Accessibility development is the process of executing your design plan and testing for effectiveness. Design looks at the overall picture of how the end result should look and feel; development navigates the intricate behind-the-scenes work to make that picture operational, functional, and easy to navigate.
All digital content must be developed to be accessible for all users to have an equal and inclusive experience. This includes, but is not limited to, websites, mobile sites,applications, kiosks, and PDFs.
Various computing platforms exist, and it's almost guaranteed that your users utilize all of them. The development phase of your project should consider the different operating systems, browsers, and devices your users use to access your products and/or services.
If your team hasn't considered it already, a cross-platform development approach saves time, resources, and money.
Testing
Testing during development is necessary to ensure that your projects work as designed.
Accessibility testing requires you also to test that your projects work for every user in every scenario.
Automated testing tools can be helpful in scanning your content and identifying errors, but they won't catch everything.
Manual testing processes should be implemented to identify errors that automated tools miss. Your testing team should also include persons with disabilities that utilize assistive technology daily to help identify and make suggestions to improve your user experiences.
Testing with PWD
Before deploying your new accessibility content, it is imperative that you have a user group of persons with disabilities test your materials. Your user testing group should include a variety of disabilities to ensure an equitable and inclusive experience for everyone.
Audit Services
Accessibility audit services exist to assist you in testing the accessibility of your website and digital content. The the auditi service will evaluate your content and provide feedback on required enhancements, bugs, and fixes. There are many accessibility auditing service companies to assist you. Check out our Vendor Directory to get started locating an accessibility audit service.