Every website must be ADA-accessible. Someone who owns a website that is not ADA accessible can be sued for ADA inaccessibility, thereby suffering significant financial losses, among other inconveniences.
Clarifying the power of automated web testing and whether or not it is right for your website while speaking with an ADA web accessibility lawyer will allow you to protect your website from an ADA lawsuit.
What Makes A Website ADA Accessible?
A website is considered ADA-accessible when it is:
-Perceivable
-Operable
-Understandable
-Robust
A few examples of each one of these features can be found right below:
-Your website has a clear, effective color contrast, as well as captions/transcripts for videos.
-Your website can be navigated using just a keyboard.
-Your website is readable and easy to understand.
-Your website is compatible with a variety of different assistive technologies.
If your website meets these ADA accessibility guidelines, then it can, and will be, considered ADA accessible.
What Is Automated Web Accessibility Testing?
Right before we clarify whether or not you should rely on automated web accessibility testing, we must first clarify what, exactly, automated web accessibility testing is.
The definition of “automated web accessibility testing” is as follows: an automated act that tests a website for accessibility issues and then clarifies these issues.
Just as an example, if you run an automated web accessibility program, then the program will go over your website and clarify what accessibility issues, if any, are present.
You can then use the information this automated web accessibility testing reveals to sort out these web accessibility issues so that your website is in full compliance with the ADA’s web accessibility standards.
Should You Rely On Automated Web Accessibility Testing?
The answer to this question is, “Yes, you should rely on automated web accessibility.” But, with that being said, this is only if you are looking for ease, speed, and efficiency.
Out of all the advantages that automated web accessibility testing offers, the most notable is that it can test your website for web accessibility issues in a manner that is easy, quick, and mostly effective.
On the other hand, though, automated web accessibility testing doesn’t always reveal every accessibility issue that your website currently offers.
To go along with the above, when you rely on automated web accessibility testing, you never actually get a concrete idea of how a disabled person might use your website and, in turn, what issues they may face.
Given these issues, it is best to make use of automated web accessibility testing when you need ease, speed, and efficiency. But, if you’re going for a more thorough level of ADA web accessibility compliance, then you should pair automated web accessibility testing with manual web accessibility testing.
