UCD - Accessibility Testing

Accessibility testing involves measuring the ease with which blind and disabled users can complete common tasks on your website. Accessibility testing on your website can lead to:

• A truly accessible and usable website, easy for users to complete your goal for them
• A greater level of understanding of special needs' users and buy-in into accessibility

What you'll receive after the accessibility testing

Following the completion of the accessibility testing you'll receive a full report on the testing and an oral presentation summarising the main points. The report outlines the findings, both positive and negative, from the accessibility testing and offers specific recommendations for maximising your website's accessibility. You also receive a CD-ROM featuring a video of all the accessibility testing and a highlights clip.

During the accessibility testing

We strongly advise you come watch the accessibility testing live - it's truly an eye-opening experience. Testing takes place in our purpose-built usability lab and there's a viewing room next door with a two-way mirror between the two rooms. Using state-of-the-art software we are able to capture what the user is doing on-screen, together with audio commentary and a video of the user carrying out the test.

Abstract Technology can carry out accessibility testing with users from a range of special needs groups:

• Visually impaired (screen reader users)
• Partially sighted (screen magnifier users)
• Dyslexic
• Learning difficulties
• Motor impaired
• Elderly

During the accessibility testing participants are instructed to think aloud at all times. If they ever fall silent for more than a few seconds they're encouraged to keep talking. Our accessibility testers are expertly trained to ask questions and elicit thoughts in a non-biased and neutral manner. Throughout the sessions an experienced Abstract Technology moderator will sit with each participant and prompt for feedback.

Before the accessibility testing

Before the accessibility testing is carried out we always recommend carrying out an expert accessibility audit⁴ of your website. The accessibility audit is cheaper and quicker than accessibility testing, and will highlight issues that would have arisen straightaway in the accessibility testing. After you've made the necessary changes to the website we then carry out the accessibility testing.

Before conducting the accessibility testing, we design and prepare activities for participants so that they'll be completing real tasks on your site. The activities will be based on some of the common tasks that your site visitors regularly undertake. As standard, we run a pilot testing session before launching into the full accessibility testing.

Interested in how it can work for you? Please contact [email protected] for more information.