Software Accessibility | Technology made accessible to everyone
Tags: softwareaccessibility, accessibilitytesting, softwaretesting
Published: 2022-08-30 13:50:06

## According to the [World Report on Disability](https://www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/sensory-functions-disability-and-rehabilitation/world-report-on-disability) published by the World Health Organisation and the World Bank, more than one billion people have some form of disability, or 15% of the world’s population.


Accessible software for these people can improve their quality of life, but accessibility is not only important in making the lives of disabled easier, but also has an impact on the market. That is, if there is a % of any IT company’s customers who have a disability (permanent or temporary) and the software is not accessible, they will choose to buy/use accessible software from a competitor.

Before we get into accessibility testing, what exactly is accessibility?

Accessibility is the degree to which all people can use a product, regardless of their physical, cognitive and sensory abilities. If we talk about software products, we can define the following user profiles according to their limitations:


![Limitations table](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/qqb0mqy4dneyf437357m.png)

According to a statistical study carried out by the [INE](https://ine.es/prensa/edad_2020_p.pdf), in Spain a total of 4.38 million people living in households claimed to have a disability or limitations in 2020. By genre, 1.81 million are men and 2.57 million are women.


![Demographic graph, percentage of disabilities by age range](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/kzsc1aiadl6mdrntztvu.png)

The study of the characteristics of disability has focused on the population aged six and over, as the prognosis for children is uncertain and only age-adapted limitations in the two to five age group are analysed. The number of people aged six and over with a disability was 4.32 million in 2020, an increase of 14.0% compared to the previous survey, conducted in 2008.

55.7 per cent of people with disabilities have significant mobility difficulties, 24.3 per cent had vision difficulties, 21.9 per cent have communication difficulties and 28.5 per cent had hearing difficulties.


![Type of disability of people aged six and over by age group](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/bbhi4o8ye6rqqcqd2b1q.png) 

Knowing this information is very useful when designing an application or software product that is accessible to everyone. We must put ourselves in the user’s shoes and think about the circumstances in which they are going to use the software. People with disabilities tend to be loyal to products that take them into consideration, which has multiple benefits in terms of business.

**We highlight 5 main benefits:**

1. Boosting the brand: the brand gains prestige by considering these limitations. For example, if I am short-sighted, I will buy a mobile device that has an operating system that allows me to enlarge my handwriting.

2. Innovation: accessible solutions tend to look for creative solutions.

3. Increased market capture: it is used by everyone; both people who do not have a disability and people who do.

4. Be more competitive: we can take Netflix and HBO as examples. Netflix was sued for not meeting basic accessibility criteria while HBO did, so more people chose to use HBO.

5. Minimise legal risk: there is a global standard WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) created by the W3C consortium. This consortium is focused on users with disabilities and sets standards for making products accessible to all.

**The WCAG standard offers these four principles of software accessibility:**

1. Perceivable information
2. Understandable information
3. Operable user interface
4. Robust content and reliable interpretation.

**Therefore, accessibility testing should assess each of these characteristics:**

1. We consider an application to be perceptible when the information it contains can be identified by more than one sense: images, text, video, and adapted audio. A well-defined structure, intuitive sequences, or font size, among others, are valued. Audio description (screen readers), subtitles and sign language are also required.
In order for software to be perceptible, it must present content in formats and colours that make it easy to understand. To achieve this goal, software designers can use bullets and lists for text, allow for magnification, and design screens with high-contrast backgrounds.

2. Understandable software means that the user understands both the information it presents and the requirements for its operation. The content of the application should be easy to read and understand with language being a connecting tool and not a barrier. Predictable and intuitive pages are more accessible.

3. Applications should allow all users to perform the actions necessary to navigate the user interface, including how they complete interface components such as forms and inputs. Navigation should be seamless across all methods, such as mouse, keyboard arrow keys and touchpad, facilitating the use of assistive technologies such as mouth sticks or voice recognition.

4. The software must be compatible with assistive technologies, all browsers, and devices. The software must adapt by extending its functionality to ensure that content is accessible as technologies evolve.

The WCAG standard has had 3 major revisions so far: WCAG 1.0, WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 3.0.


![WCAG](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/0imr1tb3n7z988n5wffq.png)

The variation of criteria and guidelines is because the standard is under continuous revision by groups of experts considering the evolution of the needs of different users. For example, a few years ago, mobiles were not tactile, dark mode did not exist, etc.

There are **3 levels of compliance**:

- A (basic)
- AA
- AAA (full accessibility)

The levels of conformity indicate the degree of accessibility of an application. It is important to know the criteria required by each of the countries that adhere to the accessibility standard.

In the case of Spain, the standard applied from 12 February 2022 in Public Administrations is [EN 301 549 v3.2.1 (2021-03) “Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services”](https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_en/301500_301599/301549/03.02.01_60/en_301549v030201p.pdf), which includes WCAG 2.1 conformance levels A and AA and specifies the functional accessibility requirements applicable to products and services that include ICT (websites, software, native apps, documents, hardware, etc.). In addition, it also describes the test procedures and evaluation methodology to be followed for each accessibility requirement.

This new version has been declared by the European Commission as the new accepted standard for the implementation of the [Web Accessibility Directive (EU) 2016/2102 ](https://administracionelectronica.gob.es/pae_Home/pae_Estrategias/pae_lineas_ccoperacion/pae_Cooperacion_Internacional/pae_Accesibilidad-contexto-internacional.html?idioma=en), through [Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1339 of 11 August 2021 ](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32021D1339&qid=1661349412488&from=EN)replacing the previous [EN 301 549 V2.1.2 (2018-08)](https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_en/301500_301599/301549/02.01.02_60/en_301549v020102p.pdf).


![Summary table of accessibility standards](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/2ikfb4rul1rqep7hec72.png)

Therefore, software/application development companies should:

1. Know and implement the standard.
2. Identify on which platforms it applies. If it is web/mobile, taking into consideration the operating systems.
3. Know and use tools, plugins or go to companies that are exclusively dedicated to accessibility testing. There are accessibility testing consultants certified by the IAPP (International Association of Accessibility Professionals).
4. Report defects.
5. Constant feedback, if possible involve end-users with disabilities.
6. Generate empathy and consideration for end-users.

Design, development, and quality teams must be empowered to develop an accessible product from the beginning of the project.

Within this process to build applications that meet all these criteria, software accessibility testing plays an essential role. Such testing should start as early as possible in the development process to avoid design flaws, which are often the main cause of software accessibility problems and the most difficult and costly to remedy at an advanced stage of the project.

When we discuss accessibility testing we tend to focus on manual testing, but there are certain scenarios where automation can be of great help.

[**TAST**](https://www.sipsa.net/en/tast-test-automation-system-tool-2/), our complete test automation framework, helps in these verifications, allowing IT companies to assess whether applications comply with the WCAG accessibility guidelines.

In the projects in which we work with the public administration, we have integrated the **OWA Observatory of Web Accessibility Tracker into TAST**. This free software tool is used by public administrations (AAPP) and institutions, allowing them to verify the accessibility of a website and generate reports and documents with automatic results. It also provides recommendations on how to solve the problems detected. Spanish Public Administrations have at their disposal the free use of the Online Diagnostic Service of the Accessibility Community, a meeting point where Public Administrations share information, experiences and solve doubts about accessibility.

At **[SIPSA ](https://www.sipsa.net/en/)**we recognise the importance of accessibility and, as technology consultancy experts in software testing and quality, we are very involved in working towards inclusive, accessible and quality software.

[**Contact us**](https://www.sipsa.net/en/#contacto) for more information.

Sources:
[W3 Consortium](https://www.w3.org/)

[Accessibility rules for the e-Government Portal](https://administracionelectronica.gob.es/pae_Home/pae_Estrategias/pae_Accesibilidad/pae_normativa/pae_eInclusion_Normas_Accesibilidad.html)