Here at TPGi we have a technical accessibility testing process which does not rely on the use of automated tools. The technical audit results we provide to our clients are based solely on manual testing of a web site, web application, mobile or desktop application.
Typically, but not solely, we conduct technical testing in reference to the following accessibility standards:
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (web sites and web applications and other ICT)
- Section 508 Refresh Standards
To aid us in our manual testing process we use a number of tools and assistive technologies, the following is not a complete list of the tools we use, but these are the tools I currently use on a daily basis:
Accessibility Testing Tools
- New (31st May 2019): ARC Toolkit (free Chrome extension)
- Firefox Developer Tools
- ChromeDev Tools
- Safari Web Developer Tools
- The Colour Contrast Analyser (free desktop application for windows and Mac)
- aViewer (free desktop application for windows )
- W3C Nu markup HTML conformance checker
- Accessibility Inspector (free Mac application)
- UI Browser (NOT free Mac application)
- JAWS Inspect (NOT free Windows appplication)
- Axe Developer Tools (Firefox) and Chrome
Assistive Technology
- JAWS (Screen Reader for windows, demo version available)
- NVDA (Free open source Screen Reader for windows)
- VoiceOver (Built in Screen Reader, Mac desktop and iPhone/iPod)
- ChromeVox (screen reader for Chrome and Chrome OS)
- Talkback (screen reader for Android)
- Zoomtext (Screen Magnifier for windows, demo version available)
- Dragon (speech recognition software)
More Accessibility Tools
I asked around the TPGi virtual office (Skype group chat) and people recommended some more notable and useful tools:
- ARC (ARC Platform is an API-first technology that provides real-time accessibility testing of webpages. Easily identify accessibility issues.)
- Juicy Studio Tools (free online tools and Firefox extensions)
- Web Developer (free Firefox extension)
- iOS Simulator
- Jim Thatchers Favelets
- Google Lighthouse
- Android Accessibility Scanner
- Wave by WebAIM
Notes:
- We do not use assistive technology in our technical testing to carry out user testing, we leave that up to actual users of assistive technology, who we work with as part of our user research and usability testing services. But as technical testers we do use assistive technology to evaluate the data we gather. Assistive technology is an essential part of the process for understanding how the accessibility information provided in user interfaces is conveyed to users.
- The tools listed above are only the tools I use regularly, other accessibility engineers at TPGi may use other tools.