Walk through these accessibility quick checks to uncover the accessibility barriers automated testing tools may miss
Access to websites and electronic content is integral to the academic, research, and engagement activities available at Stanford University. Per Stanford’s Digital Accessibility policy, electronic content, such as websites, web- and mobile-based applications, audio and video media, and electronic documents, are to conform at a minimum with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level A and AA standards.
These initial “quick checks” provide a simple way to determine if the electronic content is minimally accessible or can be made accessible. Contact the Office of Digital Accessibility if you have questions about your evaluation results or to request a detailed accessibility evaluation.
Review the Testing Scope and Test Criteria sections below, then follow the Accessibility Evaluation Quick Checks guide to manually assess your web pages or other electronic content.
Testing every page of a site is not realistic. Instead, use a representative sampling technique to find pages that will provide the best idea of the accessibility of the site. When considering which pages to test:
Further, there are pages and features that should not be tested. These include:
Many of the issues presented below are fairly straightforward and evaluated on a pass/fail basis. However, many others will require some judgment to be applied. For example, all images require an ALT attribute (or title for SVG images) which is either present or not. But what is written in that ALT, or that ALT text being empty for decorative images is subject to interpretation. Try to approach each element tested from the perspective of a person with a disability. What information would a person need to be presented if the images were not present, how would a person without the ability to use a mouse interact with this element, etc.
For each test, assign one of the following scores, which will be discussed in detail for each, but can be summarized as:
Review these accessibility requirements for your website.
1. Automated Test: | The website/electronic content does not show significant errors from a browser-based automated accessibility testing tool. |
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2. Page Title: | A page title is present in the browser tab that is unique and appropriate to the page content and/or task. |
3.Browser Zoom: | When the web page is zoomed to 200%, all content and interactive elements are still visible and functional. |
4. Skip Nav: | A “Skip Navigation” solution is present for pages with repeated navigation. |
5. Visible Focus and Logical Order: | The browser focus indicator is visible and distinguishable when navigating all interactive elements with the keyboard. The focus moves in a logical sequence through interactive elements. |
6. Keyboard: | All interactive elements (links, buttons, accordions, etc.) are operable from the keyboard. |
7. Dialogs: | Modal dialogs correctly retain keyboard focus when open and can be closed via the keyboard. |
8. Images: | Alternative text is provided for all informative images and appropriately describes the content and/or purpose of the image. |
9. Text Contrast: | Text has good contrast with the background colors. |
10. Captions: | Videos have accurate captions (no auto-generated captions). |
11. Transcripts: | Audio files have accurate transcripts (no auto-generated transcripts). |
12. Session Timeout: | Time-out notifications allow at least 20 seconds for the user to modify or extend the interaction time period using a simple keypress. |
13. Animation: | Any moving, flashing, or blinking content, such as carousels, notifications, or auto-play videos lasting for more than five seconds, have a mechanism to pause, stop, or hide that animation or movement. |
14. Labels: | Form fields have persistent visible labels (i.e., not just placeholder text that disappears when the user starts typing) that are accurate and properly associated with the fields. |
15. Errors: | If a form displays any input errors, those errors are clearly identified, and focus is directed back to the invalid field. |
16. Meaningful Links and Buttons: | Hyperlinks and buttons have unique or descriptive text. The purpose of the link or button can be determined from its text. |
17. Headings and Structure: | Headings are properly marked using appropriate HTML H1-H6 elements and are correctly used to group and organize page content. Structural relationships, such as tabular data and lists, use appropriate markup. |