Testing ASP.NET Web Applications

9.7. Tools for Accessibility Testing

There are a large number of tools on the market which focus on testing for accessibility. Many of the tools discussed are toolbars for Internet Explorer and are not intended to be automated tools. As mentioned previously in this chapter, it's difficult to automate accessibility. It's recommended that you use a combination of the tools, manual testing, and user feedback to ensure accessible websites. No matter how much experience you gain with learning about web accessibility, the assistive technologies, and accessibility testing tools, you will never be able to truly replicate how users with disabilities use your web applications.

It's important to try out a few different tools and find tools you are conformable using. Before performing accessibility tests you should test the tools on sites you know comply with standards to ensure the tools work correctly. Sometimes tools report a failure of a particular standard that should really only be a warning. This is why it's important to see how your tools interact with accessible sites.