Chapter 9. Accessibility Testing

"The dream behind the web is a common information space in which we communicate by sharing information"

—— Tim Burners-Lee

So far we have spent a great deal of time discussing the types of testing used to ensure that the web applications you have created function correctly — such as providing the correct data in a timely manner. It's now time to focus on testing to ensure that the web applications you have created are accessible to a wide audience.

Accessibility is often confused with usability. Usability is how intuitive and easy the application is to use for all people, whereas accessibility means access to all. Accessibility issues make it more difficult for people with disabilities to use an application than for a nondisabled person. Although two different definitions have been provided, usability and accessibility often are complementary.

Some people cannot use their hands whereas others are unable to distinguish between colors. Some people cannot hear, some cannot see. Accessible web applications remove the barriers that make it difficult or impossible for those users who need extra support.

This chapter is presented differently than the others, as it explores accessibility patterns and practices in-depth and shows you how to create accessible sites (compared to the previous chapters that just provided an explanation of the tools to help find the problems). The reason this approach is taken is because the automated tools for accessibility testing are hard to trust. Many of the tools are hard to understand and the information provided only account for a small amount of factors that influence accessibility.

Throughout this chapter, a "principles before guidelines" approach is taken for accessibility. Often developers become overwhelmed by the legal jargon contained in the different accessibility standards and spend more time trying to understand what the standard is trying to say, rather than learning the principle the standard is outlining.

Before we get started, let's talk about the elephant in the room, the legal issues surrounding accessibility. In recent years precedent has been set forth where companies have been lawfully forced to adhere to accessibility standards and even in some situations pay restitution. Only a few of these cases exist in the United States, but they do exist. We don't want to scare you into developing accessible sites, but provide a less than gentle nudge to help you learn how to create accessible web applications. Web developers tend to be very creative people, and creative people do not like to do things because they are forced to do them. Fortunately there are lots of other good reasons to develop web applications that are accessible.

Accessibility is not really about what you do, it's a matter of how you do it. Adding a video to your website can be accessible, if you follow a few simple principles.