What is WCAG Testing and Why You Should Care

WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. WCAG testing evaluates whether websites and applications meet these internationally recognized accessibility standards that enable use by people with disabilities.

Conducting WCAG assessments is critical for organizations that want to create inclusive digital experiences. When we test for and enforce accessibility, we help ensure no one gets left behind in accessing online content and services.

Understanding Disabilities and Assistive Tech

Globally, over 1 billion individuals experience disabilities that can impede use of digital technology without proper accessibility accommodations. Consider these statistics:

285 million people are visually impaired, including 39 million completely blind
466 million people have disabling hearing loss
Around 2-3% of people are diagnosed with cognitive disabilities

Additionally, many users may face temporary disabilities due to aging or injuries. Or they utilize assistive devices and software based on their needs and preferences for accessing content.

Some examples of assistive technologies used by people with disabilities include:

Screen readers that read out text aloud for blind users
Text to speech conversion that enables adjusting reading speed
Screen magnification tools for those with low vision
Captions and transcripts for audio and video content
Braille displays that render content in tactile Braille text
Keyboard shortcuts or switches for motor impairments
Tools that simplify and visualize content for learning/cognitive disabilities

By designing and testing for compatibility with these technologies per WCAG standards, we remove barriers to access.

Legal Obligations and Social Responsibility

Beyond supporting assistive technology usage, in many countries WCAG conformity is legally required under regulations intended to prevent disability discrimination. Counties with web accessibility regulations include:

United States under Section 508 for government ICT and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protecting civil rights
The EU‘s Web Accessibility Directive from 2016
Regulations under consideration in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and other countries

Failure to comply with relevant laws can be extremely costly in terms of legal penalties, settlement fees and reputational damage.

But regulations aside, prioritizing accessibility is also about being socially aware and demonstrating an organization‘s commitment to equal opportunity and human rights principles. We want to build a society centered on inclusiveness.

WCAG‘s POUR Principles

As noted earlier, WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These guidelines, published by the W3C international standards body, outline various criteria and conformance levels sites and apps must acheive to meet accessibility needs.

WCAG criteria are organized into four principles abbreviated "POUR":

Perceivable

Information must be available in ways perceivable to users with sensory disabilities. Provide text alternatives for non-text content like images, offer captions/transcripts for audio-visual media, allow for text scaling and color contrast adjustments, etc.

Operable

Components need to be navigable and interactive using either a mouse, keyboard or assistive devices. Ensure all functionality is operable without requiring specific timing demands or manipulations like hovering, allow extra time for users to enable access features, build logical focus order flows, etc.

Understandable

Content should appear unambiguous and follow conventions allowing users to understand site components and operate interfaces successfully. Structure pages clearly, write straightforward instructional text, establish context and settings to minimize confusion.

Robust

Maximize compatibility with both present and future technologies, particularly assistive devices. Adhere to modern web standards for semantics, markup validating testing, accessibility APIs. Ensure accessibility layers and fallbacks retain functionality across various platforms.

With all four principles addressed comprehensively, websites and applications can achieve WCAG conformance enabling usage across the disability spectrum.

Real World Examples

To understand concepts more clearly, let‘s walk through some examples of WCAG criteria and success indicators for making travel websites accessible:

Images Should Have Text Alternatives

Non-text content like images require text alternatives so people using screen readers can understand context communicated visually. Provide descriptive alt text explaining the embedded hotel image sufficiently:

<img src="hotel.jpg" alt="Exterior view of Cliffside Beach Resort hotel at sunset, modern style building along coastline featuring outdoor pool">

Multimedia Needs Captions and Transcripts

Video tours of destination attractions should contain synchronized captions allowing people with hearing impairments to comprehend content.
Likewise, text transcripts make content accessible for blind users relying on screen readers
For audio-only recordings, offer transcripts as well

Content is Readable and Understandable

Blocks of text should be concise, well-structured and written straightforwardly to aid comprehension
Target reading levels account for people with cognitive and learning disabilities affected by complex language
Provide definitions for domain specific vocabulary like airline, accommodation and destination terminology

Site is Navigable Solely With a Keyboard

All functionality must remain operable by only using a keyboard, without requiring mouse or screen touch manipulation
Use proper semantic HTML elements to establish keyboard hierarchy and focus order
Confirm link text is descriptive for context without visuals: "Book Hotel Room" not generic "Click Here"

These are just a few examples of addressing the WCAG principles in real user scenarios. When executed thoroughly, you remove barriers for people relying on assitive tech and with sensory-cognitive impairments.

Techniques for Testing WCAG Conformance

To validate adherence to WCAG standards, a variety of testing techniques exist:

Manual Testing

In manual testing, human auditors directly inspect web content for potential accessibility issues judging conformance to guidelines
Approaches like exploratory assessments without rigid test plans allow evaluators to uncover subtle issues
Reviewers can emulate usage via screen readers and other assistive devices interpreting challenges
Manual checks by people with real disabilities provides feedback identifying barriers
Downside is manual testing can be slow, costly and relies on individual skill levels

Automated Testing

Automated testing employs specialized software tools and scripts that can scan entire websites flagged areas that appear problematic
Some types include unit tests on components, integration testing combining units, system and acceptance level assessments
Automated checks perform exactly according to programmed algorithms allowing frequent, scalable testing
Trade off is tools cannot necessarily detect complex context-dependent challenges real users could encounter

Hybrid Approach

The consensus recommendation is leveraging a combination manual verification and automated scanning
Skill testers gauge nuanced qualitative indicators tools can miss by their nature
Scripted checks rapidly process quantitative volume and frequency of evaluations not viable manually

Together, human creativity and software productivity provide thorough, accurate testing coverage.

Over the past 10 years, conducting WCAG testing across thousands of websites, my teams and I employ hybrid approaches to great effect. I cannot more strongly emphasize the value proposition accessibility assessments deliver for both the impaired and mainstream populations.

Common Barriers and Remediations

Through extensive WCAG testing experience, our organization has identified numerous recurring accessibility issues sites commonly face. I advise teams to specifically evaluate for and resolve these known barriers:

Images Without Alternative Text

Provide detailed alt descriptions conveying purpose and meaning for non-text elements

Low Color Contrast Ratios

Lightness difference between foreground and background colors should meet or exceed minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 per WCAG AAA.

No Captions Offered for Video

Add properly synced closed caption tracks for multimedia along with text transcripts

Overly Complex Navigation Menus

Streamline information architecture minimizing steps to find pages
Maintain logical hierarchies that make options foreseeable

Missing Form Input Instructions

Every form field should contain appropriately associated labels explicitly indicating required information

Focus Order Doesn’t Follow On-Screen Layout

Keyboard tab sequences should flow left to right, top to bottom per visual order

I have too often witnessed the above recurring barriers severely diminish site functionality. But by being proactive in testing for and promptly addressing them, you prevent debilitating experiences.

Emerging: AI Automated Accessibility Testing

Advancing automated testing, artificial intelligence and machine learning have enabled powerful innovations in accessibility assessments over the past couple years.

Intelligent tools can:

Crawl entire domains identifying issues across thousands of pages in a single pass
Automatically map detected problems to specific WCAG failure indicators
Generate comprehensive compliance reports including pass/fail rates, conformance levels etc.
Continuously monitor sites with ongoing scans alerting for new defects in real time
Significantly reduce time and effort conducting tests while improving consistency

One pioneering example is BrowserStack Accessibility a cloud-based automated testing platform for web and mobile apps leveraging AI to simplify WCAG audits. Testers of all skill levels can catch bugs early, integrate frequent assessment in dev workflows, publish detailed QA reports on accessibility metrics and more.

AI promises to greatly expand assessment scale and quality assurance enforcing standards.

WCAG Testing Key Questions

Still have questions about WCAG testing concepts or best practices? Here I breakdown some commonly asked queries:

How often should we test sites and apps for accessibility?

I advise integrating automated WCAG checks seamlessly into your software development lifecycle and content publication pipelines. This allows relentlessly inspecting code changes on every commit and content updates on each deployment. Quality engineers can also schedule recurring monthly manual spot checks supplementing automated quality gates – more frequently for consumer-facing sites.

What target level – A, AA or AAA should we aim for?

Based on my extensive consulting guiding multi-national companies on balancing legal, ethical and budget constraints, I suggest organizations systemically build to level AA compliance, while incrementally working higher priorityLevel AAA goals like improved color contrast into roadmaps. Level AA strikes a realistic balance eliminating the most grave barriers.

Does WCAG conformity guarantee compliance with disability laws?

While WCAG alignment is central to demonstrating due diligence should litigation occur, understand that legal definitions of accessibility can vary across regions. I advise consulting experienced accessibility legal counsel to determine specific accommodations required under pertinent national/state laws beyond WCAG.

What reporting should we expect from testing?

Quality engineering groups and senior leadership should monitor reports on identified issues and corresponding WCAG failure criteria. Track accessibility bug metrics over time, report by page/app area, analyze conformance levels, document resolution statuses. Automated tools also facilitate detailed historical auditing.

Who is responsible to remediate accessibility defects?

Developers are accountable to build apps and sites following inclusive design principles and standards up front. But realistically issues manifest requiring dedicated accessibility testers and website content authors to collaborate resolving problems based on ongoing platform evaluations.

In summary, by taking both technical and policy measures to continually verify and address issues through WCAG testing, you maximize creation of accessible, usable experiences.

Let‘s Recap Key Takeaways

WCAG assessments evaluate if websites and applications meet accessibility standards enabling people with disabilities to access content using assistive technologies. Why is testing critical?

Over 1 billion people globally have vision, hearing, motor and cognitive disabilities improved by accessible digital experiences when created intentionally
Many countries legally require web accessibility conformance with standards like WCAG 2.1
Testing during development helps reduce costs correcting issues later and minimizes legal risks
Combining manual expert audits with automated testing provides the most thorough and accurate evaluations
Prioritizing fixes for common barriers around media, navigation, color contrast, focus order etc. is highly impactful
Emerging AI testing tools powered by machine learning help to accelerate and scale audits

By being proactive on accessibility testing via WCAG criteria, we work toward a more inclusive world where everyone can participate fully in digital spaces.

I hope this guides you in creating accessible, empowering experiences for all users regardless of their abilities. Reach out if you have any other questions!