Why Should You Automate Web Accessibility Testing?
Simply because manual testing takes time and is costly. Automation saves you time, effort and money. Leveraging automated tools and software is a great way to offload that workload. By automating your web accessibility tests, you will have more time to focus on what matters the most for your business.
5 Great Benefits Of Automated Web Accessibility:
- By implementing an automated solution, you reduce human error.
- Automation helps to ensure that accessibility standards are met consistently across a website.
- Identify and fix accessibility issues early in the development process, saving you time and money in the long run.
- Integrating accessibility tests as part of the build process.
- Automation increases the coverage of accessibility testing, allowing more aspects of a website’s accessibility to be checked.
What Is Axe-Core?
Axe-core is the world’s leading automated accessibility testing engine, it’s simple to use, lightweight and highly configurable.
It is used for checking accessibility violations on websites and HTML-based user interfaces. Axe-core can find 57% of WCAG issues automatically. It will also return elements as ‘incomplete’ where Axe-core is not certain, for further manual review. Axe-core needs a browser to run, which is why it’s often used with automation tools like Selenium.
The Benefits Of Using Axe-Core:
- No False positives.
- It’s fast, secure and lightweight.
- It’s open source; everyone can use it for free.
- It’s maintained by Deque Systems, an accessibility behemoth.
- It integrates seamlessly to your current functional/acceptance tests.
- It determines which rules to check based on the evaluation context.
- It works with modern web browsers, tools, frameworks, libraries and environments.
- It supports static fixtures, in-memory fixtures, integration tests and iframes of any depth.
Axe-core supports the following web browsers:
- Microsoft Edge v40 and above
- Google Chrome v42 and above
- Mozilla Firefox v38 and above
- Apple Safari v7 and above
It supports the following accessibility standards:
- WCAG 2.0
- WCAG 2.1
- Section 508
What Is Selenium?
Selenium is an open-source user interface automation testing suite for web applications. Selenium can automate all modern web browsers and it runs on all major operating systems. Selenium scripts can be written in Python, Java, C# and more.
Three Main components for the Selenium suite:
- Selenium WebDriver
- Selenium IDE
- Selenium Grid
Selenium WebDriver
The Selenium WebDriver is a tool that allows developers to automate web browsers. It’s mainly used for automating testing of web applications. You can create scripts that automate tasks in a web browser, such as clicking buttons and links, filling forms and verifying that certain elements are present on a page. It allows you to quickly and easily test the functionality of a website. Selenium also gives you the option of either running a web browser headless or non-headless. The key difference being that a headless browser runs in the background without a graphical user interface (GUI) and is usually faster. And a non-headless browser runs as a real browser with a graphical user interface.
Selenium IDE
The Selenium IDE is a browser extension for Google Chrome and Firefox. It’s beginner friendly and works out of the box. With its simple UI, you can easily automate website testing in a couple of clicks. It has extensive control flow commands like if, while and times. It can also be extended with plugins for more commands and integration with third-party services.
Selenium Grid
The Selenium Grid is used to run multiple instances of WebDriver scripts on remote machines. This is useful if you need more processing power, it’s also a great way to test on different browser and platform versions.
Setting Up Environment to run an Automated Web Accessibility Audit
Let’s see how you can set up your environment to run an automated web accessibility test using Axe-core, Selenium and Chrome Driver in Java:
1. You should already have Java JDK installed and downloaded ChromeDriver, as we will be using Chrome as our web browser to test web accessibility.
2. We will be using Maven as our project manager, so you should already have created a Maven project.
3. Now let’s open the pom.xml file inside the Maven project you’ve just created and add the following dependencies:
<dependency>
<groupId>org.webdriver</groupId>
<artifactId>selenium-java</artifactId>
<version>3.141.59</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<groupId>com.deque.axe-selenium</groupId>
<artifactId>axe-selenium-java</artifactId>
<version>4.0.0</version>
</dependency>
4. Now run nvm install inside your Maven project directory to install the dependencies.
5. Now you should be able to run Axe-core and Selenium inside your Maven project.
Let’s run a test script!
Running A Basic Test In Java
Here’s a simple script written in Java that uses Axe core, Selenium and Chrome Driver.
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeDriver;
import com.deque.axe.AXE;
import org.json.JSONArray;
import org.json.JSONObject;
public class AccessibilityTest {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Set up Chrome driver
System.setProperty("webdriver.chrome.driver", "/path/to/chromedriver");
WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();
// Open the page to test
driver.get("http://www.example.com");
// Run Axe-Core
JSONObject response = new AXE.Builder(driver, "axe.min.js").analyze();
// Print the results
JSONArray violations = response.getJSONArray("violations");
if (violations.length() > 0) {
System.out.println("Accessibility issues found:");
for (int i = 0; i < violations.length(); i++) {
JSONObject violation = violations.getJSONObject(i);
System.out.println(violation.getString("help"));
}
} else {
System.out.println("No accessibility issues found.");
}
// Close the driver
driver.quit();
}
}
This is how the script works:
1. This script launches a Chrome Driver instance.
2. It loads the website we want to test.
3. It then runs Axe-core and injects axe.min.js into the webpage.
4. Finally, it outputs the results to the console.
Conclusion
Running automated web accessibility tests is easier than ever with Axe core and Selenium. Manual testing takes time, effort and money. Implementing an automated solution is the best thing you do for the future of your business.
Overall, automating web accessibility tests will improve the accessibility of your website and make it more inclusive for users with disabilities.
ARIA stands for Accessible Rich Internet Application. ARIA is a collection of attributes and roles that act as add-ons to complement HTML for complex web applications, particularly those built using Javascript.
It helps make the applications accessible for assistive technology that is otherwise not possible with the use of native HTML alone. Some examples are dynamic content and user controls like error messages, tool tips, live regions.
Becoming ever so popular with web developers looking to make applications accessible, ARIA if misused can cause an inaccessible experience for a user. Which is the case today, as we see code stuffed with ARIA. It helps understanding the WAI-ARIA rules, which are not easy to decipher so we have tried to explain it in simple language.
Let’s take a look at the 5 rules of ARIA below with some examples.
ARIA rule # 1: Don’t use ARIA!
If you can use a native HTML element or attribute instead, then do so.
If you shouldn’t use ARIA, then when can you use it?
If it’s not possible use a native HTML element or attribute because:
- It doesn’t exist
- It can’t be styled or,
- There is no support
Here is one common example of incorrect ARIA usage, I’ve seen:
(I had to mediate an argument between a dev and a tester just last week 🙂)
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲:
<a href=”/example.com/about/” role=”button”> Read more </a>
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁?
Role = button tells a screen reader it is a button element,
But it doesn’t provide the functionality of a button.
So they tried to “fake” it as a button by using an <a> tag.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆:
<button type=”button”>Read more about ARIA </button>
𝗪𝗵𝘆?
<button> is a native HTML element and is perfectly accessible.
Here is a Link to ARIA cheat sheet. One of the best I’ve seen in the industry and I’d highly advise you to refer to it when in doubt.
ARIA rule # 2 : Do not change native semantics, unless you really, really, truly have to.
For example: A developer wants to build a heading that’s a tab.
Do not do this:
<𝗵𝟮 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲=𝘁𝗮𝗯>heading tab</𝗵𝟮>
Do this:
<div 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲=𝘁𝗮𝗯><𝗵𝟮>heading tab</𝗵𝟮></div>
The Role feature: Defines what an element does.
Some roles duplicate the semantic value of HTML5 elements : nav, aside
Others describe the page structure : banner, search, tablist, tab
ARIA attributes don’t affect the web page itself.
They only provide information to screen readers.
Use ARIA wisely.
ARIA rule # 3 : All interactive ARIA controls must be usable with a keyboard.
Native HTML interactive elements are keyboard accessible.
A custom control, needs to receive focus and the user be able to activate it with:
Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac) keys, and Space key
What this means in simple terms is:
A custom control like a button for example, must work with the keyboard as a native button element would.
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 1
Buttons created using <span> or <div>
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝘅:
Create button using <button> or <input>
Common mistake 2:
Links created using <span> or <div>
How to fix:
Create links using <a>
Common mistake 3:
tabindex = “-1”
How to fix:
tabindex = “0”
𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅:
If you create an interactive element yourself, use tabindex to make it focusable
tabindex = “0” adds focus
tabindex = “-1” removes it from the tab order

ARIA rule # 4: Don’t use role = “presentation” or aria-hidden = “true” on a focusable element.
Let’s understand the attributes first.
role=”presentation ” or role =”none” removes the ARIA semantics from the accessibility tree.
When is it used?
When an element is used for presentation only and does not have accessibility purposes.
aria-hidden is also used to hide non-interactive content from a screen reader.
When is it used?
When you want to hide elements like:
Decorative items like icons or images that have no meaning/context
Collapsed items such as menus
Duplicate content
When are the attributes used?
aria-hidden =”true” will remove the entire element from the accessibility tree.
role=”presentation ” and role=”none” will remove the meaning of the element but still expose its content to a screen reader.





ARIA Rule # 5: All interactive elements must have an accessible name.
Accessible names help assistive technology users understand how to interact with an element.
Let’s look at what interactive elements are.
Interactive elements are:
- Links
- Buttons
- Text fields
- Checkboxes
- Combo boxes
- Radio buttons
An accessible name can be generated from a native HTML element’s content:
<button> uses the content between the opening and closing tags as its accessible name </button>
The <label> in a form will pull the content associated with its input as its accessible name.
If none of these options are available, use aria-label to define the accessible name of the element:
aria-label – text that labels the element is not visible.
aria-labelledby – visible text that labels the element.
aria-describedby – additional instructions for the input to users.
Conclusion
Now we understand what ARIA is and how it is used. We’ve also seen the benefits of using native HTML to make applications accessible out-of-the-box.
My key takeaway to prevent “excessive” ARIA use is by remembering one thing:
You don’t always need to provide instructions to screen readers only.
If the instructions are important enough, provide them to every user.
That’s what makes the best user experience.
Accessible products don’t just happen. They start well before development, at the planning and design stages. It’s essential to start thinking about accessibility early and ensure you’re testing for it at all stages of the design and development lifecycle, including wireframes.
In this post, we’re focusing on steps to ensure that wireframe designs for new websites or apps are created with accessibility in mind. Make sure your team is trained to review wireframes thoroughly and that developers understand
How to translate clear wireframe designs into accessible HTML CSS content.
Cost-effective design
A good incentive when reminding designers to incorporate and check for accessible features is understanding the cost benefits. “Shifting left” to review and address accessibility issues early reduces the number of changes and fixes required down the road.
Annotations and explanations
Include annotations to explain the intent of design details. These can be provided as textual notes or as graphical flow charts or images. Be sure to explain the design intent so developers can decide how to create features in a way that is accessible for all users. For example, use annotations to describe the preferred appearance of the hover and focus states for buttons, so keyboard users will have a visual indication of the currently focused control.
Clear labels
When creating label names in the wireframe, think about the purpose and function of controls and links for the user, not the developer. Ensure that label names are logical and intuitive. Make sure they’re also unique on each form, for both usability and easier searches.
Labels should use plain language, avoid uncommon slang, acronyms, or terminology, and be simple and easy to understand for all users. For example, if an assistive technology user hears a screen reader describe a label or control as “previous” or “current,” this is not as helpful as clarifying “Previous Employer” or “Current Employer.” Similarly, links should describe briefly what the link will lead to or open, rather than just indicating, “Click here.”
Heading structure
Assistive devices like screen readers use tagged headings and subheadings to navigate web pages and sections of digital content. This helps individuals with low vision or those using assistive devices to search or scan content, by choosing to hear all the headings on the page.
Nested heading structure is an essential feature for content accessibility and organization. The wireframe designer should include a clear list and description of all headings and subheadings. Without documentation, a developer likely will not be able to determine the structure. Take time to double-check that the heading structure is consistent and logical, with subheadings nested in the appropriate order.
Focus order
Focus order – clarifying the order that elements on a page receive keyboard focus – is essential information for keyboard accessibility. Wireframes should indicate the focus order information clearly and specify the visible focus state.
Document hidden wayfinding cues
Users of screen readers benefit from wayfinding cues that can help them navigate a webpage. For example, including instructions for when to include “Bypass block links” allows screen reader users to skip over repetitive and unnecessary blocks of content rather than tabbing through unnecessary information. Refer to WCAG 2.4.1 for more information.
Describe these repetitive blocks in the wireframe so that developers can include these wayfinding cues. This helps ensure that users can tab once into a content area, but then skip to the next content area if they choose.
Testing wireframes
It’s challenging to do usability testing on a non-existing system, particularly with people with different types of disabilities (for example, dexterity, visual, hearing, cognitive). If it’s early in the design stage, try to find a similar tool or task on a functioning system and test its accessibility with users with disabilities.
If issues arise that are identified as “accessibility” bugs, ensure that these are prioritized and included with the rest of the workload and not as lower priorities that can be addressed after “core” features.
Taking the time to design clear wireframes and consider the accessibility for all design elements helps ensure that the wireframe is complete and usable for developers. Ideally, tested and approved wireframe designs can then be used as templates to help create accessible products with similar branding.
How AdvancedBytez can help
Beginning design review and testing as early as possible can solve or prevent up to 67% of potential bugs. This number is frequently referenced in the accessibility industry, and refers to a Deque case study.
The typical steps to review wireframe designs include (1) a site map design review, (2) a review of the layout with no color, followed by (3) a review of the layout with color.
1. Site map design review
Following a Shift-Left approach, AdvancedBytez encourages our clients to begin their accessibility design review at the site map stage.
Technically, the site map is a hierarchical listing of a website’s pages. Practically, it should act as an ongoing guide for developers for each project, providing details about each page’s purpose, content, functionality, and flow.
AdvancedBytez can review your sitemap design and help ensure that it includes all items needed for clear and accessible utility navigation, main page and secondary pages, and footer navigation. We can provide recommendations for clear guidelines, logical page content, and suggestions for combining or eliminating pages.
A sitemap design review will help ensure a clear, concise, and accessible flow to help your developers create a user-friendly, accessible website.
2. Review of wireframe layout with no color
Also referred to as a low-fidelity wireframe review, AdvancedBytez tests low-fidelity wireframes (the foundation of visual designs but without colors or images) by focusing on accessible placement of assets and content for each template.

Working with designers and design teams, elements such as buttons and interface widgets are tested with a screen reader.
3. Review of wireframe layout with color
High-fidelity wireframe testing involves reviewing a more complete representation of the end product.
After any design changes are made based on earlier site maps and low-fidelity review feedback, we then test color contrast, font usage, and complex interactions. In this third stage, we review usability and provide results of user interaction testing with the graphics, spacing, and user interface (UI).

Sitemaps and wireframes take time to create because they’re essential tools in helping developers create usable and accessible websites and apps.
Make sure your team is trained to review wireframes thoroughly and create clear and complete guidelines for your developers. Consider having AdvancedBytez test these tools–we can help ensure developers have everything they need to translate design wireframes into accessible HTML CSS and user-friendly content.
If you are a small business owner, you may or may not have the skillset to build an accessible website from scratch. If learned, this simple skill can save you a whole lot of money that you can invest elsewhere.
WordPress is one of the most popular platforms to build websites, and 43% of websites are built on this platform globally. With WordPress’ visual components, anyone can build a website on this platform. And, there are many tutorials that can help you in each step of this process.
But what about accessibility?
Building accessibility into the web development process right from the design phase is essential to avoid future rework. This includes starting from the branding and progressing to sketching out the navigation and page structure even before starting on the development. It would increase your site’s outreach as everyone, including people with disabilities, can also access your website’s information.
In this guide, we’ll discuss all the steps that you should consider for building an accessible WordPress website. So, let’s get started.
Things to Consider while building an accessible WordPress website
Part 1: Accessible WordPress Themes
There are many free accessibility ready themes available and even some paid ones on Theme Forest.
First, what is a Theme?
A WordPress theme is a set of files compiled together that include page templates written in PHP, CSS, and some Javascript. It is a ready to use tool that defines the layout and design of your website. Themes set the appearance of the site that includes the page layout, color palette, typography, and other design elements like buttons and menus.
When you first install WordPress there is a default theme that comes with it. You can change the theme to meet your needs.
Themes and Accessibility
Choosing the right theme will make your website easier to navigate, look good and provide a good user experience for your visitors.
It’s that much more important when it comes to Accessibility to choose the right theme. We know that a theme outlines markup, navigation, layout and design elements. An accessibility ready theme is responsible for making these accessible already so you don’t have to hand code it.
Some items to look out for when selecting an accessibility theme-
- Skip Links – Skip links make it easy for screen readers to jump straight to the main content of the website without having to navigate through all the menu items to get to it.
You can test this by hitting the tab key on your keyboard.
A link should appear at the top left hand corner of the webpage right under the address toolbar that says “Skip to main navigation” or something similar.

- Menu Navigation – Ensure that all the menu and submenu items expand and collapse with a keyboard and screen reader, and that you are able to traverse through all interactive elements before getting to the main content.
You should also be able to access links, buttons, and form fields with a keyboard only.
- Color Contrast – WCAG 2.0 requires a minimum color contrast of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. WCAG 2.1 requires at least 3:1 for graphics.
- Visible Focus – Do all interactive elements like menu items, buttons, and links have a visible focus indicator around it?
How to find Accessible Themes?
- Navigate to wordpress.org
- Select Themes
- Select the Feature Filter option for the drop down menu and apply the filter

We would suggest that you do your due diligence and research each of the themes by visiting the theme homepage and check for the features mentioned above.
You could always stress test them by installing the themes and trying to navigate with a keyboard or a screen reader to see if they are actually accessible. A little bit of research will go a long way.
We are big fans of WebMan Design by Oliver Juhas who makes EU compliant Accessible themes.
Some of his popular themes are:
- Angelica– Online shops
- Cindy– Local Government websites
- Polyclinic – Medical Service Provider
- Bjork– Premium business portfolio
- Icelander– Premium business portfolio
- Eimear – eCommerce
- Monument Valley – Business portfolio
Part 2 : Create an accessible WordPress theme
WordPress gives you the option of building an accessible theme on your own.
If you are a little more confident about your technical skills, you can go on to build an accessible theme.
For most of our clients who require custom builds, we use Underscores as a starter theme and build upon it to have more control over the page templates.
Some other good themes to customize are Astra, Genesis and GeneratePress.
Once you select your base theme to modify you can follow the following steps to build upon it:
- Select the applicable accessibility standards you want to meet. Are you in the EU, US, Canada? Different countries have different regulations. When in doubt which laws you have to adhere to, always refer to the latest standard of WCAG – currently WCAG 2.1.
- WordPress also has a set of dedicated guidelines on building accessibility themes. We recommend you read this list to understand the process of building accessible themes.
Here is a non-exhaustive checklist to look out for when building your accessible wordpress site:
- Alt text
- Links Descriptions
- Typography
- Color Contrast
- Semantic Headings
- Skip Links
- Use of Native HTML elements
- Visible Focus
- Tabindex
- Keyboard Accessible Navigation
Adding alternative text for media files
Most websites these days are filled with media-rich, non-textual content. While we understand that this is a great way to engage your website visitors, this could be a reason why people with disabilities are unable to access the information on your site.
People with disabilities use a screen reader to access the information on websites. A screen reader can only depict text content and it cannot describe the images to the visitors. Similarly, if you are starting a podcast, someone with hearing disabilities cannot access it.
One of the best accessibility practices that can simplify this situation is adding text alternatives, wherever you use images or other media files. It will work as a descriptive text to the image you are using and guide people with disabilities regarding the information underneath.

Adding alt text to a WordPress site is pretty easy, as you can see in the above image, there is a specific place for adding alt text, for each image you upload. So, there should be no difficulties in doing this right.
Similarly, if you are planning to start a podcast, it is ideal that you add transcripts so that a user who is unable to access the audio can still consume the information you are sharing.
Add link descriptions
Assistive technologies like screen readers jump from one link to another to navigate across your website. So, to make sure that the users are reaching the right web pages, it is recommended to add appropriate link text and descriptions.
When using a Call-to-action, don’t use generic link texts like “Add link descriptions ” or “Find out more”. Replace these CTAs with “Click here to read about…” or something that conveys the purpose of the CTA to people with disabilities.

Typography
Size 16px is the recommended font size for the body text, also ensuring that the text can be zoomed to 200% without being distorted.
Fonts that belong to the Sans Serif family are recommended for readability, and here are some of the fonts that we recommend:
FONT NAME | COMMENTS |
Verdana | Commonly found font designed by Microsoft |
Lucida Sans | Large x-height making it readable at all sizes |
Tahoma | Another Microsoft font |
Helvetica | Traditionally a print font, it is available on most Operating Systems by default |
Arial | Similar to Helvetica |
Calibri | Commonly found font in Windows with good distinct characters |
Pro tip: When using CSS, set the font size in relative terms (%, em). This will allow fonts to be displayed relative to a particular device that it is being displayed on.
Semantic Headings
A structured heading order benefits screen readers, visual users and Google. Google? Yes, it helps in SEO when you have a semantic heading structure. Read this article on SEO and Accessibility to learn more about the relationship between the two.
Heading best practices:
- Have one H1 per page
- No more than two H2
Follow a logical heading order without skipping heading levels.
A good heading structure would look like the following
<H1>
<H2>
<H3>
<H3>
<H4>
Skip Links
As we mentioned in the features to look out for when selecting WordPress themes, skip links are necessary for screen readers to bypass long chunks of navigation and go straight to the main content on the page.
They are usually controlled by CSS and can either be hidden or made permanently visible above the header. In most cases, they are hidden by CSS.
This is how the HTML would look like –
<header>
<a href=”#main” class=”skip”>Skip to main content</a>
</header>
<main id=”main”>
A main ID is needed to link it with an anchor.
Because we had a skip class in the HTML, we will be able to hide it with CSS.
.skip {
position: absolute;
left: -10000px;
top: auto;
width: 1px;
height: 1px;
overflow: hidden;
}
The link needs to be focused when it is visible, and this is controlled by CSS as well
.skip:focus {
position: static;
width: auto;
height: auto;
}
Use of Native HTML elements
If you use native HTML elements the way they are meant to be used, you will have a perfectly accessible website and won’t even need to use ARIA.
This is because native HTML elements are accessible by default especially <button>
- They have keyboard focus
- The role helps screen readers understand the function
- They can be activated with Enter or Space keys
Keyboard Accessible Navigation
A user should be able to navigate through a page by using Tab to move forward and Shift + Tab to go backward.
Enter and Space keys should activate the element.
All interactive elements should be navigable and activated with the keyboard. Some interactive elements are:
- Combo boxes
- Radio buttons
- Checkboxes
- Text fields
- Buttons
- Links
Visible Focus
Not all users use screen readers, but use a keyboard only to navigate a page. When they do, there needs to be a visible focus indicator around an interactive element.
You can use the syntax :focus-visible to apply a focus outline.
Tabindex
Tabindex is very useful in setting the order of the focus as a user traverses through the page using the tab key.
When and How to use Tabindex values
tabindex = “-1”
This value doesn’t put the element on the tab order of the page.
tabindex = “0”
Will make an element focusable.
Tabindex > “0”
Any value greater than 0 is not recommended as it makes it difficult for users of assistive technology to navigate and interact with the page content.
For example, tabindex = “3” means that the element will be focused in the order defined by the number value. So tabindex = “1” and tabindex = “2” will have to be focused in order before arriving at tabindex =”3”.
These are only scratching the surface of WordPress accessibility, but it’s a good place to begin. The use of HTML and CSS best practices will help solidify a base for good user experience and an accessible website.
Part 3: Accessibility testing and reporting
Accessibility testing should be performed at every stage of building a website and before moving onto the next process. Use a free, automated Chrome extension called LERA to :
- Test the accessibility status of your website against the WCAG guidelines
- Experience automated testing and reporting of the accessibility issues and fixes in a downloadable report
- Test as many URLs as you like to ensure that the entire website is accessible
Final Thoughts
Building an accessible website on WordPress is not difficult at all as you don’t need excessive technical skills to use this platform. If you select a good accessible theme and use it as intended out of the box without modifying it too much, you will be set up with a good accessible website.
If you require custom accessibility compliant websites in WordPress you can reach out to us at info@advancedbytez.com.
Happy Coding.
Understanding the need for accessibility
Why aren’t all new digital products accessible?
A major reason is that not everyone views accessibility as a mandatory requirement. Accessibility is too often seen as optional and only prioritized if time or resources are available. But access for everyone is becoming a requirement throughout the web development lifecycle and not just an extra feature.
A common misconception is that minimal compliance with accessibility legislation results in accessible products and services. But it takes more than that. To produce a truly accessible product, responsibility needs to be shared across product teams. Specific responsibilities need to be assigned to and carried out by individual team members.
How successful someone is in carrying out their role is based partly on their understanding of how to use tools and technology. But another big part of success is their awareness of the importance of accessibility.
Everyone has a role
Everyone involved in developing digital technology has a role. Before assigning responsibility (or blame) to different IT roles or departments, begin by making sure that each of your team members understands the importance of accessibility. Ask this question to each team member, starting at the top of the organization and at each project launch: “Is accessibility viewed as a priority by everyone and do you know how to create an accessible product?”
Understanding the objectives of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards might mean that designers and developers need to look at the web development lifecycle differently. To create an environment where everyone feels responsible for creating accessible products can mean that planning, hiring, training, design, content development, and testing practices of an organization might need to change. And change is never easy, even when it’s needed.
Who’s responsible for creating accessible digital products?
Ultimately, everyone is responsible for accessible digital design. Whether you’re involved in the planning and design stages, development, or content creation and testing, all teams need to consider accessibility and to work together.
In its Inclusive Design Toolkit, the Ontario government describes the following roles as being responsible for the accessibility of digital design.

Source: https://www.ontario.ca/page/inclusive-design-toolkit
Some readers might be thinking that it’s unrealistic – particularly for smaller developers and businesses – to have all of these team members available for all development projects. Keep in mind that having this many designated team members represents an ideal but all too rare scenario. There are options available for smaller organizations that are committed to accessibility but who don’t have the resources available to create a range of dedicated accessibility roles.
For example, having or assigning an in-house Accessibility Coordinator or accessibility champion can help ensure there’s one point of contact for the rest of the development team to consult. That individual can stay up-to-date on best practices, provide guidance and troubleshooting support at various stages of design and development, and collaborate with external groups when needed.
That said, if your organization has the resources to build a broad digital accessibility team, here’s a breakdown of the ideal accessibility team members.
1. Policy and Research team
Policy and Research teams research and explains user needs to those funding and developing the product, making sure that the needs of people with disabilities are included. The Product Manager prioritizes tasks of the digital product being developed, including accessibility activities. An Accessibility Advisor or “guru”, preferably with lived experience as a person facing barriers to accessibility, provides training and advice throughout the project, as needed.
2. Project Manager
The Project Manager has an essential ongoing role, responsible for considering accessibility at each step of the web development lifecycle. They assemble the product development and testing team, ensuring communication of the requirement for accessible web & software development, and with support for accessibility training where needed. They allocate responsibilities and resources as needed to support a commitment to accessibility. And they review accessibility at each milestone, ensuring that they are aware of any accessibility limitations and assigning resources to resolve issues or plan for workarounds.
3. UI and UX Designers
The UI and UX Designers understand accessible design requirements. They work together to design a product look and feel with accessible design elements. This includes an appropriately high level of contrast, accessible fonts and layout, and an intuitive design of required accessibility and product features. They then ensure that usability and accessibility of the design are tested and involve both commonly used assistive devices and people with various types of disabilities.
4. Developer
The Developer is responsible for implementing accessible code. How developers use programming languages creates a presentation layer. Since web or app developers are responsible for coding interfaces, they are responsible for translating needs, tasks, and design goals into technical applications. Their work determines how the user interacts with the digital product and how the product responds to input.
The front-end development function covers tasks and quality control associated with HTML and CSS integration, as well as the programming of proposed scripts and applications. There’s a way to guide screen reader software, and even some of the hardware inputs, by using effective HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
5. Content Writer
The Writer creates and edits written content with accessibility in mind, including use of plain language and testing of reading level. They are responsible for writing clear labels and structuring content with a logical, clear flow. Content needs to be structured in a user-friendly and intuitive way for navigation. Anyone using the page should be able to understand what the main sections of the site are and be able to navigate through the content.
6. Quality Analyst
QA then follows a test plan that ideally incorporates testing for accessibility. When QA checks for problems and tests for accessibility, preferably working with users with disabilities. Assessing an interface and product design and functionality in terms of accessibility helps uncover issues that generally have impact on all users. Ideally, testers should have standard scripts they can run related to accessibility requirements and features. QA testers are often the “last line of defense” in identifying accessibility issues. These should be returned as bugs and be fixed as priorities before a digital product is released.
Create an inclusive team
Creating an inclusive team is a big part of creating an inclusive work environment and inclusive products. When designing and developing digital products, be sure to include people with disabilities and from other underrepresented groups on your team.
Ensuring diversity in your product management, design, research, development, and test teams will lead to digital products that are accessible to a broader audience and, ultimately, to more success for your organization.
How can AdvancedBytez help?
Whether you’re a small or large organization, AdvancedBytez can help support your accessibility team. Contact us for information on our services, including:
· A free consultation – Discuss your needs with an AdvancedBytez digital accessibility expert.
· An accessibility audit – We can assess your application and provide a detailed manual audit against various WCAG conformance levels.
· Remediation support – We’ll recommend solutions for identified issues and help fix your code to create a more accessible application.
· Accessibility tools – AdvancedBytez offers a free automated accessibility reporting tool, LERA. Available as a Chrome browser extension for Windows, LERA scans for automated issues and creates a report available for download as a pre-formatted Excel sheet.
Why Digital Accessibility Matters?
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are mentioned as business priorities more and more in the past few years. Ensuring your business and its products and services are more accessible to all creates a more inclusive society.
Digital accessibility is a big part of creating an inclusive environment. When leadership and team members understand the importance of inclusion and why digital accessibility matters, it’s much easier to implement policies and practices that your team will adhere to.
At least 20 percent of the population * self-identify as living with one or more disabilities that affect their day-to-day lifestyle. And this number is growing, due to an aging population, due to COVID-19 and the related increase in long-term and chronic health issues, and due to reduced stigma in self-identifying as a person living with a disability.
Businesses already need to comply with accessibility and human rights legislation. They also don’t want to exclude approximately one-quarter of the population as potential customers.
Accessible design is not just for the “disability market.” Curb cuts at intersections were originally designed to assist people using wheelchairs and walkers cross the street safely. Most people would agree that these “accessibility features” work better for everyone. Accessibility features in technology work the same way – they create more options and better experiences for all users.
As a project manager or software developer, It’s important to ensure that digital accessibility is built into your team’s product development lifecycle. The key is to start at the beginning of the process and make sure you consider accessibility at each step along the way.
Here are some hints and tips to help ensure you’re creating more accessible and inclusive products.
Accessible Product Development Starts with Shift Left
With a traditional create, break, then fix approach, developer resources often go towards fixing or redesigning issues late in the process or after software is released. This can be an inefficient and costly use of resources, keeping businesses in a reactive cycle of addressing problems and complaints.
When product development stages are viewed as a left-to-right linear process, incorporating testing earlier in the process is a “shift left” from the traditional development cycle. Shift Left has become more common for developer teams because it can deliver better quality code and lower the cost of creating digital products.
For developers to avoid creating accessibility barriers, you need to build digital accessibility into the entire product development lifecycle. Start early, with research and planning, product design and development, user testing and QA, marketing, training, and customer support. This creates a more efficient, user-friendly, and budget-friendly process.
Why Accessibility Matters at Every Stage?
Even before a project is confirmed, it’s important to consider how accessibility for all users can be addressed in establishing a project’s goals and objectives. Before a commitment is made to launch a new project, take time to research current accessibility requirements and best practices.
1. Start at the planning stage
The project manager sets the tone of the project. Their attitude and communication, their decisions and actions, guide the rest of the team. They need to understand both legal requirements and organizational goals and priorities related to accessibility. And they need to communicate these goals and priorities clearly to team members.
Is the project manager familiar with WCAG standards, AODA (or ADA or other legislative) requirements, current technology used by people with disabilities, team members with training and/or lived experience with dealing with accessibility barriers, and how and when to test for accessibility during design and development?
Developers, testers, and team leads assigned to a project must be familiar with accessible product design. If no experienced or trained resources are available, it should be a requirement that new hires are sought or that the time and resources will be available for project members to receive adequate training prior to project launch.
Nothing communicates a priority as much as where time and money are invested. Leadership (and money) comes from the top.
2. Build an inclusive team
Do your HR team and hiring managers understand how to build an inclusive team with members who understand the need for digital accessibility as a priority? Do they include “knowledge of WCAG” or “an understanding of accessibility best practices” in job postings, interview questions, training and performance management goals, and evaluation processes?
Make sure your organization is building a diverse and inclusive team and that you don’t stop growing because you’ve identified one or two “accessibility people” on hand for short-term use.
Every team member should be aware of accessibility barriers they might be contributing to and what they need to do to remove or prevent those barriers.
3. Know your audience
How will your customers use the product? It’s important to understand different input and interaction styles, and different settings of various assistive devices. Which browsers, operating systems, and devices are you designing for and supporting? Are these compatible with current and common assistive devices and accessibility tools? What software will be used to design, development, and test the product?
How many of your developers have actual experience working with people with disabilities as they test a product? How many have seen how various assistive devices or tools work (or don’t work) with the software they’re developing? Direct contact with end users helps create better products.
4. Include accessibility as a success criteria
What does success look like, for your organization, your project, your product, and your users?
Who is involved in determining acceptance criteria for accessibility? It takes more than just adding a Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) checklist or style guide to the testing process to create truly accessible and inclusive products. But a few more steps are needed to ensure user-friendly, engaging, intuitive, and effective online products.
WCAG 2.1 AA is considered a minimum requirement by most legislation, but higher standards are becoming more common and expected when adopting best practices. Is your team including accessibility features such as creating style tags with CSS rather than HTML elements; ensuring videos have captions and, ideally, transcripts available; or providing accessibility troubleshooting information to customer support teams?
5. Accessibility is an ongoing goal
After the product is developed and is being used by customers, it’s important to continue monitoring its success. Does the product work for its users? How do you know? Is the process for users to provide feedback and complaints accessible and easy to use? How are complaints tracked, monitored, and resolved?
Do your customer support and software maintenance teams understand potential accessibility issues or barriers with the final product? Have they been trained on how to communicate with people with various types of disabilities? Are they aware of how to assist users facing barriers with problem solving or workarounds?
6. Ensure that accessibility is part of every product development process
Following a project, project reviews or post-mortems are often held. Feedback and learnings from mistakes are not always applied to create improvements in future projects.
When it comes to identifying accessibility mistakes or barriers that have been created during product development, it’s important to acknowledge them and work to prevent them from happening again.
Accessibility issues can be identified during product testing, through user accessibility complaints, or from costs arising from discrimination lawsuits. The important thing is to make the changes needed to improve the next product development process.
This could mean that accessibility features move from the “should have” to the “must have” column in product checklists during design, budgeting, training, development, and testing stages. It could mean that more time and resources are provided to ensure developers are trained, that appropriate software or hardware is purchased, or that adequate testing from accessibility professionals and those with lived experience becomes a priority.
Building digital accessibility into your team’s product development lifecycle does not happen overnight. Recognizing that accessibility is a priority and taking steps to make changes throughout an organization takes leadership, knowledge, and resources.
If you want to remove barriers and create inclusive products for all, Shift Left, start early, and consider how accessible your product is for all possible users, at all stages of the product development lifecycle.
* Footnote: The source is indicative of Canada, but similar percentages (20% or more) apply internationally.
A lot of time and effort goes into the website redesign process. Redesigning your website isn’t a one-time effort; it’s an ongoing process that will continue to shape your web presence for years to come. A well-planned website redesign strategy that considers all aspects of the process is crucial to the success of your redesign and longevity. Many agencies might want to dive right into it, but strategic planning and goal setting is paramount.
This table of contents provides an overview of all the important aspects you should consider to make your redesign a success.
1. Planning and Goal Setting
Define the goals and objectives of the site and create a project plan as if embarking on a client project. Emphasize the call for a plan beyond the launch for further maintenance and content creation.
During a website redesign, time spent planning is rewarding. These checklist points will help you evaluate the purpose for a redesign, and ensure that the activity prepares you for long-term digital success.
- Define the need for a redesign
Develop a business case for the new website. Is it really needed? What do you need to change? How many features do you need? Will the new design help you meet your organization’s goals, objectives, and more?
Use Google Analytics data to gauge the current website. The data that is collected on how visitors interact with your website will show you why and how they behave the way they do, providing insight on how to manipulate the site to provide a better experience.
Analyze competitors’ websites for functionality, features, and content completing a competitive analysis allows your organization to understand your strengths and weaknesses and identify industry trends.
- Log live performance of website
Understanding how your current website performs in terms of views, conversion rates, bounce rates, etc. can help you make decisions to improve the new site.
- Discover functional prerequisites
Don’t engage a vendor until you determine the functional and technical requirements of the website. These two criteria are important for selecting the right vendor for the project and will help guide the goals and strategy of your new website.
- Perform keyword research
Knowing your keywords and why people visit your site helps ensure that your SEO strategy is aligned with your website redesign strategy from inception.
- Create a website strategy
Having a clear understanding of your goals, objectives, and desires will help you to plan your strategy in a better way and how your new website needs to address them.
- Identify the value proposition for the new site
Identifying your USP will help you to leverage the purpose of your new site and maintain a strong brand that will still attract your target audience(s).
2. Selection of a content management system (CMS)
A new CMS might be your wingman as you move through the redesign process as it provides better support for your new website’s needs and structure.
Here are a few things to consider before zeroing in on the new CMS.
- Why do you need it?
- What are your pressing concerns and will this CMS solve them?
- Are the Additional features in the new CMS beneficial to you?
- Create usage scenarios
Usage scenarios will help you to understand the CMS and test whether it can be adapted to your daily workflow.
- Compare open source options vs. proprietary options
Most open-source software needs to be customized and may require additional support. List out the pros and cons of each CMS and compare them to make an informed decision to suit your organizational needs.
- Get hands-on experience
Check out how the CMS performs outside its demo environment with varied conditions and users. Make sure that it is user-friendly and performs all the tasks that your organization needs without jumping through hoops.
- Determine level of training and support
Every software has a downtime but it’s important to know how the vendors respond to it. Find out more about support and technical resources available at your disposal during downtime.
- Check references with similar organizations
Always check out references, testimonials, and reviews before jumping the gun.
3. Site structure
Analyzing your current site and deciding on a new site structure is a complex process. Here is a list of processes that will help you to organize your site’s structure.
- Create a site structure
Set up a site structure for organizing content which includes labeling systems, navigation systems, and search functions.
- Keep the organization and URLs the same as the current site
Consistent organization and URLs ensure a minimum amount of 301 redirects when the new site is launched.
- Document the site structure process
Documentation always helps, documenting blueprints and wireframes will help both freshers and experienced developers to easily manage the website during downtime or maintenance.
4. Visual design
Visual design is an essential part of redesigning however, it doesn’t need to be too stressful. Here are some steps for you to create a site that looks great and achieves all your redesign goals.
- Prioritize good design and good UX
An attractive and user-friendly website design is ideal. Make your design unique, but make sure it doesn’t interfere with the user’s experience.
- Decide design requirements
Research and decide on the elements that can be avoided on your website. Here are some things to consider before deciding on design requirements:
- Does your site require any specific colors or logos?
- Format of each page
- Navigation menu
Once you’ve done that, relax and let the designers get to work.
- Design with accessibility in mind
Every website should have some level of accessibility! Spending time and money on accessibility now will save you time, money, and the danger of litigation later.
- Create page mock-ups and prototypes
It is difficult to visualize a functioning website. Hence, create page mock-ups in Photoshop or HTML prototypes to give a clear idea of the finished project. Prototypes will help to avoid any ideas that looked good on paper but did not look appealing on screen.
- Take a true “mobile-first” approach
Before modifying your design for desktop and laptop computers, create and optimize it for mobile devices. Keep in mind that the structure and style of your site should work on all devices, including PCs, tablets, and smartphones.
- Don’t forget to speed
Just decreasing your loading time by one second can work wonders, loading time impacts your conversion rates. Optimize your site elements for better SEO and greater user experience.
- Create web standards
Create web standards so that the elements of the page such as colors, fonts, page layouts, logo usage, etc. remain consistent throughout the website.
5. Content review
Here are some steps to help you evaluate and optimize your content according to your target audience.
- Perform a content inventory
Before deciding on the new content take a look at your content inventory or current content available on your website. Evaluate them and add new content accordingly to build a quality content library.
- Perform a content audit
The next step is to eliminate redundant and outdated content which is not required for your website. This will help you to identify and fill the content gaps in your website.
- Choose someone to be responsible for content development
Assign at least one member of the team to handle only the content development of your organization and ensure it is on track with your redesign timeline.
- Get approval on all content
Get your content approved by the subject matter expert before it goes live on the website. This small check will help you to eliminate any unnecessary content on the website easily.
- Update editorial and style guide(s) as needed
Ensure that all your content follows the same consistent style on your website. Make sure to document the style guide so it is easy for authors and editors to adhere to these changes seamlessly.
6. Site development
The next phase of website redesign is the technical part which may be a little challenging for some organizations. Here are some steps to help you in site development.
- Build out templates in a CMS
Templates offer structure to your pages, while style sheets allow you to create a structure with a consistent appearance and feel.
- Optimize images, CSS, HTML
The use of optimized graphics, CSS, and HTML enables for a faster and more enjoyable web experience. To optimize code, use a minifier to remove comments, white space, and other irrelevant characters. Also, make sure that all photos are of the right size for the web (no more than they need to be) and in the right file format.
- Ensure your site is SEO-friendly
On-page SEO should be optimized for each page, and all material should have a compelling title and be updated with new information. Check to see if your site is using the proper keywords to draw in your intended audience. You’ll be much easier to find through organic search if you follow this process.
- Clean up content errors
If you want your hard work to pay off at launch, make sure your material is right, relevant, and free of errors. While the content audit is addressed in a previous stage, this step is critical in ensuring that new and migrated content is free of misspellings, broken links, and other problems.
- Monitor editorial guidelines
Once your editorial guidelines are in place, double-check that all content follows them. As new content is introduced, set expectations for your team to follow these rules.
- Run tests on templates
Your templates should ideally be ready to use so that content contributors may quickly make modifications or add new content once the site is live. This phase allows you to correct any template mistakes and ensure that your team can properly upload and edit content using them.
- Create a content migration strategy
Content is king, focus on quality content and take the help of content contributors to add more content to the site.
7. Testing
The penultimate step of website redesign may seem easy, Step 6 does, however, come with a caveat: testing should occur throughout the whole redesign process, not just at the conclusion. You’ll be able to easily complete the testing process if you perform continuous quality checks during each step of your website’s overhaul.
- Press Pause
Put the keyboard down! All site redesign work should be completed before final testing, and the content should be finalized.
- Develop a process to report errors
Determine the most effective method for test users to submit feedback and report website faults.
Here are some questions to ask before deciding the process.
- Should they email problems as they arise?
- Do you want to complete an assessment at the end?
- Is it possible to have a face-to-face discussion on their findings?
- Choose the method that is most effective for your group.
- Check everything on the site—and that means everything
With a fine-tooth comb, go over every aspect of the site. Examine text thoroughly for correctness, grammar, and spelling, as well as for SEO, accessibility, and overall compliance with editorial style rules and online standards.
- Pay attention to “invisible code”
Sometimes, what you can’t see has a huge impact on accessibility and SEO. Examine your code for appropriate tags and accessibility attributes, including meta descriptions, titles, alt text, labels, etc.
- Loop in the experts
Invite visitors with disabilities to test your site’s accessibility while you’re looking at the code. Technical staff should test server performance, security, valid code, and cross-browser and cross-platform compatibility at the same time.
- Get feedback from an internal audience
Before going public, give your internal audience a quick glimpse at the progress. This is a great way to get feedback from someone who isn’t involved in the redesign process. The more people who are willing to participate in testing, the better!
- Create a punch list of outstanding items
Create a list of outstanding items for the redesign team to address after the testing is completed and feedback has been analyzed. You’re ready to go once the changes are finished.
8. Launch and post-launch analysis
While the final stage may appear straightforward, there is a lot that goes into launching a website. When it comes to post-launch analysis, this checklist outlines some of the most important tasks to complete in order to preserve the quality of your new site.
- Check links
Be Careful while adding links and double-check to ensure that all links lead visitors exactly as intended not to the development site.
- Lorem Ipsum check
‘Lorem ipsum’ text is the placeholder content that is used in templates that website developers forget to remove and add original content. Next check for spelling, grammar, and more.
- Create a content editorial calendar
Create an editorial calendar to keep your website updated, new, and on track to accomplish your goals. Maintaining a content publishing schedule is critical, whether it’s updating content on pages or producing a blog post once a week.
- Continually check the site for quality assurance
As more content is posted to the site, review it for quality regularly. You want to contribute new or updated content, but you also want to make sure it’s accurate and free of errors.
- Set up meetings to review and maintain the site
The digital world is a continually changing environment. Meeting with your web staff frequently allows you to discuss current trends and how to develop your site to suit corporate goals and visitor needs.
- Check your site for accessibility
You should constantly check your site during the redesign process to see if it meets accessibility requirements. Post the launch, don’t allow images that need alt text to be published without it!
- Ensure SEO strategy is in place
Meet on a regular basis to discuss keyword strategy and analyze analytics to determine what organic search phrases people use to find your site.
- Use visitor feedback to make improvements
Send out surveys, emails, or anything else you can think of to get qualitative feedback from your website users. Learn what customers enjoy and don’t like, as well as what needs to be updated to fit their needs.
Online shopping is becoming more and more popular each day. Did you know that 76% of Americans are online shoppers?
However, the process of buying any product is different for each online shopper. To be more specific, there will be a significant percentage of buyers with disabilities, navigating through your online store can be a challenge for them.
With an accessible eCommerce store design, you can easily resolve these differences and offer a unique user experience to everyone. This article will explain why your eCommerce store requires an accessible design.
So, let’s dive in!
What does Accessibility mean for an eCommerce website?
Accessibility for eCommerce websites is all about creating an inclusive experience by ensuring that all customers have barrier-free access to your online store. This means, not limiting the eCommerce user experience for people with physical, cognitive, and situational disabilities.
If you are planning to build an accessible eCommerce website, include these three-pointers within your checklist ASAP:
- Perceivable Content – your eCommerce store’s content should be easily perceivable for people with disabilities. For example, people with visual impairment use a screen reader to perceive the content of your store. A screen reader cannot perceive non-text content, but non-text content matters a lot for eCommerce stores. So what you can do is add alt text wherever non-text content is present.
- Understandable – your online store design and content should be easily understandable. A simple user interface that is interactive as well as understandable for people with disabilities is what eCommerce stores should aim for.
- Easily operable – If your online store is easily operable, it would mean that everyone can function with it, with or without any disability. For example, your website design should be flexible enough to support navigation through the keyboard. Furthermore, if there are any CTAs, you must add a link description text that clearly explains the purpose of the CTA.
- Robust – The content within your eCommerce website should be easily interpreted by users with disabilities. It should be robust enough so that assistive technologies like screen readers can interpret it without any challenges.
Why should your eCommerce store be accessible? – Different types of Shoppers and Solutions to Help them
The primary reason behind building an accessible eCommerce website is to provide widespread access for all online shoppers. There are different types of online shoppers, struggling with a wide range of disabilities. You can only call your eCommerce store interactive only if it creates an inclusive user experience for everyone.
Here are the different types of online shoppers that you can come across and the solutions to make your online store a better place for them:
1. Shoppers with visual impairments
Who highlights that 1 billion people globally have severe blindness. This explains why eCommerce stores should invest in an accessible website design to assist shoppers with partial or complete impairment.
Here are some solutions:
- Create a site design that is compatible with screen readers and the latest version of any browser
- Your eCommerce store should have a simple UI. Try to limit flashy elements and loud designs
- Use high-contrast color schemes to easily differentiate between foregrounds and backgrounds so people with low vision can easily navigate the website.
2. Shoppers with colorblindness
Colorblindness is another major disability across the globe. 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women are colorblind worldwide. With a few simple changes, you can easily address this concern and build an effective online shopping experience for users.
Here are some simple solutions:
- The biggest concern for people with colorblindness is that they cannot differentiate between a few color combinations. Some color combinations that are affected by colorblindness are –
- Red-Green – the most common
- Blue-Yellow – less common
To address this, designers can refer to the color wheels and use the colors residing in the opposite ends of the wheel. These will be complementary colors and can create better UX.

- Another best practice for adding different elements to a web page involves the use of different patterns or textures to help users distinguish between various segments. It is also a good idea to add text labels to help them comprehend the website content easily.
3. Shoppers with hearing disabilities
Considering people with hearing disabilities should also be on your agenda when working on accessible design for your eCommerce store. People born with hearing disabilities face different kinds of challenges, which can reflect in their shopping experience. These include difficulty in listening to audio-only content, or accessing videos.
Here are some solutions to assist these shoppers:
- Start creating sign-language videos for different areas of your website. This is an expensive and time-consuming approach, but if you have the budget it will broaden your store’s outreach and ensure that more people can access your store.
- Some commonly used approaches involve the use of captions, subtitles, and transcripts to your audio and video content. These alternate forms of communication will provide information captured from the audio and video that could be otherwise not consumed by this group of people.
4. Shoppers with Cognitive Disabilities
There are many shoppers with cognitive disabilities and they face challenges when it comes to communication, understanding new tasks and performing them independently, and suffer from reduced memory and attention. Globally, 7% of online shoppers are aged above 65 and they face age-related challenges like terminal memory loss. Users with cognitive differences like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) also get distracted by too many pop-up ads on the websites.
Here are some ways to assist these shoppers:
- The web page layout of your eCommerce store should not be overly complex. Try to design a familiar and simple user interface without distractions like ads and pop-ups.
- eCommerce stores can also set frequent notifications and reminders to help elderly shoppers keep track of their online activities.
- Avoid distributing a single task over multiple tabs. This will help people with cognitive disabilities to remain focused on the task you want them to complete on a web page.
Final Words
We hope that the significance of accessibility for your eCommerce store is now clear. But the question is how would you know that your website is accessible and what are the areas you need to work on?
The answer to this question is – LERA.
LERA is a free accessibility reporting Chrome extension that can scan your eCommerce store for accessibility violations and suggest fixes for those issues. On LERA’s advanced dashboard, you can track all these accessibility violations and download the reports for free.
When developing a website, developers must keep in mind that user experience matters for everyone. Everybody doesn’t access websites in the same manner. Many such users are having different types of disabilities and impairments that restrict their user experience.
To ensure a positive experience for all users, it is a must that a website is accessible. An accessible website is equally attainable for everyone, with or without any disabilities.
AODA or Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act takes into account accessibility for the disabled citizens of Ontario. This Canadian law was passed in 2005 and it has established an accessibility standard for both public and private organizations based in the province of Ontario. AODA is largely based on the latest version of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
This blog will discuss more AODA compliance and how it can help your website in the long run.
What is AODA?
AODA, passed in 2005, is primarily based on the Ontarians Disabilities Act 2001. This compliance establishes certain accessibility standards for organizations (public and private) to ensure that Ontarians who are living with disabilities experience proper access to websites and the information within them.
It is essential to mention here that AODA compliance doesn’t replace the Ontario Human Rights Code, which forbids discrimination against people with disabilities. This compliance sets clear expectations and processes for enterprises to help them become AODA compliant.
Why should your website be AODA compliant?
Over 15% of Ontario’s population are living with some kind of disability. As an entrepreneur or developer, it is your responsibility to ensure that the information within your website is fully accessible to these people.
Here are some reasons why your website must be AODA compliant:
1. Being empathetic
The very first reason to develop an AODA compliant website is empathy. We know that more than 15% of the population of Ontario is living with disabilities. In that case, it should be a moral responsibility of companies and business owners to ensure that their websites create an inclusive experience for the users and ensure equal access to information. Websites should try to be empathetic toward them and ensure that they don’t face any barriers while navigating across your website.
2. To avoid penalties
Another major reason for being AODA compliant is to avoid the penalties. An individual guilty of AODA non-compliance can be fined up to $50000 each day while an organization guilty of the same violation will be fined $100000 per day.
3. Building a credible brand image
If you abide by the guidelines of AODA compliance, it would be the first step toward building a credible brand image. It can help you establish a reputation as an equal opportunity employer that allows everyone (with or without disabilities) to access information seamlessly.
4. To improve SEO
Proper implementation of accessibility guidelines to the website design can improve the organic presence of your site. In case you missed it, this article discusses in detail how having an accessible website makes it easier for search engines to evaluate and crawl your website. As a result, you can expect prompt improvement in search engine ranking.
5. For better outreach
A non-compliant website limits its target visitors. Only people without any disabilities can access information on those websites. Alternatively, by being AODA compliant, you can target a broad group of audiences and experience more leads getting converted into paid customers.
Who should comply with AODA?
Here are some pointers you must know about AODA compliance:
- Any public sector organization such as municipalities and educational institutions in Ontario should comply with AODA
- Commercial organizations selling products and services, having a minimum of 50 employees and at least one of them residing in Ontario, must also comply with AODA.
- The AODA compliance holds for new websites and existing websites that refresh content.
How do you know if your website is AODA compliant?
The best way to evaluate the accessibility status of your website is by conducting an accessibility audit. A combination of automated and manual audit methods are recommended. If you are starting out, here are our top 3 tools that we believe can help you out. To get the complete list please check out this article.
LERA is one of the best accessibility reporting Chrome extensions that perform an automated accessibility audit of your website and create a downloadable report highlighting all accessibility issues and potential fixes. LERA evaluates your website against WCAG 2.1, Level A, and AA success criteria to guide you in the accessibility design journey.
The next best web accessibility testing tool on our list is – Wave. It evaluates your website’s content with respect to different accessibility guidelines like WCAG. It can further conduct manual accessibility website testing to identify and fix the accessibility loopholes in your website.
Another web accessibility testing tool that you must try is Dynomapper. It allows developers to test the status of accessibility for any website within the browser. Additionally, you can generate comprehensive accessibility audit reports with Dynomapper to understand the accessibility issues and fixes better.
Final words
We hope you have a clear idea of AODA compliance and its significance for your website. The ultimate aim of founders is to make their websites accessible for everyone to add value to the target audiences. By complying with AODA, you can build an inclusive experience and welcome all your target visitors without any barriers.
Google Chrome holds 62.78% of the global market share when it comes to internet browsers. If you are a developer or website owner, you probably already have a stack full of Chrome extensions that expedite the web development process.
We recently reviewed a bunch of Chrome extensions that could come in handy for the developers. In this blog, we are listing those down along with our extensive feedback on each extension.
We are sure that using the right set of Chrome extensions can speed up your web development process. So, let’s dive in!
Best Chrome Extensions for Web Developers
1. Hiver
Hiver is a popular Google Chrome extension that assists internal teams in managing common inboxes from Gmail. Organizations can use Hiver to support internal teams and faster respond to complaints and support tickets. Hiver further helps developers monitor each issue assigned to them in real-time, until it has been resolved.
Key Features
- Manage help desks with a shared inbox
- Automate repetitive tasks and increase developers’ productivity
- Make internal team collaborations seamless with shared drafts, inboxes, and email templates
- Derive actionable insights on team performance through in-depth insights
2. WhatFont
WhatFont helps developers and website owners to identify the fonts within a website within seconds. Additionally, you can also identify details like color, size, and font weight with this Chrome extension. So, next time you are trying to collect some of the best web page examples, WhatFont can be the best tool to rely on.
Key Features
- Identify different font types and their families from any web page within seconds
- Developers can inspect a web font simply by hovering on them once
- The added advantage of using WhatFont is that it supports Google Font API
3. LERA
LERA is automated accessibility reporting Chrome extension. Developers often struggle to cover all the accessibility guidelines. With an accessibility auditing and reporting tool like LERA, they can uncover automated accessibility issues within the website and download the results in an Excel file. As a result, developers can speed up the process and ensure 100% access to information for everyone.
Key features
- Quick and free installation with a simple click
- Download in-depth accessibility audit report in Excel format with custom headers
- Audit multiple URLs and build a custom report
- Save and archive reports in a mini repository to compare results in the future
4. CSS Viewer
The next name on our list of developer-friendly Chrome extensions is CSS viewer. It shows the CSS properties, as you hover at any place within the web page. As soon as you hover on a webpage, you will see a pop-up window appearing that can show you the CSS codes implemented there.
Key Features
- CSS Viewer is a secured extension that asks for permission to access your website data
- With a simple click, developers can install CSS viewer and hover on any place within a particular web page
5. Full Stack Optimization Live Test
Developers most frequently use Full Stack Optimization Live Test to stay updated about the SEO performance of each web page. This Chrome extension tool helps you evaluate a website’s SEO performance based on some of the pre-defined SEO best practices.
Key Features
- It is one of the simplest tools to perform a quick technical SEO check of your website
- It provides the users with direct SEO feedback that are easier to incorporate
- It follows a systematic SEO approach to evaluate your web pages
6. Githunt
Developers who spend a long time on Github, should explore Githunt Chrome extension earliest. Githunt highlights all the trending Github projects within a new tab of your Chrome browser to save your time. You can search for different projects in this extension and select anyone to inspect the project further.
Key Features
- Githunt makes it easier to access the list of trending Github projects and to identify the underlying insights
- Githunt shows you trending repositories of every week to assist you in a project
- Whatever choice you make on Githunt, it will remember it in the future and show you repositories accordingly
7. BrowserStack
BrowserStack is a valuable Chrome extension that helps developers test a website’s responsiveness. Developers having a BrowserStack account can install this extension with a few simple steps and start exploring the responsiveness of websites across different browsers.
Key Features
- Perform interactive, automated cross-browser testing of websites with this Chrome extension
- Browserstack helps developers to conduct visual testing in order to find out improvement areas and possible fixes
- With BrowserStack, developers’ efforts are reduced largely as they don’t have to test websites manually. They can enjoy a faster development process
8. ColorPick Eyedropper
The next name on our list of top Chrome Extensions for developers is ColorPick Eyedropper. This tool helps you pick up colors from any webpage to simplify and expedite your web development process.
Key Features
- ColorPick Eyedropper helps you zoom on different web pages and select color values as per requirement
- This tool also allows you to take screenshots of a page and updates the color values as soon as you start scrolling
9. Lorem Ipsum Generator
Lorem Ipsum Generator is a handy website development tool that helps you to generate filler texts while developing demo websites. This extension is very easy to install and it does what it promises. All you have to do is instruct the number of Lorem Ipsum copies you want and paste them in the placeholder as soon as the content is generated.
Key Features
- This tool is fast and it creates filler texts quickly
- It has been designed for fast use, but developers can customize it easily based on their requirements
- Developers can easily copy the generated filler text to the clipboard and paste it at the required place
10. Clear Cache
Too much cache can affect your site’s loading speed. Clear Cache is one Chrome extension that developers use frequently to clear browser cache. As a result, it can improve site performance and increase the speed of any development process.
Key Features
- Clearing browser cache is simpler and faster with Clear Cache
- This tool clears your browser cache without any pop-ups or annoying notifications
- Clear Cache also gives you a customization option and you can decide the amount of data you want to clear with this tool
11. Awesome screenshot and screen recorder
Are you looking for a Chrome extension that lets you capture and record screens at the same time? Well, you should try Awesome screenshot and screen recorder tool that simplifies product demos for developers by capturing images and videos at the fastest speed.
Key Features
- Share your screenshots and recordings instantly with anyone
- Flexible, easy to use, and doesn’t show any annoying ads
- A responsive customer support team, ready to resolve any queries
12. ColorZilla
Selecting colors has never been easier. Developers can use ColorZilla and its advanced features like CSS gradient analyzer, color history tool, page analyzer, etc. to streamline the development process.
Key Features
- It allows developers to pick the color of any image on the internet
- The page color analyzer helps you to build a color palette for every webpage you visit
- This tool displays information like size, tag name, color, etc. for each element on a webpage
- ColorZilla allows you to pick colors from any flash objects within a website
Final Words
We hope these Chrome extensions will help developers integrate web development into their process better. While you may not need all the extensions, pick the ones that align with your workflow.
Including such extensions to your tech stack is always a good idea to help reduce development efforts.