Why Manual WCAG Testing Is Essential For ADA Compliance
Why Manual WCAG Testing Is Essential For ADA Compliance
In an a time when most web developers can rely on plugins or widgets or other automated solutions to fix many website problems, that is not the case for auditing websites for WCAG and ADA compliance.
First, it’s important to understand what we’re testing against. The WCAG was developed and is maintained by the W3C – an independent global standards consortium. And as it’s titled, its a set of guidelines and parts of it are nuanced and interpretive. So is not a black and white list of checkboxes for compliance. And this makes it very difficult for automated testing solutions.
Automated WCAG Auditing Solutions Are Limited
Software is good for binary testing, yet people with disabilities are not binary. In addition, automated testing tools cannot even detect many issues. A good example is keyboard only testing, which automated testers cannot emulate. And there is quite a wide range in the quality and depth of such tools. Even the best cannot detect more than ~30% of WCAG issues. Therefore, manual testing is required to address the balance.
Manual WCAG Website Auditing Overview for ADA Compliance
Websites are built using templates. Global elements such as headers and footers are shared. Widgets for specific functions such as calendars, photo galleries, and lead capture are shared throughout the content areas of websites. Therefore, each page and each instance of shared elements do not need to be manually audited. Just the unique pages and each individual element once. So the first step is to identify those. Your web accessibility partner along with your development team can do that together. Inventory the site and identify all of the templates and unique pages, and then weed those that are essentially the same. Make sure your list includes instances of all elements, and widgets. The manual auditor then reviews the code and tests use-cases using actual assistive technologies such as screen readers and keyboard-only for those who cannot use a mouse.
Best Practices for WCAG Website Auditing
To ensure you get a complete view of your website’s level of accessibility, you first start with automated testing. This captures most of the low-hanging fruit, such as missing labels/tags, and serves as the base of the audit report. Then, your accessibility consultant will layer in his/her findings using human testing that includes code review, UX review, and assistive technology testing. Findings are presented in an audit report that documents all WCAG violations to then address, and ideally provides guidance for remediation.
What’s really important is that your web accessibility partner has a strong understanding of the front-side code of the website. That’s the “presentation layer” of what you see on your screen – the html, css, and javascript. With a strong understanding of the code, your partner will be qualified to not only show where and what each issue is, but also how to fix each. That’s where our team really shines.
Disclaimer: This post and the headline is my opinion. I provide facts throughout to inform that opinion. I am also not a lawyer and this post does not constitute legal advice.