A11y Testing: The Missing Piece in Your QA Workflow

A11y Testing: The Missing Piece in Your QA Workflow

You write unit tests. You write integration tests. Do you write accessibility tests?

Most developers skip accessibility testing. They call it a11y. This practice ensures people with disabilities can use your software.

It helps users who:

• Use screen readers like NVDA or VoiceOver.
• Navigate with a keyboard instead of a mouse.
• Use high contrast or zoomed interfaces.
• Have cognitive or motor disabilities.

Why should you care?

• 1 in 4 adults in the US has a disability.
• Inaccessible apps lead to legal lawsuits.
• Good accessibility improves SEO and user experience.
• It is cheaper to build it right now than to fix it later.

You can test accessibility in three ways.

1. Automated Testing Tools scan your code for errors.

• axe-core: A popular accessibility engine.
• jest-axe: Connects axe to your Jest tests.
• Lighthouse: Built into Chrome DevTools.

Note: Automated tools catch only 30% to 40% of issues.

2. Manual Testing This fills the gap left by automation.

• Tab through your UI using only a keyboard.
• Use a screen reader to listen to your page.
• Check color contrast ratios.
• Zoom your browser to 200%.

3. User Testing Get feedback from people who rely on assistive technology every day. This is the gold standard.

Quick wins you can use today:

• Use semantic HTML. Use a instead of a
  with a click handler.
• Add alt text to images.
• Use labels for all form inputs.
• Do not rely on color alone to show information. Add icons or text.

Make these checks part of your workflow. Add them to your CI pipeline using GitHub Actions or GitLab CI. This stops accessibility errors from reaching your users.

Stop building things that exclude people. Start small. Use a tool, check your contrast, and use proper HTML.

Source: https://dev.to/bhargavigajula/a11y-testing-the-missing-piece-in-your-qa-workflow-ljd