Accessibility Testing

Evaluation of product accessibility against standards (WCAG) using both automated scanning and moderated testing with people with disabilities to identify and remediate barriers.

Process

Key Fields

Question it answers	Can people with disabilities use this product? Where are the barriers? What accessibility features are missing?
Participants & timing	2-4 participants with varied disabilities (moderated) · plus automated scanning · 3-4 weeks total
AI compatibility	AI runs automated scanning (color contrast, ARIA, keyboard navigation) and generates audit reports; real user testing catches issues that automated tools miss.
Output	Accessibility audit report (barriers, severity, WCAG violation codes), remediation plan, participant testing video highlights

Use when

Product serves a diverse audience (accessibility is a legal and ethical requirement)
Regulatory compliance is required (government, healthcare, financial services)
Inclusive design is a stated organizational commitment
Product has never been tested for accessibility

Skip when

Accessibility has already been recently and thoroughly evaluated

Common Mistakes

Treating accessibility as a compliance checkbox

Automated scanning passes but actual screen reader users cannot navigate. Real user testing catches issues that automated tools miss (heading order, table structure, form instructions).

Testing without disability expertise

Recruiting sighted people to test with screen readers instead of recruiting experienced screen reader users. Experienced users navigate very differently; that is when real issues emerge.

Fixing code but not interaction design

A form with all ARIA labels but illogical field order remains inaccessible. Accessibility requires both technical fixes and design thinking around logical workflows.