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.
Comments
Many thanks for this Steve, very useful as usual
Very useful list Steve – thanks for posting.
Windows inbuilt magnifier is also useful for those with no access to Zoomtext.
Nice overview, thanks for sharing. In addition, I’ve been finding that a speech input application such as NaturallySpeaking is also very valuable for testing accessibility — it is relevant to a large number of users who are often overlooked and sometimes exposes accessibility problems that are overlooked when using screen reading/magnification apps.
Hi Guys,
I cannot find the download for inspect.exe – can someone please provide the link?
Thank you.
hi, you have to download the windows SDK, have a read of this article: Where did the accessibility tools go?.
Thanks for such a comprehensive list.
I use a few of those listed already and was aware of a few more, but you’ve listed several I’d not heard of before.
Thanks!
Good list. There are some new tools on there I’ll definitely check out.
I’m sure you’re aware of this and your copy is licensed, but just for clarity you can’t use the demo of JAWS for accessibility testing. Freedom Scientific license the demo purely for evaluation of the software, not for development purposes.
From their EULA:
“For example, these demonstration or evaluation licenses are not permitted for purposes of development and testing of JAWS scripts, applications, HTML coding, or other Web Based code.”
Hi Karl, yes I am aware, I am lucky enough to have a fully licensed copy. I am not advocating using JAWS against the EULA, if people do so, it is at their own risk.
A pretty useful list of tools and I am with you in advocating completely manual testing.
I was going to point out about JAWS demo not being usable for this but I see that it already has been.
The Web Developer Toolbar is also available for Chrome: chrispederick.com/work/web-developer
I am also a fan of writing my own bookmarklets for testing, this way I can add focus in styles I want, reveal alt text on tweets, etc. There are many great options out there, but if you want to write your own I have a base model you can use to add your own selectors and styles: adrianroselli.com/2015/01/css-bookmarklets-for-testing-and-fixing.html
I noticed you left off Narrator in Windows 10. Is there a reason? The new version seems much improved. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/22798/windows-10-complete-guide-to-narrator
@Steve Walker, you wrote:
I think @Steve (Faulkner) left Narrator out in this list because it’s not a testing tool. See his comment:
I agree you don’t need the help of AT when performing a (WCAG) compliance test. However, when doing an accessibility expert reviews / walkthroughs, I think it’s high recommended to test using commonly used AT. That’s how we usually approach accessibility testing in our lab.
(And, yes, I agree that Narrator has come a long way, and can be considered a worthy alternative to Jaws or NVDA for Windows users.)
Hi Steve, we don’t generally use narrator as our clients don’t ask for it (as yet). I have used narrator when doing testing/research I suspect when Edge changes to the blink rendering engine and narrator picks up its support game for IA2 then it will be more worthwhile.