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accessibility.co.uk

WCAG Testing

WCAG - the First Steps in Accessibility Testing

If you want to find out how accessible your website is, the starting point will usually be the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

The WCAG are a set of 65 technical criteria that can be used to assess the accessibility of a website. We have developed a range of manual testing techniques for each of the criteria, and use lightweight tools where they improve efficiency.

Most websites are template-based so it is sufficient to test a subset of the pages, and we use a combination of manual inspection and automated tools to determine which are the most appropriate pages to test.

For a free quotation please email us, telephone 0870 855 3370 or fill in the form on our Contact page

How Much Testing is Needed?

The WCAG are divided into three Priority levels, with Priority 1 criteria being the most important. The level of testing that is required depends on the level of accessibility you want to achieve.

Priority 1

There are 16 Priority 1 criteria that must be met, otherwise one or more groups will find it impossible to access information in the document. A site meeting these requirements may be classified as being Level A or Level 1.

Priority 2

There are 30 Priority 2 criteria that should be met, otherwise one or more groups will find it difficult to access information in the document. A site meeting these requirements may be classified as being Level AA or Level 2.

Priority 3

There are 19 Priority 3 criteria that may be met, otherwise one or more groups will find it somewhat difficult to access information in the document. A site meeting these requirements may be classified as being Level AAA or Level 3.

Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) Compliance Testing

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 requires that you take "reasonable measures" to ensure the accessibility of your website. It is a common myth that compliance with the Priority 1 requirements of the WCAG is sufficient to ensure compliance with the DDA but this is not the case. In fact there is no technical standard that ensures compliance.

The DDA is concerned with the user experience so we normally recommend that you test your website for the WCAG Priority 1 and Priority 2 criteria and conduct user testing with a variety of users and assistive technologies.

If you are concerned about your website's compliance with the DDA our advice would be as follows.

Test it for the WCAG Priority 1 and Priority 2 criteria.
Conduct user testing with people with a range of disabilities and assistive technologies.
Identify the remedial measures required and obtain costings for the work. Determine whether any of the measures are not economically viable.
Prepare a plan of action with a realistic timescale.
Document everything. Ensure that you can show you have considered the issues and have a plan for action even if it has not yet been implemented.