people. “No testing tools can replace a
developer who understands WCAG and
good user experience, alongside real
disabled users testing and iterating on
your websites,” Mason says.
We can build what we like, with new
tools for new platforms offering many
access points, but the true test of worth
resides with real users. So while the
points of access may constantly evolve,
do the fundamentals of accessibility
stay the same? Bolonio likes to quote
Webcredible founder Trenton Moss: “Web
accessibility isn’t brain science. It’s not
just about disabled users being able to
access your website – it’s about everyone
being able to access your website.”
Resources
Five popular a11y tools
recommended by our
contributorsAxe
https://www.deque.com/axe/
Axe, by Deque Systems, is a family
of tools that enables teams to test
the accessibility of web, Android
and iOS applications throughout the
development cycle, with Chrome and
Firefox extensions available.Pa11y
https://pa11y.org/
Pa11y’s free and open-source tools
include a useful command-line
interface for testing loaded web
pages for issues, in addition to a
Dashboard for graphically tracking daily
performance trends over time.WAVE Web
Accessibility Tool
https://wave.webaim.org/
WAVE comprises accessibility
evaluation tools including an online URL
checker, browser-based extensions,
plus site-wide APIs and solutions. Pope
Tech is an enterprise-level system,
with WAVE Runner being a paid data-
analysis service.VisibleThread
https://www.visiblethread.com
Geared towards optimising content for
clearer, more engaging communications
across the board, VisibleThread
provides measurable insights around
web auditing of spelling, link checking,
keyword discovery, readability and
much more.Accessibility Scanner
https://play.google.com/store/apps/
details?id=com.google.android.apps.
accessibility.auditor&hl=en_GB
This free mobile app from Google
Accessibility scans Android apps
in order to identify accessibility
improvements, with the ability to make
settings changes or post requests to
the app developers.While accessibility – and web design
itself – may diversify to embrace new
frontiers, the destination is always a
human one. “In regards to the definition
of accessibility evolving, I don’t think
it has,” O’Hara concludes. “However, I
think it is being grouped with related
topics such as inclusive and universal
design, user experience and progressive
enhancement. And it should be! Those
are all important topics that accessibility
needs to be a part of. But accessibility
continues to be about ensuring people
with disabilities can access – and are
not discriminated against when using –
websites or applications we’ve built. It’s
important that remains clear.”The new frontier of accessibility
“THE MOST VALUABLE THING OFFERED
BY INNOVATIVE TECH IS HOW IT
SUPPORTS HUMANS AND OUR REALITY”
Above Ben Leach, digital marketing
and PR Exec, HeX ProductionsBelow WebGL is already allowing
designers to render graphically rich
scenes and UIs within the browser
but it poses barriers in terms of
accessibility that must be addressed