16% of the global population worldwide experience a significant disability. People with disabilities have the right to the highest attainable standard of learning as those without disabilities. This is where accessibility comes in.

Having accessible digital content ensures equal opportunities for everyone. It is one step towards making society, including the digital world, more inclusive and equitable. However, it requires a lot of effort to create content that can be used by ‘everyone.’ It's important to evaluate digital content to overcome this challenge and ensure that people with disabilities can use it.

Accessibility testing verifies usability and also ensures that a piece of content is convenient for people with disabilities to use.

This article will discuss what digital accessibility is, how to test accessibility in digital content, different tools and methods, and best practices to make your content accessible.

What is Digital Accessibility?

A lot of us are familiar with accessibility features in physical spaces. Take, for example, a public restroom for people who use wheelchairs. Similarly, digital accessibility means producing digital content in a way that people with disabilities can use.

Digital accessibility in content follows some rules and regulations, such as:

1. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The ADA compliance mandates that public businesses and organizations provide accessible digital content and services. It requires a thorough testing of websites, mobile apps, and other online platforms to ensure they are usable by people with disabilities.

Accessibility is all about producing content that adheres to the compliance guidelines. For your content to be accessible, it is best to start with a solution that aligns with these regulations to ensure compliance.

EL.AI captioning platform complies with accessibility regulations. It ensures that your digital content meets all accessibility standards through accurate and compliant captions and transcripts.

2. Section 508

Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires federal agencies to make electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. It includes software applications, websites, telecommunications, and multimedia.

3. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines(WCAG).

As per WCAG, your digital content must follow four key principles, also known as "POUR":

  • Perceivable: Your content must be accessible through at least one sense.
  • Operable: The interactive elements must be usable by all methods.
  • Understandable: The content must be clear and consistent.
  • Robust: Websites must work across various devices and technologies.

Why Testing Accessibility is Crucial

Accessibility testing evaluates your content to check its usability for all users. The aim is to create an equitable user experience on web and mobile applications.

Here’s why accessibility testing is important:

1. Ensuring Compliance

Many nations have laws that prohibit organizations from discriminating against people with disabilities. Not ensuring compliance with conformance with WCAG can attract fines for non-compliant organizations. Captioning solutions like EL.AI allow organizations to keep in line with the latest accessibility recommendations and avoid penalties for not doing so.

2. Improved User Experience

Accessibility testing is not just geared toward people with disabilities. It also helps creating improved content for normal users. When you conduct an accessibility test, it results in improvements that enhance the user experience of all users—regardless of their abilities.

3. Promoting Inclusivity

Accessibility testing helps create an environment where all individuals can access your content. This leads to equal opportunities for everyone. This ultimately enhances your organization’s reputation by demonstrating a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Types of Accessibility Testing

While marching towards your accessibility journey, you need to be aware of the different accessibility testing methods.

1. Automated Testing

Automated accessibility testing uses software tools to scan digital content for accessibility issues. Automated software crawls a website’s underlying code and existing content and flags errors based on the WCAG.

While these tools are a good place to start and can identify many accessibility issues, they may not catch all issues and do not provide a great level of insight. This is because they can’t understand the context or evaluate the quality of the content.

Here are some options for free automated accessibility checker tools:

2. Manual Testing

Manual accessibility testing involves manually checking digital content for accessibility. In this approach, human testers use tools, such as screen readers, keyboard navigation, and manual code inspection, to find issues that automated tooling cannot. Manual testing uncovers nuanced issues that automated tools might need to be aware of. Although this method is more time-consuming, it can provide a more detailed and personal assessment of accessibility issues.

Let's understand the manual testing methods in detail:

  • Keyboard Navigation: This part of manual testing ensures all users can navigate the content using keyboard shortcuts. It also checks if the tab order is logical and all interactive elements are accessible and correctly labeled.

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  • Screen Reader Testing: Screen readers ensure that your content is accessible to users who are blind or have low vision. They also uncover issues with reading order, spelling, dynamic content, and interactive elements. With about 2.2 billion people with visual impairments, a screen reader-friendly site is an absolute must.
  • Color Contrast Analysis: People with low vision often have difficulty reading text. They find it challenging to identify buttons that do not contrast with their background or determine the state of UI components. Testing color contrast ensures that text and other essential elements are distinguishable from their backgrounds.

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3. User Testing

In this testing method, the accessibility of the content is tested by people with disabilities. Involving people with disabilities is the best way to determine if your digital content is accessible and usable for everyone.

Effective user testing sessions require you to identify diverse participants, carefully prepare test scripts, and analyze feedback. You should also perform multiple rounds of testing and make iterative improvements based on user feedback.

Key Areas to Focus On in Accessibility Testing

It is important to consider the below focus areas before creating any type of digital content.

1. Text and Fonts

A major part of accessibility testing includes ensuring the text is easily readable and highly customizable to cater to diverse user needs. For instance, using clean, simple sans-serif fonts like Arial, Helvetica, or Verdana makes your content easier to read on screens.

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Solutions like El.AI offer highly customizable options like font size, color, and placement to accommodate varied preferences and needs. Users can easily change these settings to improve readability.

2. Images and Multimedia

According to WebAIM, 21.6% of all home page images have missing or inadequate alt text. Images and multimedia should have descriptive alternative text and captions to improve accessibility. The alt text helps screen readers convey the content to visually impaired users. Similarly, closed captions for video content assist users with hearing impairments.

A visually impaired person can understand the context of videos with dialogues or conversations through screen readers. However, a person with a hearing disability watching the same video may struggle, as auto-generated captions are often unreliable. This is why including closed captions or transcripts for all videos and audio content is important for ensuring accessibility for all users.

3. Forms and Inputs

According to a WebAIM survey, 73% of people with disabilities encountered an inaccessible web form in the past year. To make sure your forms are accessible, check that all form fields are clearly labeled and accessible via the keyboard. Make your error messages descriptive and guide users on how to correct mistakes. Lastly, verify that assistive technologies can interact with all form elements.

For instance, if a user enters an invalid email address, display an error message such as "Please enter a valid email address" to guide them on correcting the mistake.

4. Navigation and Structure

Try to have a logical and consistent navigation structure across your digital content. All users should be able to navigate your content using a keyboard and screen readers. Additionally, test for a clear heading hierarchy and the presence of landmarks to help users understand the page layout.

For example, ensure your page titles are unique and descriptive, marked as <h1>. There should only be one <h1> per page.

5. Interactive Elements

Ensure all interactive elements—buttons, links, and menus—are accessible via keyboard and provide clear visual focus indicators. Also, verify that these elements are correctly labeled and compatible with assistive technologies.

For instance, a button to close a menu should have a label like "Close Menu," helping screen reader users understand its function.

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Using Accessibility Checkers and Validators

Accessibility checkers help inspect the accessibility level of your digital content and immediately solve any accessibility issues. To ensure digital content is accessible, organizations can use both built-in tools and third-party validators.

1. Built-in Tools

Many web development platforms like WordPress and Drupal have built-in accessibility checkers. These tools help developers identify and fix accessibility issues during the development process.

2. Third-Party Validators

Third-party validators, such as the W3C Markup Validation Service, provide an additional layer of assurance by checking content against established accessibility standards.

Common Accessibility Issues and How to Fix Them

Despite best efforts, some common accessibility issues may still arise. Here are a few examples and how to address them:

Problem Solution
Missing Alt Text Ensure all images have descriptive alt text that conveys the content's purpose.
Insufficient Color Contrast Use color contrast tools to ensure text is readable against the background. The https://www.w3.org/ recommends a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text to ensure readability for users with visual impairments.
Inaccessible Forms Label form fields clearly and ensure users can navigate them using a keyboard. Mention clear instructions and logically organize forms to help users complete them without frustration.
Improper Use of Headings Use headings correctly to create a logical structure that screen readers can interpret.

A simple way to prevent these issues from happening is to use a solution that incorporates accessibility best practices and meets all ADA and WCAG requirements to avoid common accessibility issues. By providing accurate captions and transcripts, EL.AI ensures that your content is accessible to everyone.

Integrating Accessibility into the Development Process

To ensure accessibility from the outset, organizations should incorporate accessibility practices into their development process.

1. Shift Left Approach

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The "shift left" approach involves addressing accessibility issues early in development. This strategy prevents problems from arising later. By incorporating accessibility checks at each stage of development, organizations can ensure that accessibility is a core consideration from the beginning.

2. Continuous Monitoring

Regularly monitoring digital content for accessibility issues ensures it remains compliant and user-friendly. Continuous monitoring can involve automated scans, manual checks, and user feedback to maintain a high standard of accessibility.

3. Training and Awareness

Educating developers, designers, and content creators about accessibility can help maintain an inclusive digital environment. Organizations should invest in training programs and resources to ensure their teams understand and implement accessibility best practices.

Create a More Inclusive Digital World for Everyone

Testing accessibility in digital content is essential for creating inclusive user experiences. By understanding the importance of accessibility, using various testing methods, and leveraging tools like EL.AI, organizations can ensure their digital content is accessible and compliant with relevant standards.

Book a call with us and learn how EL.AI can assist you with accessibility testing and compliance.