading open-source and commercial accessibility testing tools like AChecker, WAVE, aXe, Web Accessibility Toolbar (WAT), PowerMapper SortSite, Accessibility Insight, etc.,

• Exposure working with all industry-leading screen readers for accessibility testing like Job Access with Speech (JAWS), NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA), Windows Narrator, TalkBack, VoiceOver, and ChromeVox

• Our teams have hands-on expertise working with leading mobile accessibility testing tools such as TalkBack, VoiceOver, etc.

• Our teams also deliver a detailed report in the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) to stakeholders to help them make informed decisions.

• Seamless customer support

The post Accessibility Testing – A Complete Guide first appeared on TestingXperts.

1. An Overview of Canadian Accessibility Standards
2. What Are Web Accessibility Standards?
3. What Standards Are Included In The Accessible Canada Act (ACA, 2019)?
4. Who Is Benefited from Canada’s Accessibility Standards?
5. Web Accessibility Laws Enforcement & Underlying Fines
6. Why Is ACA Important for Canadian Digital Businesses?
7. WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Checklist)
8. Which Are the Best Accessibility Testing Tools?
9. Conclusion
10. How Testingxperts Accessibility Testing Helps Canadian Businesses Become ACA Compliant?

An Overview of Canadian Accessibility Standards

Canada’s stride towards becoming a more accessible country have produced a number of new accessibility regulations. The recent laws go beyond just discouraging both public and private organizations against discrimination but to remove barriers to any possible challenges to accessibility.

These standards strive to create equitable, barrier-free access to communities, workplaces, and services for people with disabilities. Some Canadian provinces and cities have adopted or adapted national standards or implemented their measures. Provincially, Ontario was one of the first jurisdictions in the world to enact legislation (in 2005, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) that set specific enforceable goals for accessibility.

A recent survey reveals that around 6 million Canadians aged 15 and over have certain disabilities. The Accessible Canada Act (ACA) is intended to eliminate barriers that affect the lives of disabled citizens to create more opportunities, equitable access to essential government services, and more. With the rising standards and frameworks currently employed across Canada, there is a need to evaluate gaps in Canada accessibility standards and identify priority areas that should be addressed.

What Are Web Accessibility Standards?

Typically, web accessibility standards are based on four fundamental principles. According to these standards, a website should be:

Perceivable: Information available on the site must be easy to understand

Operable: Users should be able to use various assistive technologies on the website

Understandable: The content should be predictable and easy to understand

Robust: A website and its content should be accessible from various devices and browsers

What Standards Are Included In The Accessible Canada Act (ACA, 2019)?

In 2019, the House of Commons and the Senate of Canada passed the ACA law. The ACA is the first national-level legislation applied to federal and private organizations.

These organizations include banking, transportation, and telecommunications. While the Canada Human Rights Act prohibited discrimination within those industries, the ACA requires Canadian businesses to remove barriers in several areas.

These are employment, built environment, IT and communication technology, non-IT communication technologies, the procurement of goods, services, and facilities, design and delivery of programs and services, and transportation.

Until the exact requirements for accessible standards Canada are developed, Canadian businesses can plan how they wish to implement them and meet the ultimate goal of making Canada fully accessible by 2040.

Who Is Benefited From Canada’s Accessibility Standards?

Since the goal of the ACA is barrier-free Canada by 2040, the legislation benefits all disabled citizens. The legislation works on eliminating barriers to accessibility in the following priority areas:

• Employment

• Built environment

• Information and communication technologies (ICT)

• Communication other than ICT

• Design and delivery of programs and services

• Procurement of goods, services, and facilities

• Transportation

Why Is ACA Important for Canadian Digital Businesses?

The Web and the Internet are increasingly essential resources in many aspects of our life, including education, jobs, government, commerce, healthcare, recreation, and more. The Web must be accessible to everyone to provide equal access and opportunity to people with disabilities. An accessible Web enables people with disabilities to participate actively in society.

According to the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD), 6.2 million Canadians have a certain disability. However, little is known about their day-to-day accessibility challenges. When a business website is not accessible to these individuals, they are deprived of the services or products offered by the business.

The ACA requires federal and provincial businesses in the public and private sectors to make their properties accessible to people with disabilities. The ACA lays out strong powers for authorities to prosecute violators. Penalties for disability-based discrimination are expensive and lead to irreparable damage to a business’s reputation.

Web Accessibility Laws Enforcement & Underlying Fines

The Canadian Human Rights Act of 1977 prohibited discrimination in many ways. While it did not specifically address accessibility requirements, it has been interpreted to require websites to ensure that organizations provide accessible content to persons with disabilities. This includes employment listings and access to other web content. Web accessibility standards are addressed directly in the Standard on Web Accessibility created in 2011.

Canada also supports the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, enacted in 2010. It stipulates an equal basis and right to equal access without discrimination. The Accessible Canada Act was passed to identify, remove, and prevent barriers to accessibility for persons with disabilities. Also known as the Act to Ensure a Barrier-Free Canada, it mandates compliance for digital content and tech for Parliament, the Government of Canada, and federally regulated organizations in the private sector.

This includes sectors such as banking, telecommunications, and transportation industries. Web accessibility standards are also addressed in the Policy on the Duty to Accommodate Persons with Disabilities in the Federal Public Service by requiring employment opportunities in the federal Public Service to be accessible to those with disabilities.

Underlying Fines for noncompliance with accessibility laws:

• The Accessible Canada Act (Bill C-81): Organizations under federal jurisdiction must comply to this act or face a fine of up to $250,000.

• Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA): If a business fails to comply, the fines could be up to $100,000 for each day of violation.

• The Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA): If a business fails to comply, the organization must pay an administrative penalty in the amount determined per the regulation.

• Nova Scotia Accessibility Act: Failure to comply could result in a fine of up to $250,000.

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Checklist)

To form a strategy for ACA compliance, keep the following checklist in mind:

• Review the latest version of WCAG. Currently, that’s WCAG 2.1, with WCAG 2.2 expected for release later this year.

• Ignoring users with disabilities builds accessibility debt for businesses, increasing the cost and difficulty of remediation.

• Test the website for significant barriers. Analyze the website or app for poor colour contrast, missing image alternative text, and other standard accessibility issues.

• Remember that some WCAG criteria require human judgment. In addition to automated testing, scheduling a full audit involving experienced SMEs with disabilities is a good idea.

• Publish an accessibility statement. An accessibility statement tells the audience about the organization’s conformance goals, solicits feedback, and shows their commitment to an accessible approach.

Web Accessibility Testing: Sample Testing Checklist for WCAG 2.2

Product innovations must also be equally accessible to people with special needs. To do so, the technical committee of product and service providers need to ensure they deploy the required assistive technologies. These technologies include screen magnification, screen readers, speech recognition, special keyboards to work and communicate, and more. Among the exhaustive list of WCAG guidelines, some key pointers include:

Which Are the Best Accessibility Testing Tools?

Conclusion

All business websites and applications must ensure WCAG 2.0, country, and provincial standards compliance, and aim for accessible apps and websites. Digital businesses must make sure their organization understands the goals of digital accessibility. Developing accessible content requires careful consideration of the audience. If digital businesses are committed to the process, they can deliver a better experience for all users — including people with specific disabilities.

How Testingxperts Accessibility Testing Helps Canadian Businesses Become ACA Compliant?

With sound knowledge of accessibility regulations like W3C’s WCAG 2.1/WCAG 2.2, Section 508 & RPWDA Act, etc., we ensure all practices for standardized accessibility are followed within your application.

• Tx ensures all business-critical applications are accessible by aligning with the latest accessibility standards Canadian accessibility laws and standards.

• In-house teams consisting of highly skilled team of experts, including differently abled, who perform accessibility testing services.

• Exposure to industry-leading tools for Accessibility testing.

No matter who your users are, we ensure that our accessibility testing will make your apps accessible for people with disabilities like:

• Impaired Vision

• Color blindness

• Partial blindness

• Deafness

• Partial deafness

• Moto Impairment

• Mobility Impairment

Some of the Key Application Features Tested

• Navigation

• Content Readability

• Color Contrast

• Page Zoom Feature

• Image Size and Color

• Multimedia

• Focus Areas

The post Canada Accessibility Standards: A Quick Overview first appeared on TestingXperts.

1. An Overview of WCAG Guidelines
2. An Overview of WCAG Releases
3. An Overview of four principles of WCAG 2.2
4. An Overview of Conformance levels of WCAG 2.2
5. An Overview of new Success Criteria in the working draft of WCAG 2.2 Guidelines
6. Why should businesses adopt WCAG guidelines?
7. Why should businesses abide by the WCAG guidelines?
8. How can digital businesses ensure WCAG 2.2 compliance for their web/mobile apps?
9. Different types of accessibility testing services for digital businesses
10. Conclusion

An Overview of WCAG Guidelines

WCAG guidelines are the detailed technical description of accessibility guidelines and their success criteria. These guidelines aim to make web content more accessible to people with specific disabilities related to visual, hearing loss, physical or motor limitations, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities. WCAG guidelines are more of legal requirements or compliances that businesses should follow to ensure equal accessibility of web content to all people.

According to Wikipedia, “The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are part of a series of web accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the main international standards organization for the Internet. They are recommendations for making Web content more accessible, primarily for people with disabilities and all user agents, including highly limited devices, such as mobile phones.”

An overview of WCAG Releases

• It consisted of 14 guidelines • Each guideline had one to ten supporting checkpoints. • Each checkpoint is assigned a priority level, ranging from priority 1 to 3. • It also includes three levels of conformance, i.e., conformance level: A, AA, and AAA.WCAG 2.0• It was published on 11th December 2008 • WCAG 2.0 replaced WCAG 1.0 and was considered a gold standard for a long time • This guideline consisted of four principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust. • Each guideline has some testable success criteria with three levels of conformance: A (lowest), AA, and AAA (highest). • In total, there are 61 success criteria in WCAG 2.0. These are further distributed as 25-Level A criteria, 13-level AA criteria, and 23-level AAA criteriaWCAG 2.1• It was published on 05th June 2018 • It is backward compatible with WCAG 2.0 • It consisted of 4 principles, namely Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust • Each guideline comes with testable success criteria with three levels of conformance: A (lowest), AA, and AAA (highest) • WCAG 2.1 adds 17- new success criteria: 5- Level A criteria, 7- level AA criteria, 5- level AAA criteria. In total, there are 78 criteria in WCAG 2.1WCAG 2.2• According to W3C, WCAG 2.2 is scheduled to be published by September 2022. • WCAG 2.2 is initiated to take forward and continue the goal of WCAG 2.1, which is to improve web accessibility for three major groups, i.e., users that have cognitive/learning disabilities, low vision, and disabilities on mobile devices • It is backward compatible with WCAG 2.1 • It consisted of 4 principles, namely Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust • Each guideline comes with testable success criteria with three levels of conformance: A (lowest), AA, and AAA (highest) • WCAG 2.2 is backward compatible with WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 2.1 success criteria. It has a total of 86 success criteria which are further distributed as 34-Level A criteria, 24-Level AA criteria, 28-Level AAA criteria

An overview of four principles of WCAG 2.2

1. Perceivable: Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.

2. Operable: User interface components and navigation must be operable.

3. Understandable: Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable.

4. Robust: Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.

An Overview of Conformance levels of WCAG 2.2

According to WCAG compliance, web content should meet at least one of the following conformance levels in total.

Level A:

It depicts minimal compliance. Websites that do not conform to Level A are usually difficult to be accessed by people with disabilities. Therefore, a website needs to be at least Level A compliant. For a website to be Level A compliant, it must fulfill certain requirements like the website should be navigable via keyboard, and video captions should be present, etc.

Level AA:

It depicts acceptable compliance. Websites that conform to level AA are easily accessible by people with certain disabilities. For a website to be Level AA compliant, it must fulfill specific requirements like color contrast should be at least 4:5:1, navigation elements should be placed consistently throughout the website, form fields should have accurate labels, etc.

Level AAA:

It depicts optimal compliance. Websites that conform to level AAA are seamlessly accessible to a maximum number of users, including people with or without disabilities. For a website to be Level AAA compliant, it must fulfill specific requirements like sign language interpretation for audio and video, color contrast should be at least 7:1, context-sensitive help should be made available, etc.

The following are the changes to WCAG 2.2 working draft

WCAG 2.2 Working Draft provides 9 additional success criteria mentioned below:

• Accessible authentication

• Dragging movement

• Consistent help

• Page Break Navigation

• Focus appearance (minimum)

• Focus appearance (enhanced)

• Visible control

• Target size (minimum)

• Redundant entry

An overview of new Success Criteria in the working draft of WCAG 2.2 Guidelines

As per the WCAG 2.2 Working Draft  last updated on 18^th March 2022, below mentioned are the new success criteria of WCAG 2.2:

Guideline 2.4 Navigable:

Below mentioned are the three success criteria in this guideline:

• 4.11 Focus Appearance (Minimum) (AA)

• 4.12 Focus Appearance (Enhanced) (AAA

• 4.13 Page Break Navigation (A)

Guideline 2.5 Input Modalities:

Below mentioned are the two success criteria in this guideline:

• 5.7 Dragging Movements (AA)

• 5.8 Target Size (Minimum) (AA)

Guideline 3.2 Predictable:

Below mentioned are the two success criteria in this guideline:

• 2.6 Consistent Help (A)

• 2.7 Visible Controls (AA)

Guideline 3.3 Input Assistance:

Below mentioned are the two success criteria in this guideline:

• 3.7 Accessible Authentication (A)

• 3.8 Redundant Entry (A)

• All success criteria from 2.0 and 2.1 are included in 2.2. The 2.0 and 2.1 success criteria are precisely the same (verbatim, word-for-word) in 2.2.

One changed level: 2.4.7 Focus Visible is changed from Level AA in WCAG 2.1 to Level A in WCAG 2.2.

Why should businesses adopt WCAG guidelines?

• Ensures equal accessibility of apps to all:

WCAG guidelines have been formulated to ensure the web content is accessible to all people, including people with specific disabilities related to vision, speed, auditory, cognitive, motor impairment, etc.

• Helps businesses to meet legal compliances:

WCAG guidelines are more than just accessibility guidelines. They are rather legal compliance that businesses should adopt to make their app or web content accessible to all. Failure to comply with accessibility guidelines might end up companies facing some legal complications.

• Improves website ranking on search engines:

A website aligned with accessibility guidelines ranks high on the search engines. Thus, it helps businesses rank higher in Google searches and attract more traffic.

• Delivers a great UX:

Better the accessibility of the website, the better the user experience (UX) it delivers. Therefore, businesses should ensure their apps comply with accessibility guidelines like W3C’s WGAG 2.2 to provide a great user experience.

• Uplifts brand image:

Equally accessible apps showcase that an organization does not discriminate between people with and without disabilities. This ease of accessibility increases customer trust and uplifts brand image.

• Improves app usability:

Website accessibility guidelines ensure to make web content equally accessible to all and improve the overall usability of an app/website. Ensuring proper usage of ALT tags, easy navigation through the keyboard, alternative text for images, etc., provides users can access the web seamlessly.

• Helps generate better revenue:

By adopting WCAG guidelines, businesses can ensure a significant rise in website visitors and user engagement. This accessibility can help enterprises generate better revenues as a website visitor can be converted into a lead.

Why should businesses abide by the WCAG guidelines?

As per Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), websites are considered as places of public accommodation and Title III prohibits discrimination based on disability in the activities of sites of public accommodations.

Therefore, it has become important for all businesses to ensure their websites are accessible to all and in line with accessibility guidelines.

Failure to comply with WCAG guidelines can cause businesses to suffer legal repercussions.

Some of the companies who were sued in the past for not having websites accessible for all:

• Netflix: In 2012, The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) filed Disability Civil Rights Lawsuit against Netflix for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to provide closed captioning for most of its “Watch Instantly” movies and television streamed on the Internet.

• Nike: In 2017, Nike was noticed violating the Title III website accessibility guidelines as its two websites i.e., Nike.com and Converse.com were inaccessible to visually impaired users.

• Amazon: In 2018, World’s leading eCommerce services provider Amazon was sued over accessibility barriers to users who are blind or visually impaired. Inability to use screen readers on the website, as well as incompatibility with refreshable Braille displays was the major reason for violation of web accessibility guidelines.

• Domino’s Pizza: In 2019, A blind man named Guillermo Robles sued Domino’s Pizza over violations of ADA Title III. As per the complaint, he could not order food from Domino’s website and app despite using screen-reading software.

How can digital businesses ensure WCAG 2.2 compliance for their web/mobile apps?

For businesses to ensure their web and mobile apps are compliant with WCAG 2.2 guidelines, it is necessary to leverage accessibility testing. Accessibility testing is a unique software testing technique that ensures an app or website is accessible to all people, including people with specific disabilities like vision impairment, hearing disabilities, and other physical or cognitive conditions. Various aspects of a web app/mobile app are checked in this software testing technique, such as page title, image size, color contrast, form labels, keyboard access, content readability, page navigation, etc. Businesses can leverage various accessibility testing services to ensure equally accessible apps/websites to all people.

Different types of accessibility testing services for digital businesses

• Manual accessibility testing:

In this accessibility testing method, testers with WCAG technical review knowledge and expertise review the application. Testers manually test all scenarios and ensure they are compliant with WCAG standards.

• Automation accessibility testing:

In this testing technique, testers leverage automated accessibility testing tools to test the accessibility of the web. This helps identify accessibility issues faster and with lesser effort than the manual accessibility testing method.

• Native and hybrid mobile apps accessibility testing:

In this testing method, accessibility testing of all kinds of native and hybrid mobile apps is done. This testing method tests all accessibility scenarios for android and iOS apps.

• Web apps accessibility testing:

In this testing method, the testers evaluate the accessibility of web apps by checking various aspects of web content such as content readability, images, color contrast, etc.

• Hardware testing:

It involves an in-depth evaluation of the product’s hardware accessibility to ensure conformance with section 508 and other standards. During this test, testers check the accessibility of hardware and ensure it is seamlessly accessible to all, including people with specific disabilities.

Conclusion

Equal access to the web/mobile app is a basic right of all people with or without specific disabilities. Adopting accessibility guidelines like WCAG 2.2 is essential for businesses to ensure equal access to apps for all and fulfill legal and regulatory compliance. Businesses should ensure their apps are accessible to all people, especially those with disabilities related to vision, speed, cognitive, etc., to deliver a great user experience. Businesses should also leverage accessibility testing from a next-gen QA and independent software testing services provider to get fully accessible web and mobile apps.

The post What is the Importance of Upcoming WCAG 2.2 Guidelines for Digital Businesses? first appeared on TestingXperts.

1. Why is Web Accessibility so Important in Texas?
2. Position of ADA Compliance Lawsuits in Texas
3. Recent Accessibility Laws in Texas
4. What makes a WebPage Accessible?
5. What is the Role of Testing in Web Accessibility
6. How is Accessibility Testing Performed?
7. Conclusion
8. How can TestingXperts Help with?

In a forever-evolving world of technology, it is important to recognize the value of abiding by Texas Accessibility Standards to create a more inclusive society in the state. It works to exclude barriers to websites that limit a user’s access to your business.

In addition to the ADA, Texas has its own law in place, Chapter 121 of the Texas Human Resource which entails the protection of the rights of disabled people.

Why is Web Accessibility so Important in Texas?

With almost 20 percent of the population in the US having some disability, it becomes important to provide equal access and equal opportunity to all. This is the reason the framework of federal laws and regulations, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, needs the Texas organizations to have an accessible website.

There were some updates in Texas Accessibility standards in 2017 to reflect the changes in technology. In 2017, the section was updated to align with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, AA success standards. WCAG itself was updated to version 2.1 in 2018 and all content that conforms to version 2.1 also adhered to WCAG 2.0.

To help people with disabilities, there are multiple assistive technology tools that make it easier to navigate a website and connect with its content. Therefore, it becomes important to be accessible to every user out there.

Websites that are not compatible with assistive technology tools are like shopping centers denying access to someone with a need. And, more than a compliance requirement, it is a societal responsibility to provide access to your applications and websites to ensure the inclusivity of differently-abled populations. In addition, it also assists brands in building an inclusive image and growing the number of happy users.

Therefore, if you own a website or sell to Texas residents, it is critical to ensure your website follows Texas Accessibility Standards and is accessible to every user. In order to do this, you need to follow the WCAG guidelines at level 2.1.

Position of ADA Compliance Lawsuits in Texas

The legal battle against ADA non-compliance has recently taken a very sharp curve in Texas. There has been a noticeable increase in ADA accessibility lawsuits, enforcement actions, and demand letters selecting Texas businesses over the past few years.

Section 508 was updated in 2000 and again in 2017 to reflect the changes in technology and the need for accessibility in regard to the internet. In 2017, Section 508 was updated to align with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, AA success criteria.

WCAG itself was updated to version 2.1 in 2018 and all content that conforms to version 2.1 also conforms to WCAG 2.0.At the same time, it becomes highly important for businesses to follow the WCAG 2.2 guidelines and understand how important it is.

To pick a few: 

For not following the Texas Accessibility Standards 2018 guidelines, the state recorded 196 ADA non-compliance cases, which ultimately increased to 239 in 2019. An increase of 21.9%.

In 2020, the state listed 285 ADA non-compliance cases, making it the fourth state with the most accessibility-related cases.

California recorded 120 ADA non-compliance cases in 2019. Additionally, ADA non-compliance cases are common in New York, which registered 2,256 in the same year.

Recent Accessibility Laws in Texas

Website accessibility is mandated in Texas, and many different statutes cover this. For example, Texas has approved federal accessibility policies. According to Texas administrative code, websites must comply with the Federal Government’s Section 508 of 2016. On top of it, the state also needs to follow WCAG guidelines.

On the other hand, Texas also stresses the fact that government agencies and educational institutes shall follow accessibility guidelines more than any other industry or business. Texas administrative code has sections 206.70, 213.21, and 213.41 related explicitly to website accessibility.

What makes a WebPage Accessible?

Texas considers web accessibility standards as a key thing for websites and puts in efforts to aid educational institutions, government agencies, and other private businesses with the process. There are very useful guides composed of all the required resources that entities need to make their websites compliant.

For instance, the DIR offers tools for website development like a designer, Webaim.org, and other US web design standards V2.0. There are other resources for forms, multimedia, and HTML. A solid foundation for understanding web accessibility is offered by the World Wide Web Consortium, which comprises some guidelines that websites need to follow. These guidelines adhere to four fundamental principles: operable, understandable, perceivable, and robust.

Perceivable

It should be easier for the users to perceive the information. To elaborate:

• Offer text substitutes for non-text content

• Offer captions and other alternatives for multimedia content

• Design content that can be staged in different formats, including by assistive technologies, without affecting the meaning

• Easy access to the users to see and hear content

Operable

The user interface components must be easy to navigate and operate. To elaborate:

• Offer good time to read and use the content

• Functionality is easily available from a keyboard

• Content does not lead to any physical reactions and seizures

• Users should be able to navigate, locate content, and regulate easily

• Users can use multiple input modalities beyond the keyboard

Understandable

The information and operation of the user interface must be easily understood.

• Readable – Make the text content easy to read and understand

• Predictable – Design web pages that appear and operate in predictable ways

• Input Assistance – Assist users in avoiding and correcting the mistakes

Robust

Content needs to be robust to be interpreted by a huge variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.

• Double the compatibility with current and future user tools.

Apart from these, there are some other ways to attain accessibility, which include the following:

Design Alteration

• Altering your website’s design is one of the easiest ways to achieve ADA compliance. For example, non-text content, such as images and videos shall have alternative text.

• Make sure that users have access to adjust the font sizes, and CTA buttons should have large font sizes.

Content Moderation

• Offering content moderation functionality to the users allow better website accessibility. For instance, your site can offer 24/7 assistance to users.

• The site shall offer suggestions when users receive input errors.

Color Guide

• Except for text, you should also consider that color and contrast contribute to your website’s accessibility. Choose a high-contrast background when designing your web pages so that they stand out.

• It is also recommended not to use thin fonts or Java or CSS features to change the site’s contrast. In addition to this, keep in mind that color contrast is crucial when it comes to CTA buttons.

Plugins and Widgets

Another method to achieve web accessibility is using plugins, widgets, and other reliable resources. You can use these tools to maintain an accessible website without spending a lot of money. It includes the page title, headlines, contrast ratio, image text alternatives (Alt Text), forms, labels, errors, multimedia alternatives, links and navigation, and more.

What is the Role of Testing in Web Accessibility

Making accessibility tests, an integral part of the software testing process, and executing the necessary checks early and often can assist in improving the complete experience of using an application or website. While the world is moving towards perking up the customer experience, an application shall be tested for its accessibility.

With a tested website for accessibility, a business makes sure that the website is:

• Easily accessible to people with a variety of disabilities or challenges

• Accessible to users with low bandwidth

• Understood to the audience across all the regions

• Attracting the users and increasing the company’s market share

How is Accessibility Testing Performed?

Based on your industry, where your organization is based, and remaining factors, your company may need to audit against a particular accessibility regulation or define some requirements for a product to be audited against.

The most common regulatory standards include section 508 for federal government websites and ADA for private entities and state and local governments. The WCAG guidelines are a comprehensive set of accessibility guidelines developed with the aim of creating a shared international standard. WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 2.1 are commonly used standards in accessibility testing.

Adding to those standards, there can be many other requirements for users with special abilities like color sensitivity or limited hearing.

In case your software is extremely complex, a subset of pages or screens may be chosen for the accessibility audit.

Once your business recognizes the essential requirements and regulations that apply to your product and pages that need to be tested, you need to develop an accessibility checklist. It should cover the five major categories of disabilities: speech, visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive.

Conclusion

ADA compliance in Texas is not a choice but a requirement. However, the only way to be sure of it is to take it through accessibility testing. Texas is already on its way to having fewer cases compared to 2018 to 2019.

Most businesses think their website is problem-free and is good to go live. However, the only way to be completely sure of it is to take it through accessibility testing.

An app or website that is non-optimized may lead to limited use of the services, eventually helping only a particular type of community and people. Accessibility check passed applications and websites steer clear of all the lawsuits and worries.

How can TestingXperts Help

With sound knowledge of the accessibility regulation like W3C’s WCAG 1.0/WCAG 2.0, BITV 1.0, Section 508 & Stanca Act, etc., TestingXperts (Tx) makes sure that all the practices for standardized accessibility are followed within your application or website. Tx takes different personas like color blindness, impaired vision, hard of hearing, deafness, and mobility impairment, and incorporates disabilities, ensuring that the client’s website, product, and application are user-friendly and ready for the forecasted future.

We ensure that we stand out as a service provider. We cover VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) report as a final document. This report covers the comprehensive analysis of the business’s conformance to web accessibility standards mentioned in section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The report forms the key accessibility requirements, offers a structured plan for the vendor to check the compliance level, and also covers the explanatory remarks.

Involving actual users in the testing process, Tx enhances the overall experience as users are the real experts in their abilities and their assistive technology. Leverage our accessibility testing services, let’s connect!

The post How to Comply with Texas Web Accessibility Standards first appeared on TestingXperts.

Table of Content

1. What is Website Accessibility?
2. What does WCAG compliance stand for?
3. How do you get your websites and web apps become accessible to all?
4. Web Accessibility Testing Benefits for your Websites and Apps
5. Conclusion
6. Why should you choose TestingXperts for your accessibility testing projects?
7. How does Tx Perform the Accessibility Testing?

What is Website Accessibility?

Website accessibility is most important today for businesses as the web and mobile mediums continue to have surge in their usage by people of all ages. Accessibility is truly no longer optional and is rather a mandate for businesses to follow for their websites and apps. This ensures people with disabilities such as color blindness, hearing impairment, cognitive disabilities, etc. to access the services, features and content on the web and also on the mobile apps.

According to Ontario.ca, “Beginning January 1, 2021: all public websites and web content posted after January 1, 2012 must meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA other than criteria 1.2.4 (live captions) and 1.2.5 (pre-recorded audio descriptions).” It is rather a compliance as it is necessary for the people with disabilities to be able to access website content which includes any information that is found on the web page or web app, including text, images, forms and even sounds.

What does WCAG compliance stand for?

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) guidelines are internationally accepted standards for web accessibility and have been developed by World Wide Web (WWW) team of experts.  These guidelines define how to make web content accessible to people with disabilities including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning and for people with neurological disabilities.

WCAG 2.0

WCAG 2.0 is categorized into 3 levels of conformance with A the lowest level, AA as mid-range and AAA as the highest level. It is a mandate today that web accessibility is primarily considered as a priority for all digital projects and should be made complaint with these much essential guidelines.

This compliance has been clearly mentioned in a Forbes article on Website Accessibility, which states that individuals with disabilities represent a large portion of the population.

In real sense, the website accessibility refers to the process of making the web accessible to all people or to everyone irrespective of their disabilities to ensure they can also make use of all/most of features of the applications.

In another study, researchers found that 71% of individuals with disabilities will abandon a website that’s difficult to use. This results in an estimated loss of £11.75 billion (or approximately $14.4 billion) each year in the United Kingdom alone.

How do you get your websites and web apps become accessible to all?

It is a prime social responsibility for organizations and businesses to ensure your applications are accessible to differently abled population. Organizations can become WCAG complaint by adopting web accessibility testing to standardize their applications accessibility for impaired vision, color blindness, blindness, deafness, hard-of-hearing, moto impairment, mobility impairment, etc.

Another data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that nearly one in five people are living with a diagnosed disability, and more than half of those with a disability describe their condition as severe.

Primarily, there is a compliance involved in this accessibility as when companies deny equal access of their website or when their website becomes incompatible with a screen reader or has any other accessibility issues, then such companies become liable to law suits.

Web Accessibility Testing Benefits for your Websites and Apps

Ensures people with disabilities to quick and easy access:

The most important benefit with accessibility testing is that it ensures the website content, product, services and all features are easily accessible to people with disabilities.

Enables an opportunity to expand your user base:

With an improved website and mobile app access, it definitely leads to an increase in the number of users accessing your website. Specifically, for such highly accessible websites, everyone irrespective of their disabilities can access such websites and perform their operations in a simple and easy way.

According to an article by Bureau of Internet Accessibility, disabilities come in many different forms, including hearing disabilities, visual disabilities, motor disabilities, and cognitive disabilities. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 1 in 4 U.S. adults is living with a disability.

Facilitates to build positive brand response:

If your website becomes WCAG accessibility compliant, then people with some or the other disabilities would use these fully complaint websites and apps. They would also recommend your brand to other acquaintances, their friends and other connections. In this way there is more chance for improving your brand visibility and this sort of good brand building would be more profitable for eCommerce sites.

Helps improve usability for visitors of all types:

Many usability problems of various users can also be identified with accessibility testing and it makes easier access of content, features, products and services of the website and mobile apps to various types of users who visit such websites.

Helps improve search engine optimization:

Another remarkable benefit with web accessibility testing is that if the website is accessible, then it makes the website more usable. It is also more likely to improve the website rankings and is bound to drive more traffic with higher SEO rankings.

Ensures to avoid legal complications:

Though most businesses are not intentionally discriminating disabled people, but they can be subject to legal complications with respect to web accessibility. But, if your website is WCAG compliant, then you can avoid any further legal complications.

Conclusion

Web accessibility has become a norm for businesses in the recent times and they should make their websites and applications WCAG complaint. This sort of web accessibility helps people with various types of disabilities such as color blindness, hearing impairment, cognitive disability, etc. to be able to access websites that are made compatible with these regulations. Web accessibility testing by specialized testing services provider can be leveraged to ensure your website is made accessible to people with disabilities.

Why should you choose TestingXperts for your accessibility testing projects?

– We make sure your application is accessible by bringing it in-line with W3C’s WCAG 1.0/WCAG 2.0, BITV 1.0, Section 508 & Stanca Act.

– Exposure to industry leading tools for Accessibility testing – JAWS (Job Access with Speech), AChecker, WAVE & Web Acc Checker

– Preparing detailed test plans and test scenarios to capture requirements effectively

– Teams of experts, including differently-abled, who perform accessibility testing in software testing

How does Tx Perform the Accessibility Testing?

– Conduct team interactions with clients and set ready participants of website or for other applications

– Onboard users with a range of disabilities based on the product to be tested

– Perform a POC to find any issues/bugs that might exist with the testing protocol

– Conduct tests from usability perspective and via remote testing also

– Finally analyzing and prioritizing of findings are done and recommendations delivered

The post Growing Prominence of Website Accessibility in Recent Times first appeared on TestingXperts.

Technology is changing the way we live, but it needs to change how we access it, especially in the digital age that provides innovation and new opportunities to everyone who consumes it. It requires a lot of effort in creating a technology that can be used by ‘everyone’. For instance, if a product is released in the market, it is important that the product is used by every individual, even those with special needs.

If a technology empowers people who are underpowered or with special needs, it can inspire their lives in many ways they never imagined. This is where Accessibility Testing is needed!

1. The Need For Accessibility Testing
2. How to Perform Accessibility Testing?
   
   
3. Overview of Accessibility Testing Guidelines
   
   
4. Why should Businesses Opt for Accessibility Testing?
   
   
5. What are the Benefits of Accessibility testing?
   
   
6. Increase Accessibility Testing With Automation
   
   
7. What are the tools Used for Web accessibility testing?
   
   
8. What Challenges does Accessibility Test try to Address?
   
   
9. Conclusion
   
   
10. How Can TestingXperts Help?

The Need For Accessibility Testing

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 15% of the population have a disability, which is the reason Accessibility Testing has become important.

It is important that product innovations are delivered to people with special needs as well. They require the implementation of special technologies in products. Some of these technologies include, screen magnification software, screen readers, speech recognition software, special keyboards to work and for communication, and more.

However, there are various innovative products, applications and websites that are not user-friendly and accessible to everybody. Accessibility Test is geared towards normal users as well as users with different types of disabilities. Accessibility Test not only focuses on verifying usability, but it makes sure that an application can be used by people with many disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities.

How to Perform Accessibility Testing?

Accessibility test of a website, product or an application usually involves extensive manual examination of individual pages, along with testing individual functions like product searches and online form submissions. Accessibility can be achieved using both manual and automated testing of specific elements of the digital technology.

Overview of Accessibility Testing Guidelines

Whether the testing is automated or manual, it is important to check for compliance with specific accessibility testing guidelines

There are several standards for accessibility such as W3C’s WCAG 1.0/WCAG 2.0, BITV 1.0, Section 508 & Stanca Act, etc. out of which Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 ARE ACCEPTED WORLDWIDE. These standards provide details and standards on how to make a website or application accessible. An application or website having the right knowledge of these standards and abiding by these standards has a high rate of being successful in the market.

Why should Businesses Opt for Accessibility Testing?

It is important for businesses to enable and make their critical applications and mobile apps to be easily accessible even to people with disabilities. Several government bodies across the globe have made many legalizations to make the IT products accessible for disabled people. As per the publishing of Web Accessibility testing Initiative, the WCAG 2.0 aims to make the website easily understandable, accessible, and usable on all websites. Also, WCAG 2.0 is a definitive guideline that should be followed by businesses during the website development which is achieved by leveraging accessibility test, as this helps in many ways such as:

To make the website easily accessible for users with challenges or disabilities

To attract the users and increase the company market share

To be accessible for users with low-bandwidth

To make the website and the information available for the users across regions

What are the Benefits of Accessibility Testing?

1. Increases the website usage and market share:

By practicing the methods of web accessibility, it will be easier for the people with disabilities to access websites successfully and ensures an effective increase in the traffic

2. Enhances the brand image:

The method of web accessibility not only eases in understanding the website, it also positively helps to increase the user’s approach and ensures a positive effect towards their website or application and helps to build brand

3. Makes the website accessible for the society:

Performing the accessibility test effectively helps the application to be equally accessible for people with disabilities and provides an equal number of opportunities. This way of accessing the web irrespective of the disabilities will ultimately make an active participating society.

Increase Accessibility Testing With Automation

Following are four steps through the application of which automated accessibility testing can perform really well:

1. Develop regression tests to automate accessibility testing:

Regression tests play a considerable role in improving the performance of automated accessibility testing. This method also proves to be cost-effective. Upon that, most of the manual testing part can be eliminated from the development process.

2. Develop a strategic plan of action for implementing accessibility testing:

From an agile methodology perspective, accessibility testing needs to be carried out throughout the agile process. The best way is to start from design as it plays an active role in testing. The design gives a structure and framework for carrying out testing effectively. Accessibility testing works well if there are a well-defined structure and framework set in place.

3. Capitalize on accessibility testing tools:

There will be instances during the development process where the implementation of accessibility testing can be challenging. The reason being most organizations think that accessibility testing performs really well through the manual testing platform. But, with the right accessibility tools, automation can prove to be a game-changer in terms of efficiency.

4. Identify the right test automation platform:

With the right test automation platform, automating accessibility testing can be easy, quick and effective. The automated testing team must find the best test automation platform that can fully justify the project requirements.

What are the tools Used for Web Accessibility Testing?

Automated Accessibility Testing Tool (AATT): 

This tool helps to provide accessibility API and custom web applications for HTML CodeSniffer. This tool helps in many functionalities such as in the creation of reports to evaluate reports, automatically validates the single web pages, etc. It is an open-source tool and supports various HTML and image formats.

Web Accessibility Checker:

This tool is popularly known for providing the easiest ways to perform accessibility checks over the web applications of ASP.NET. This tool is easily customizable and supports different international accessibility standards.

Apple’s Accessibility API:

This tool is specifically designed to test iOS apps. The usage of this tool will effectively help to improve the testing practice and benefits to improve user experience.

Google’s Accessibility Test Framework for Android (GATF):

This tool helps to detect a number of issues related to web accessibility test. This tool uses the already existing Android UI and integrates with frameworks and other tools.

Color Contrast Analyser:

This tool helps to check the issues related to text color contrast on web pages. Also, this tool provides the functionality to analyze either a portion or complete the contents of a web page.

DOM Inspector:

This is an add-on for the Mozilla Firefox browser. This helps to find the area or the section where the DOM can easily help to perform an accessibility check.

AChecker:

This is an open-source tool that is designed for web accessibility evaluation. In this tool, one can easily evaluate web accessibility by uploading the HTML file or entering the URL. Also, this tool provides several accessibility guidelines to choose from, such as the Stanca Act, BITV 1.0, WCAG 2.0, Section 508, WCAG 1.0, and HTML Validator.

Pa11y:

This a popular tool that is focussed to help the developer who is working on accessibility test process. This tool enables us to set up own suite of accessibility test, which includes a dashboard, command-line interface, a web service that helps to schedule tests for several URLs.

Dynomapper:

This is a visual sitemap generator with 4 types – Circle, Default, Folder, and Tree. This tool helps to evaluate the website’s HTML content and create the sitemap from a URL. Also, it imports XML files for generating a sitemap and provides content inventory and audits files, images, etc.

Tenon:

This tool is well known as a web accessibility tool because of its flexibility, accuracy, and quality results. The tool uses API and gets integrated into the already existing toolset. The tool is effective in creating evaluation reports that are generated in HTML, CSV, XML, and JSON.

What Challenges does Accessibility Test try to Address?

Vision Disability:

The method of accessibility testing helps to overcome the challenge of complete blindness, color blindness, or poor eyesight.

Hearing Disability:

The web accessibility test practice helps to overcome the challenge of auditory problems such as deafness, hearing impairments, difficulty to hear well, etc.

Literacy Disability:

The testing practice helps to overcome the challenge of finding words, reading problems, etc.

Physical Disability:

This method helps to overcome the difficulty of using a mouse and keyboard.

Cognitive Disability:

Accessibility test process helps to overcome the challenge of poor memory and learning difficulties.

Conclusion

Making Accessibility Test a regular part of the software testing process, and implementing the necessary checks early and often can help improve the overall experience of using an application or website. As the world is moving towards improving the customer experience, an application must be tested for its accessibility.

Good accessibility is directly proportional to good user experience. Although the methodologies to accessibility may vary, the trend towards IT consumption patterns that focus on users will continue to drive consumer and enterprise IT requirements for the predictable future. With the drift towards more accessibility, human-centric design and

How Can TestingXperts Help?

With sound knowledge of the accessibility regulation like W3C’s WCAG 1.0/WCAG 2.0, BITV 1.0, Section 508 & Stanca Act, etc., TestingXperts (Tx) ensures all practices to standardized accessibility are followed within your application. Tx take various personas like impaired vision, color-blindness, blindness, deafness, hard-of-hearing, motor Impairment, Mobility Impairment, and incorporate disabilities; making sure that client’s website, application or product is user-friendly and is ready for the predictable future.

Bringing in actual users to testing process, Tx enhances the overall experience as users are the real experts in their abilities and their assistive technology. Connect with us to leverage our state-of-the-art Accessibility Testing Services.

The post Why Accessibility Testing is Important first appeared on TestingXperts.

1. Importance of Digital Inclusivity for Businesses in the United Kingdom
2. Understanding the Equality Act 2010 and its Impact on Digital Accessibility
3. Definition of Disability
4. Duty of Reasonable Adjustment in the Digital Sphere
5. Public Sector Equality Duty and Digital Accessibility
6. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1
7. Understanding the WCAG 2.1 Level Standards
8. Key Principles of Accessible Web Design
9. Conclusion
10. How Can TestingXperts (Tx) help?

Did you know that according to a recent survey, around 20% of the UK population has some form of disability? That’s approximately 12.9 million people who face barriers to accessing the internet and the digital world. As a result, websites must adhere to web accessibility standards to ensure that everyone, regardless of disability, has equal access to information and services online.

Web accessibility refers to the design and development of websites, applications, and technologies accessible to people with disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities.

In the United Kingdom, web accessibility standards are guided by the Equality Act 2010 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

Importance of Digital Inclusivity for Businesses in the United Kingdom

There­ are several be­nefits to being digitally inclusive for both busine­sses and communities. Ensuring accessibility across diffe­rent platforms aids organizations and society overall.

It’s high time for digital businesses to prioritise digital inclusivity for several reasons:

Legal Obligation:The Equality Act 2010 requires public sector organizations in the UK to make their websites and other electronic communications accessible to people with disabilities. Failure to do so can result in legal action and potential financial penalties.

Enhancing Accessibility for All Use­rs: Ensuring that websites and digital products can be use­d by individuals with varying abilities allows companies to strengthe­n the experie­nce for all consumers. By impleme­nting design principles focused on re­adability, navigability, and usability, businesses create­ online spaces that welcome­ a more inclusive range of pe­rspectives. This unified approach fre­quently results in ele­vated participation, fulfillment among cliente­le, and allegiance across broade­r segments of the population.

Market Expansion: By addressing the nee­ds of individuals with disabilities, companies can broaden the­ir scope and connect with a market se­gment previously left untappe­d. Catering to all potential customers re­gardless of ability allows businesses to de­monstrate their commitment to inclusive­ services, which can help attract ne­w customers.

Advancing Creativity: By addressing the nee­ds of individuals with disabilities, companies can broaden the­ir scope and connect with a market se­gment previously left untappe­d. Catering to all potential customers re­gardless of ability allows businesses to de­monstrate their commitment to inclusive­ services, which can help attract ne­w customers.

Reputation and Brand Value: Companie­s displaying dedication to digital accessibility showcase support for dive­rsity and incorporation, which can elevate the­ir good reputation and brand worth. Committing to inclusive digital practices signals that an organization value­s all people equally and wishe­s to provide services to the­ entire community. Such commitment foste­rs trust between a company and its custome­rs.

Understanding the Equality Act 2010 and its Impact on Digital Accessibility

The Equality Act of 2010 e­stablishes a vital law significantly affecting digital accessibility in the­ United Kingdom. This legislation mandates that public se­ctor organisations ensure their we­bsites and other ele­ctronic communications can be used by individuals with disabilities. Furthe­rmore, it establishes a de­finite standard for digital accessibility across the nation.

According to legislation, companie­s must refrain from treating individuals with disabilities le­ss favorably than others and must make reasonable­ modifications to guarantee that disabled individuals are­ not placed at a considerable downside­. This incorporates making their website­s and digital offerings available to users with impairme­nts.

Definition of Disability

In the UK, disability is defined by the Equality Act 2010. According to the act, a person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

This description cove­rs numerous afflictions, like visual, auditory, or motion impairments, pe­rsistent conditions for example diabe­tes, HIV, or multiple sclerosis, and state­s like autism, dyslexia, and emotional we­ll-being. The definition more­over incorporates the outcome­s of drug and treatment and the e­ffect of handicap related hardware­ and backing.

According to the Equality Act of 2010, organisations must make­ reasonable modifications to remove­ discrimination and give everyone­ equal access to service­s, facilities, and premises. The­ Act mandates that adjustments be made­ to eliminate bias and provide e­qual access for all.

Duty of Reasonable Adjustment in the Digital Sphere

Whe­n operating online, organisations have an obligation to conside­r reasonable accommodations which could involve:

Providing alternative access methods:

Ensuring that individuals with disabilities can e­ffectively utilize digital se­rvices and products may require organisations to offe­r alternative access me­thods like keyboard navigation or audio description. All pe­ople should have the opportunity to acce­ss online resources through whiche­ver means work best for the­ir abilities. Providing multiple options for interaction he­lps create a more inclusive­ environment where­ individuals with varying capabilities can participate equally.

Designing for accessibility:

When de­veloping digital services and products, organisations ought to make­ them accessible from the­ beginning by examine the ne­cessities of disabled clie­nts. This includes utilizing accessible plan proce­dures, for example, e­xpansive content, high contrast, and straightforward route, to guarante­e that advanced substance is ope­n to clients with visual or cognitive limitations.

Providing accessible content:

It is important for organisations to make the­ir digital materials easily usable for all pe­ople, including those with disabilities. This involves supplying substitute words for pictures, subtitles for videos, and sound explanations for visual content. Alternative­ text allows blind individuals or people using screen readers to compre­hend images. Captions let de­af or hard of hearing users watch videos while following along with the words. Audio descriptions narrate crucial visual de­tails that someone unable to se­e the display may miss. By taking steps to make­ online information approachable to individuals with varying capabilities, organisations can fulfill the­ir duty to serve people­.

Providing accessible technology:

It is important for organisations to make ce­rtain that the technology used to provide­ digital services and products is accessible­. This could involve guaranteeing software­ works with screen reade­rs and hardware like smartphones and laptops are­ compatible with helpful technologie­s such as switches and substitute keyboards.

By meeting their duty of reasonable adjustment in the digital sphere, organisations can ensure that disabled people have equal access to digital services and products and can participate fully in digital life.

Public Sector Equality Duty and Digital Accessibility

Public sector organisations in the­ UK have a legal duty to consider e­quality according to the Equality Act of 2010. This Public Sector Equality Duty, or PSED, mandates that the­se entities consciously work to re­move discrimination, provide equal chance­s to all, and positively support interactions betwe­en diverse communitie­s. The groups protected unde­r the PSED encompass disabled individuals. Furthe­rmore, the PSED applies to e­very aspect of public sector work, including both the­ planning and distribution of digital utilities and products.

When conside­ring digital accessibility, public sector bodies have­ an obligation to guarantee that their we­bsites, mobile applications, and other digital se­rvices and products can be accesse­d by individuals with disabilities and satisfy the nece­ssities of all users. This involves confirming that digital substance­ is accessible and usable and that the­ innovation utilized to convey digital administrations and items is ope­n to all.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 is a set of international guidelines for making web content accessible to people with disabilities. WCAG 2.1 was developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an international standards organisation.

The We­b Content Accessibility Guideline­s (WCAG) 2.1 offer direction and benchmarks for developing web substance progre­ssively open to clients with incapacitie­s, including those with visual, listening, engine­, and cognitive hindrances. The arrange­ment incorporates rules ide­ntifying with content and visual show, client interface­, movement, and multimedia. WCAG 2.1 give­s rules that creators and engine­ers can follow to guarantee the­ir sites, applications, and digital substances are compre­hensible by a more e­xtensive scope of clie­nts with assorted capacities.

Understanding the WCAG 2.1 Level Standards

WCAG 2.1 outlines thre­e tiers of compliance to assist groups in e­valuating the accessibility of their digital conte­nt: A, AA, and AAA. This graduated approach enables organisations to syste­matically assess the accessibility of the­ir online materials and decide­ which level of accessibility the­y want to accomplish.

Level A:

Accessibility is about de­signing web content that can be unde­rstood and interacted with by all people­, regardless of disability or situation. Mee­ting the most fundamental leve­l of accessibility means a website­’s content satisfies baseline­ requirements to be­ usable by everyone­, including those with impairments that affect pe­rception, physical ability, language, and cognition.

Level AA:

The We­b Content Accessibility Guideline­s (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standard outlines additional criteria that websites and digital content should me­et to be considere­d more accessible than Le­vel A. It expands upon the base­line recommendations of Le­vel A by requiring alternative­ text descriptions for images to be­nefit users who cannot see­ them and captions for videos to help those­ who cannot hear. Meeting Le­vel AA indicates a site has addre­ssed a wider scope of acce­ssibility barriers compared to Leve­l A alone.

Level AAA:

Leve­l AAA outlines the most stringent crite­ria for accessibility and covers the broade­st accessibility needs. It incorporate­s the most extensive­ accessibility standards, such as furnishing audio descriptions for visual material and guarante­eing content is compatible with a dive­rse assortment of assistive te­chnologies.

When crafting writte­n works, entities have autonomy in picking the­ extent of adhere­nce aligned with their me­ans, intended reade­rship, and objectives. Be that as it may, it is pivotal to re­cognize that accomplishing the most noteworthy le­vel of consistency (Leve­l AAA) isn’t generally expe­cted or sensible for all associations and that fulfilling the­ necessities of Le­vel AA gives a dece­nt level of open e­ntryway for most associations.

Ensuring web conte­nt is accessible to users with varying abilitie­s allows organisations to meet legal obligations unde­r disability laws while including all individuals. Guidelines such as WCAG 2.1 provide­ direction for developing conte­nt comprehensible by pe­ople utilizing assistive technologie­s or with other needs. By adhe­ring to principles such as perceivability, ope­rability, understandability, and robustness, companies can cre­ate digitally inclusive expe­riences mee­ting diverse require­ments.

Key Principles of Accessible Web Design

Accessible web design refers to designing websites and web applications that can be used by people with a wide range of abilities and disabilities, including visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive impairments.The fundamental principles of accessible web design include the following:

Perceivable:

For a website­ to be accessible to all, its conte­nt and functionality must account for varying user abilities. Information and interface­ elements ne­ed to be clearly pre­sented through visual, auditory, or tactile me­ans so they can be discerne­d by people using diverse­ modes of perception. Ope­rations also require consistent logic and robust coding to guarante­e dependable­ use for a wide range of te­chnical configurations. A considerate design conside­rs people of all capabilities by de­livering information and interactivity through multiple pe­rceptible channels.

Operable:

User interface components and navigation must be operable, allowing users to interact with the website using a keyboard, mouse, or another input device

Understandable:

Information and the operation of user interface components must be legible, allowing users to comprehend and use the website effectively.

Robust:

The website’s content must be powerful enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies such as screen readers, magnifiers, and other assistive technologies.

By following these principles, web designers can make a website accessible to users with disabilities, meet their legal obligations under disability discrimination legislation, and create a more inclusive web for everyone.

Implementing WCAG 2.1 in Practice

Implementing WCAG 2.1 in practice involves a combination of design, development, and testing processes. Here are some steps to help you get started:

Conduct an accessibility audit: Start by conducting an accessibility audit of your website or web application to identify potential barriers to accessibility. This can be done using automated tools, such as accessibility checkers, or manually testing the website using a keyboard and screen reader.

Define your level of conformance: Decide on the level of conformance you want to achieve, whether it is A, AA, or AAA. This will determine the specific WCAG 2.1 guidelines you need to follow.

Incorporate accessibility into your design and development process: Make accessibility a priority throughout the design and development process, incorporating it into your design patterns and development practices. This includes using semantic HTML, providing alternative text for images, and ensuring that your website is keyboard-accessible.

Test and validate: Regularly test your website or web application for accessibility using automated tools, manual testing, and user testing with differently-abled persons. This will help you identify any remaining barriers to accessibility and make any necessary adjustments.

Provide accessibility training: Provide accessibility training for your design and development teams so that everyone knows the importance of accessibility and how to implement WCAG 2.1 in practice.

By following these steps, you can ensure that your website or web application meets the requirements of WCAG 2.1 and is accessible to users with disabilities. Implementing WCAG 2.1 in practice can be a complex process, but it is essential for ensuring an inclusive and accessible web for everyone.

Conclusion

To summarize, acce­ssibility requirements have­ a vital part in confirming that computerized substance and administrations can be­ utilized by everybody, paying little­ heed to their capacitie­s or incapacities. The UK has driven e­ndeavors to make the we­b open, by actualizing laws, for example, the­ Equality Act of 2010 and rules, for example, the­ Web Content Accessibility Guide­lines (WCAG) 2.1.

The ongoing efforts by organisations, government agencies, and accessibility experts in the UK to promote digital accessibility are commendable and are vital to creating a more inclusive and accessible digital world for everyone. By embracing these standards and making accessibility a core part of their digital strategy, organisations can meet their legal obligations and enhance the user experience for all, making the digital world a more accessible and equitable place for everyone.

How Can TestingXperts (Tx) help?

At Tx, we envision a society with e­quality for all and comprehensive acce­ssibility standards like the W3C’s regulations, spe­cifically WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 2.1 (Level A has 30 success crite­ria, Level AA has 20, and Leve­l AAA has 28). When software properly applie­s accessibility practices as outlined, it cre­ates fair access and use for pe­ople of all abilities. Contact us now to discover our accessibility testing solutions for all your testing needs.

The post Navigating the World of Inclusivity: A Guide to UK Accessibility Standards first appeared on TestingXperts.

1. What Is Digital Accessibility?
2. Why Are Accessibility Laws Shifting in 2025?
3. Accessibility Law Updates in Key APAC Countries
4. Accessibility Law Updates in Key Latin American Countries
5. How Does AI-Powered Accessibility Testing Ensure Compliance and User Inclusion?
6. Why Select Tx for Accessibility Testing Services?
7. Summary

“Accessibility is not a bolt-on. It’s something that must be built into every product from the very beginning.” – Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft.

Since 2019, WebAIM (Website Accessibility in Mind) has used its WAVE scanner to examine the overall state of web accessibility on the top one million websites. The numbers are shocking: Over 94.8% of pages still have at least one WCAG 2 A/AA failure. Homepages’ complexities are still growing with an average of 1,173 elements/page in 2024 to 1,227 elements/page in 2025. And now, with new regulations taking effect globally, failing to comply with new accessibility standards will only make things difficult for decision-makers.

Inclusive design, easy-to-read text, seamless user experience (UX), and compatibility with assistive technologies have become necessities for compliance, user retention, and brand reputation today. This blog will discuss how accessibility laws are evolving in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Latin American regions.

What Is Digital Accessibility?

Digital accessibility is about designing and developing websites, mobile applications, technology, and other digital content accessible to all, including people with disabilities. Everyone should be able to interpret, understand, navigate, and interact with the product they are using. It helps businesses ensure inclusive digital experiences, including making digital content accessible to users with visual, auditory, cognitive, and motor impairments. They must also ensure their products are compatible with assistive technologies. Its key concepts include:

• Assistive technologies like screen readers, screen zoom-in/zoom-out, voice recognition, and alternate input devices should work effectively with digital content.

• Digital accessibility should follow the principles of Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR).

• Laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) mandate digital services/content accessibility standards.

Why Are Accessibility Laws Shifting in 2025?

Evolving technology trends, stricter regulations, and increased awareness are some of the reasons for the shift in accessibility laws worldwide. In addition to being a legal requirement, accessibility is crucial to UX, ethical design, and business success. Here’s a quick review of the few laws updates made or to be made in 2025:

• The deadline for the European Accessibility Act (EAA) is June 28, 2025, which is just around the corner now.

• The grace period of HB21-1110 in Colorado ends on July 1, 2025. After that, all the government entity websites should comply with WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

• On May 1, 2025, the Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) went into immediate effect for all private sector, small municipalities, and non-profit organizations.

• AI-enabled interfaces like chatbots and voice assistants should be accessible by default in 2025. Many governments are already working on this.

• Non-compliance now carries a greater risk of reputational damage, lawsuits, and fines.

Governments worldwide are demanding that businesses design their products (software and hardware) to be accessible and inclusive for all. For enterprises looking for innovative ways to create scalable and user-centric digital products, accessibility testing, design, and compliance should be non-negotiable elements of their digital strategy.

Accessibility Law Updates in Key APAC Countries

Several Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries have made drastic changes over the years in enacting and updating accessibility standards across sectors like public, private, and employment. Let’s take a quick look at some updates in their accessibility laws:

Accessibility Law Updates in Key Latin American Countries 

As digital transformation accelerates across Latin America (LATAM), countries recognize the urgency of inclusive and accessible digital experiences. Although progress is slow or varies by country, governments are updating their legal frameworks to align with global standards like WCAG and the UN CRPD. Let’s take a quick look at the updates in LATAM accessibility laws country-wise: 

How Does AI-Powered Accessibility Testing Ensure Compliance and User Inclusion?

AI-powered Accessibility testing helps businesses detect and mitigate the common barriers and intricate challenges faced by users with disabilities. Using AI-powered algorithms, accessibility testing surpasses traditional QA practices and offers more profound insights into digital accessibility. AI analyzes vast datasets of accessibility issues and highlights the patterns and complexities that may escape traditional testing practices. It also supports dynamic adaptability in accessibility testing and ensures continuous coverage across web and mobile app interfaces.

Machine Learning, along with AI-driven accessibility testing, becomes scalable and can identify and mitigate issues proactively in real time. AI ensures compliance by continuously monitoring digital properties against established accessibility standards such as WCAG, ADA, EAA, and Section 508. It automatically flags violations and provides actionable recommendations, reducing non-compliance risk.

For user inclusion, AI enhances the experience of users with disabilities by simulating diverse user interactions, such as those of screen reader users or individuals with motor impairments. It ensures that interfaces are usable and accessible to everyone. This proactive, data-driven approach enables inclusivity and helps enterprises to design with empathy, ultimately creating digital environments that are welcoming to all users.

Why Select Tx for Accessibility Testing Services?

At Tx, we use advanced tools with expert-driven insights to assist you in identifying accessibility gaps across your web and mobile apps. We ensure your compliance with WCAG, ADA, EAA, and Section 508 standards and cover the EU AI Act to enhance user experiences. Our comprehensive AI-powered accessibility testing services ensure you offer inclusive digital experiences and equal access to all users. Here’s what Tx can provide you with:

AI-Driven Capability:

We integrate advanced AI and ML technologies to detect accessibility issues faster and more accurately than traditional methods. This ensures real-time, scalable, proactive accessibility evaluations across your web and mobile platforms.

End-to-End Compliance Support:

We offer thorough audits aligned with global standards such as WCAG, ADA, and Section 508, gaining actionable insights and remediation plans to help you stay fully compliant.

Continuous Monitoring & Reporting:

We know accessibility testing isn’t a one-time task. Our continuous monitoring practices allow you to identify new issues as they arise, ensuring long-term accessibility and minimizing legal risk.

Seamless Integration:

We integrate accessibility testing tools with your existing development and QA workflows, enabling smooth adoption without disrupting timelines.

Future-Proof Accessibility:

We help enterprises like yours stay ahead of regulatory changes and user expectations, promoting digital equity in an increasingly diverse AI-driven environment.

Summary

Accessibility is a strategic priority for staying competitive in today’s AI-driven business world. With global regulations getting stricter and digital complexity increasing, enterprises can no longer afford to delay compliance. The risk of legal action, reputational harm, and user exclusion is growing fast. Organizations that invest in AI-powered accessibility testing and inclusive design will lead in innovation, trust, and market reach. Tx, with its AI-driven accessibility testing, offers real-user validation and end-to-end compliance support. We help you identify issues early, scale remediation, and deliver truly inclusive digital products. Contact our experts now to learn how we can assist you in staying compliant, inclusive, and competitive.

The post Digital Accessibility Is Rising: Here’s How APAC and LATAM Are Leading the Shift first appeared on TestingXperts.

In today’s digitally driven world, everyone should have equal access to online resources, regardless of physical or cognitive abilities. This assertion is not just a principle but a necessity, with over 61 million adults in the United States living with a disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Government websites tasked with providing essential information and services hold a unique responsibility regarding accessibility. According to a report by the American Foundation for the Blind, an estimated 25.5 million Americans are visually impaired. Furthermore, the World Health Organization reports that over 5% of the world’s population has disabling hearing loss. These numbers illustrate the vast audience that relies on accessible digital platforms, especially government websites.

Automated accessibility testing is a specialized area wherein a digital product, such as a website or application, is evaluated for its usability by individuals with a range of disabilities. It includes those with visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive impairments. The aim is to ensure a website is user-friendly, navigable, and accessible.

The Current State of Accessibility in Government Websites

Understanding the current accessibility of government websites is crucial in identifying the challenges and crafting appropriate solutions. There’s a significant gap between websites that are fully accessible to all users, including those with disabilities and those without. As per a WebAIM survey in 2020, 97.4% of homepage scans revealed WCAG 2.0 failures, highlighting the severity of this issue. Following are some of the accessibility challenges that occur on government websites:

Lack of Image Descriptions:

Many websites fail to include alternative text (alt text) for images, which screen readers use to describe images to visually impaired users.

Absence of Video Transcripts or Closed Captions:

Video content often lacks closed captions or transcripts, making it inaccessible to individuals with hearing impairments.

Complicated Navigation and Lack of Keyboard Functionality:

These issues can create barriers for people with motor disabilities who rely on keyboards for web navigation.

Cognitive Accessibility Oversights:

Overly complex language, lack of clear instructions, and distracting elements can make websites challenging for individuals with cognitive impairments.

The Role of Automated Accessibility Testing

Automated tools can detect and address many of these issues, but to ensure comprehensive accessibility, manual testing and expert insights are often required. Accessibility experts can consider the unique ways different individuals interact with digital content and identify potential barriers that automated systems might miss.

Achieving full website accessibility is not just about compliance. It’s an opportunity to reach a wider audience, enhance user experience, and build a positive brand image. By addressing the accessibility gap, government entities can reinforce public trust and demonstrate their commitment to inclusivity.

Challenges in Implementing Accessibility Testing

Implementing accessibility testing for government websites is an essential task but is also challenging. To implement effective solutions, it’s crucial first to understand these challenges. Let’s look at some of the most common challenges:

Technical Issues:

Accessibility testing requires specialized knowledge and deep understanding of various disabilities. Recognizing the different ways users interact with digital platforms is crucial. While automated accessibility testing tools can help detect and rectify many accessibility issues, they may not pick up on all potential barriers. For instance, understanding if a website’s color contrast is sufficient for those with color blindness, or assessing if a site’s navigation is intuitive for users with cognitive impairments, often requires manual testing and expert judgment.

Budgetary Constraints:

Implementing comprehensive accessibility testing can be a significant financial undertaking. Budget constraints can limit the amount of testing conducted, potentially leaving some accessibility issues unaddressed. It’s essential to view accessibility testing not as an optional expense but as an integral part of product development. While the upfront costs might seem high, the long-term benefits, such as increased user engagement, reduced legal risks, and improved public reputation, can yield a substantial return on investment.

Regulatory Compliance:

Compliance with laws and regulations such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), WCAG 2.0 & 2.1, and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act can present a challenge. These laws require that all digital content be accessible to people with disabilities. Navigating these requirements and ensuring compliance can be complex, requiring a nuanced understanding of the law and its implications for website design and functionality.

Why is Accessibility Testing Crucial for Government Websites?

The digital sphere has transformed the way governments interact with their citizens. However, with this advancement comes the responsibility to ensure that all citizens can easily access and use the provided services regardless of their abilities. Here are the reasons why accessibility testing is crucial for government websites:

Ensuring Equal Access to Information:

Government websites are often the primary source of important information and services for citizens. These websites serve many essential purposes, from renewing licenses and paying taxes to accessing healthcare information and voting procedures. Accessibility testing helps ensure that everyone, including those with disabilities, has equal access to this information and these services.

Impact on Reputation and Public Trust:

An accessible website signals that the government is committed to inclusivity and equity, thus strengthening the public’s trust. On the other hand, failing to prioritize accessibility can lead to reputational damage and diminished public confidence. By conducting thorough accessibility testing, governments can demonstrate their commitment to serving all citizens equally.

Legal Implications and Risks:

Non-compliance with accessibility laws such as the ADA and Section 508 can lead to legal consequences. Government entities can face lawsuits, financial penalties, and mandated compliance deadlines if their websites are found to be non-compliant. Thorough website accessibility testing can help identify and rectify potential issues, reducing the risk of legal repercussions.

Resolving Accessibility Challenges

While the challenges of implementing accessibility testing are substantial, they are not difficult to handle. With the right strategies and resources, government entities can create digital environments that are inclusive and accessible to all users. Here are some practical solutions to the challenges:

Leveraging Automation in Accessibility Testing:

Automated accessibility testing tools can quickly scan websites and identify accessibility issues, such as missing alt text, keyboard accessibility, or color contrast deficiencies. These tools can be a cost-effective way to identify and address many common accessibility issues. However, while automation can increase efficiency, it should be complemented with manual testing to capture those nuances that require human judgment.

Training and Awareness for Web Developers and Designers:

Building accessibility into a website starts at the design and development stage. By providing proper training and raising awareness about the importance of accessibility among web developers and designers, organizations can ensure that accessibility considerations are integrated from the beginning, thus reducing the need for extensive modifications later. This proactive approach can also save resources in the long run.

Collaborating with Accessibility Experts:

Accessibility testing is a specialized area that requires deep knowledge about various disabilities and how they affect the way people use digital platforms. Collaborating with accessibility experts can provide the insights and expertise needed to conduct comprehensive testing and make websites accessible. Experts can help interpret and apply accessibility standards, test websites with different assistive technologies, and provide recommendations for improving accessibility.

Strategic Decision-Making for Implementing Accessibility Testing

Creating an accessible digital environment requires strategic decision-making at the highest levels. Here are some key considerations to help you make informed decisions about implementing accessibility testing:

Evaluating Costs and Benefits:

It’s crucial to recognize that the costs of accessibility testing are an investment in better service delivery, increased user engagement, reduced legal risk, and improved public reputation. While the upfront costs might be tangible, the long-term benefits can significantly outweigh them. A cost-benefit analysis can provide a clearer picture of the return on investment and help justify the resources allocated to accessibility testing.

Prioritizing Accessibility in Digital Transformation Efforts:

Digital transformation is a priority for many government entities. However, these efforts will not reach their full potential if they do not include all citizens. Making accessibility a central part of your digital transformation strategy can ensure that new technologies and services are inclusive from the outset, thus saving resources on remediation efforts later.

Implementing an Accessibility Policy:

An organization-wide policy can guide efforts towards achieving and maintaining digital accessibility. Such a policy can define the standards to adhere to (e.g., WCAG 2.1), identify responsible parties for implementation and testing, set timelines for achieving goals, and establish procedures for addressing accessibility complaints. This strategic move communicates your organization’s commitment to accessibility both internally and externally.

Accessibility Testing Tools for the Public Sector

Choosing the right tools can significantly improve the effectiveness of your accessibility testing efforts. Here are some top-rated tools that are particularly suited to the needs of the public sector:

WAVE:

Developed by WebAIM, WAVE is a free, user-friendly tool that evaluates web page accessibility. It provides visual feedback about the accessibility of your web content by injecting icons and indicators directly into your page.

Axe:

Deque’s Axe is an accessibility testing toolkit that comes as a browser extension and provides robust and reliable testing for all types of disabilities. It’s an excellent tool for developers who must test their code during development.

JAWS Inspect:

This tool simplifies accessibility and compatibility testing, rendering an efficient process with output that’s easy to understand by non-technical professionals. JAWS Inspect uses transcripts of JAWS output to help quickly diagnose issues and share them with the broader team.

Siteimprove:

Siteimprove’s platform offers many features, including accessibility testing. It checks your website’s compliance with accessibility standards and provides detailed reports and recommendations.

DYNO Mapper:

This tool not only performs accessibility testing but also generates visual sitemaps. It tests websites for WCAG 2.1 compliance and offers results with solutions that can be categorized by issue, page, or priority.

How TestingXperts Can Help with Accessibility Testing for the Public Sector

Digital accessibility ensures all users can interact with your digital platforms efficiently and effectively. This is where TestingXperts can assist. With years of experience and a commitment to digital inclusivity, Tx provides comprehensive accessibility testing services dedicated to the unique needs and challenges of the public sector.

By partnering with TestingXperts, you gain more than just accessibility testing services. You gain a strategic partner dedicated to promoting digital inclusivity. Our comprehensive testing ensures your digital platforms are accessible, usable, and compliant, thus reducing legal risks and enhancing user satisfaction.

Conclusion

The importance of digital accessibility in government websites is only set to increase. As more services move online and digital transformation accelerates, ensuring that all citizens can access and use these platforms will become essential to public service delivery. Let TestingXperts help you resolve the complexities of accessibility testing and ensure that your digital platforms are accessible to all users. Our expert team, customized approach, and commitment to promoting digital inclusivity can help you make your digital services inclusive and accessible.

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