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Re: Hardware and Software required for Accessibility Testing

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From: Keith Parks
Date: Dec 3, 2009 12:18PM

On Dec 3, 2009, at 4:42 AM, Sam S wrote:

> Dear All,
>
> I need to to test some websites for accessibility.
> The websites should be tested thoroughly for WCAG 2.0 Compliance and
> need to
> provide high level of accessibility/usability.
>

So far the responses have listed various hardware/software
combinations to test the user experience with. And there are a variety
of sites and tools out there that test for compliance, for instance <http://www.cynthiasays.com/
>, or WebAIM's own WAVE tool.

And I don't mean to discount the value of real-world testing, but if
your content is properly structured and coded to standards and "best
practices", and your presentation markup is tested for color contrast,
isn't the idea then that you don't need to do individual testing?

Isn't that what the "standards" are for? So that every developer
doesn't *need* to become an accessibility expert, nor do they need to
do real-world tests on each site?

I realize I'm talking about an ideal world here, which the "Table
Navigation" thread clearly shows we have not yet reached, in terms of
the standards themselves, or their implementation by AT. But the
principle that in order to "do the right thing" on accessibility,
developers need to be testing their sites with multiple versions of
screen readers, magnifiers, voice-recognition technology, etc., seems
to be setting the bar a bit too high.

******************************
Keith Parks
Graphic Designer/Web Designer
Student Affairs Communications Services
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92182-7444
(619) 594-1046
mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED>
http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/communications

http://kparks.deviantart.com/gallery
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