Automated Testing

Meaning

Automated accessibility testing tools enable you to audit thousands of documents, web pages, or even multiple websites simultaneously. Accessibility testing can be done with programs or apps that automatically review the code used to build web pages to look for some kinds of accessibility errors (all web content should also be manually checked).

Background

WebAIM research shows a web page has an average of 50.8 accessibility issues preventing a person with disabilities from understanding the text, images or content structure. An automated testing tool is a great first step and a real-time-saver to identify the most obvious accessibility problems.

Automated accessibility testing tools scan your website’s code to find common accessibility errors and flag potential issues. This type of software checks your website against globally recognized accessibility standards, primarily the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Bobby was perhaps one of the most memorable first accessibility tools on the market. Developed and released in 1996 by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), Bobby was a free online accessibility tool used to evaluate against WCAG 1.0, WAI and Section 508. Paul Bohman, Deque’s Director of Training, said, “Bobby was one of the original accessibility tools that everybody used back in the day. Everybody who knew about accessibility knew about Bobby.”

Alternatives

Automated testing is also known as quality assurance automation.

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