Accessibility testing is about making sure digital products like websites and apps are usable by everybody. While it is a broad and complicated subject with lots to learn, accessibility testing can be as simple as making sure everything can be accessed and operated with a keyboard. One of the main routes to compliance are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines or WCAG. 

Let's start with some simple examples of accessibility testing for a web page. When the page loads, the keyboard focus should be at the top. If the page has a menu, whether across the top or down the side, there should be the option to jump or skip that menu to get directly to the content. Called a skip to main link, this option saves people who use a keyboard having to tab through the menus every time on each page. While you check that skip link, can you see where the keyboard focus is? Keyboard focus helps people understand where they are on the page they are navigating. 

There are many benefits from having accessible digital products. Accessibility testing helps companies by reducing the risk of legal actions and making sure as many people as possible can access their services. Ensuring your product or service is inclusive to people with disabilities opens up a potential new market you could be missing out on. 

There are some pitfalls of accessibility testing that come up regularly. The myth that automated testing tools are all you need to ensure accessibility. Unfortunately, even using a combination of multiple tools, you can only cover around forty to fifty percent of all web content accessibility guidelines.

A few other pitfalls include thinking it's a one time action, not part of the whole development process, not consulting a wide range of users for feedback, and that accessibility isn't part of the design. Great. So now we know about accessibility testing.