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Re: value of re-testing after manual accessibility audit

for

From: lucas cheadle
Date: Jun 16, 2020 10:22PM

Hi- Accessibility student here with a training question.
What about Section 508 Trusted Tester Certification through the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security?
Worth it? I'm currently working through EDX's WCAG course, thanks Birkir Gunnarsson.

From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > on behalf of Birkir R. Gunnarsson < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2020 1:55 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] value of re-testing after manual accessibility audit

If you can only invest in either training or audits, invest in training.
Here's how I would go about it.
1. Choose one of the free accessibility tools (axe, Wave or ARC, all 3
are great, I can't speak directly for other tools).
2. Run that tool on all your pages, especially key pages, the goal
should be 2 or less errors reported by the tool, per page, errors, not
warnings. Try to focus on common areas of the page (headers, footers,
anything generated from a single template or piece of code).
3. Get an expert to review any common components manually and make fix
recommendations, also get a review of the homepage, contact us page,
and key sign up pages or flows on the site, maybe go with pages with
the highest hit count or most common flows. Act on those
recommendations, see if the expert is willing to re-review those pages
for a discount (once someone is familiar with the pages confirming a
review should take 1/2 the original time or less).
4. Get your developers educated on accessibility, using resources like
W3C Tutorials (free), the EDX WCAG course (free to audit or $99 for
certification) or Deque University or another vendor source for online
self-paced learning (preferably a learning platform where you can
track progress), training is relativeley modestly priced.

Don't fall for accessibility overlay schemes or any of that, it'll
only waste money without improving the situation.
You can have a vendor do the audit or look for an accessibility expert
who is willing to do audits as an individual, it could save you some
dough.
Make sure the individual has a solid resume and understanding e.g. a
WAS (Web Accessibility Specialist) certification from the IAAP.
If you are a non-profit you may be able to benefit from the Open Air
mentoring effort from Knowbility (though that only takes place in the
fall, so you've 3 or 4 months from the next round).
Cheers
-B



On 6/10/20, Greg Jellin < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Barbara,
>
> I would add one thing to the great comments of others; Accessibility
> should be part of your ongoing process. It isn't something can be
> checked for once and you are all set. I recommend that you partner with
> a consultant for a long term relationship. So, they would do your
> initial eval, work with your developers to implement the suggestions,
> then validate the fixes. Then what? You will be adding new content, new
> features, new pages, etc. These will need to be evaluated as well.
>
> Greg
>
> On 6/10/2020 8:45 AM, Barbara wrote:
>> thank you all - your views are really helpful and informative.
>> Barbara
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 10, 2020 at 4:21 PM Colleen Gratzer
>> < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I agree on all points, especially the need for anyone developing on the
>>> site or adding content to it to get some training in accessibility (even
>>> if it's just best practices), both for the website and for the documents
>>> they create.
>>>
>>>
>>> Colleen Gratzer
>>> Website Accessibility Course
>>> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Facademy.creative-boost.com%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cdb2a9cb275bd4c6b1bcb08d80daa9ef6%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637274373740532124&amp;sdata=oMbG2WjIETBD53KNbjosThrmumf6eQp9QOsV%2BqY91V8%3D&amp;reserved=0
>>> Design Mentor and Host of the Design Domination podcast
>>> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcreative-boost.com%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cdb2a9cb275bd4c6b1bcb08d80daa9ef6%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637274373740532124&amp;sdata=vVjPvGRuEMkj%2BVwA1GeCwZgdPgEMJsxum%2BIzbnfvHkA%3D&amp;reserved=0
>>> Certified Branding Expert + Accessibility Specialist, Gratzer Graphics
>>> LLC
>>> https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgratzergraphics.com%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cdb2a9cb275bd4c6b1bcb08d80daa9ef6%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637274373740532124&amp;sdata=LHIG%2BcLskQ%2F4km%2FWppGgDbLqpyFPxUmmGr6XUq8YBNA%3D&amp;reserved=0
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 6/10/20 10:57 AM, England, Kristina wrote:
>>>> Agreed with Tim. Honestly, if there's any way to get your developers
>>> trained on both accessible code and manual testing as part of the
>>> initial
>>> audit, that would be extremely beneficial over time. Otherwise you won't
>>> have that knowledge going forward and any changes to your sites will
>>> need
>>> to be outsourced for review, which will be both expensive and
>>> inefficient.
>>>> Kristina England
>>>> Senior Digital Experience and Accessibility Specialist
>>>> University Information Technology Services
>>>> UMass Office of the President
>>>> 333 South Street, Shrewsbury, MA 01545
>>>> 774-455-7874
>>>>
>>>> [UMass Logo]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> UITS Most Valued Behaviors: Communicate Thoughtfully + Foster a Growth
>>> Mindset + Take a Holistic View + Embrace a Culture of Inquiry + Practice
>>> and Protect Courage
>>>>
>>>> >>>> From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > on behalf of
>>> Tim Harshbarger < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2020 10:39 AM
>>>> To: 'WebAIM Discussion List' < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] value of re-testing after manual accessibility
>>> audit
>>>> [External Sender]
>>>>
>>>> Barbara,
>>>>
>>>> Before I share my opinions I just want to disclose that I do work for
>>> Deque
>>>> Systems which is a company that does accessibility assessments.
>>>>
>>>> In my personal opinion any good accessibility test should include both
>>>> automated and manual testing. The automated testing helps reduce the
>>>> work
>>>> needed for manual testing. Manual testing catches those things
>>>> automated
>>>> testing can't. Automated testing shouldn't be a safety net for manual
>>>> testing. Instead it should complement manual testing.
>>>>
>>>> Once your developers address the issues in the accessibility reports
>>>> they
>>>> receive, you likely will want to ensure the problems were actually
>>>> fixed.
>>>> If your developers have a way to validate their fixes, you may not need
>>> help
>>>> with retesting. However, if your developers lack the ability or you are
>>>> trying to solve particularly challenging accessibility problems
>>>> retesting
>>>> can be invaluable.
>>>>
>>>> I hope that helps.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks!
>>>> Tim
>>>> Tim Harshbarger
>>>> Senior Accessibility Consultant
>>>> Deque Systems
>>>>