What is Accessibility Testing?

Accessibility testing is an approach to measuring a product’s ability to be easily customized or modified for the benefit of users with disabilities.

With accessibility testing, our goal at nResult is to help you ensure that people with disabilities can access and use your software or hardware product as effectively as people without disabilities.

What is the purpose of Accessibility Testing?

The purpose of accessibility testing is to pinpoint potential problems within websites and products that may prevent users with disabilities from accessing the information they are searching for.

Accessibility Testing can help you determine the following:

• Compliance – How your product complies with accessibility legal requirements
• Effectiveness – How fast users with disabilities can use your product to accomplish basic and complex tasks
• Usefulness – The likelihood that users with disabilities will use your product again based on expectations
• Satisfaction – How appealing your product is to users with disabilities
• Interoperability – How your product works with screen readers and other accessibility devices; improve the experience for those with disabilities

Why should your company add Accessibility Testing to your QA efforts?

By identifying and resolving accessibility issues, your products become available to millions of new users. Additionally, accessibility testing is required if you are doing business with a U.S. Government agency.

On December 21, 2000, the Access Board, a U.S. government agency issued guidelines for accessibility of information technology under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which require that Federal departments and agencies create websites and other information technology that is accessible to people with disabilities, such as the blind and the mobility-impaired. This also affects agencies that contract with the Federal government as they are required to follow section 508 rules.

Accessibility Testing will:

• Fulfill legal obligations
• Provide product availability to millions of people with disabilities
• Increase revenue from increased website traffic and product purchases
• Increase customer satisfaction

What will Accessibility Testing uncover in my products?

• Legal issues
• Effectiveness issues
• Functionality issues
• Satisfaction issues and potential causes of user frustration