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This web site is no longer run by First Accessibility (Test Partners Ltd). A new site is coming shortly. In the meantime, the content of the old web site is available below.

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accessibility.co.uk

About Us

History

First Accessibility is the accessibility division of Test Partners Ltd. Test Partners has offered accessibility testing and consultancy services since its foundation in 2001, and the creation of First Accessibility allows us to build on that expertise and offer a wider range of services to a wider audience.

Our testing and training services are portable and can be conducted in our offices and Test Centre in Staines, at your premises or at any other convenient location.

Management Team

Steve Green (Technical Director) develops the company's testing methodologies and is responsible for the operation of the Test Centre. His participation in the accessibility community includes the following

Membership of the Association of Accessibility Professionals (AAP).
Membership of the Guild of Accessible Web Designers (GAWDS).
Foundation and moderation of the Accessibility and Usability Club of the Ecademy business network.

Tom Glasson (Commercial Director) is responsible for partnerships, training, product sales and all other non-testing activities.

Our Accessibility Testing Philosophy

Manual or Automated Testing?

In order to attain a high level of accessibility a website must be accessible both to people and to the hardware and software they use such as browsers and assistive technologies. We recognise that different methodologies are required to test these, and we therefore use both manual and automated testing techniques as appropriate.

Manual Testing

From the user's viewpoint accessibility is all about the experience they perceive, taking into account any disabilities or impairments they have and their choice of technology for interacting with the website, whether it is a PC, PDA, WebTV, conventional browser, assistive technology or any other device. Manual testing is the only way to test the level of accessibility the site actually achieves from the user's perspective.

Automated Testing

Automated testing is more suited to testing the technical aspects of website accessibility, and tools can do so far more efficiently, thoroughly and accurately than manual testing can. However, automated tools work at code-level and do not take into account the user interface so they can only make generic assumptions about the experience the user will perceive.

In fact there are many accessibility criteria that the tools cannot assess at all, so a significant degree of manual testing is always required. Nevertheless, for sites that are subject to frequent change, automated tools are a valuable means of identifying faults and locating areas that require manual testing.