Engineering Services

Accessibility testing is a subset of usability testing that takes into consideration the needs of your users people who may have a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight and cognitive ability. 

Since 15% of the world’s population lives with some form of disability, according to the World Health Organization, accessibility testing is absolutely critical to extend your online business reach and to improve your user experience.

What is ADA Compliance?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a law that primarily protects people with disabilities against discrimination by businesses open to the public. Since many businesses have moved online, ADA compliance has extended from brick-and-mortar public places such as schools, hospitals and restaurants, to anything a user can interact with, which includes websites and applications as well. 

Since ADA was created before the rise of the online economy, the Quality Analysis team at Diff also follows the globally accepted Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act to maintain web accessibility best practices.

Following accessibility standards helps your company avoid legal implications such as lawsuits that are skyrocketing in the USA and abroad, and also expands the exposure of your brand to people with disabilities. If you have an accessible website, you’ll increase conversions because more people will be able to navigate your site’s path to purchase. 

WCAG 2.0 Levels of Compliance

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 follows three Levels of Compliance, which we help our clients achieve depending on their needs. 

Level A

At the minimum, we recommend Level A to cover the basics. Scripted text for images, animations and video help people navigate your site who have hearing impairments, for example. Ensuring that click buttons and tap keyboard navigation is available helps people who have mobility impairments and cannot use a mouse. 

Level AA

In addition to covering the basics, Level AA addresses additional common barriers for disabled users, such as ensuring color contrast which can help someone who is color blind or who has limited vision capacity.

Level AAA

This level provides the most enhancements for web accessibility. Level AAA includes enhancements to videos and animations such as assigned language interpretation, instead of only using subtitles, and pre-recorded audio that is synchronized with audio, video and animations.   

What does Accessibility Testing include?

To create a user experience that is inclusive of people with disabilities, we offer the following services to help your website become compliant with web accessibility standards:

Manual & Automated Audits

An Automated Audit checks every single page and dependency of your website to ensure they meet accessibility guidelines. A Manual Audit looks at your site’s purchase flow, the user journey, and checks the main templates and page types. 

Manual pass with a screen reader

The second layer of testing is your shoppers’ user experience. We follow the instructions of screen readers - JAWS and NVDA for Windows, and VoiceOver for iOS, to navigate through your website. By using a variety of tools, we can compare results and see common trends that will give us insight into how to improve your site to meet accessibility standards.

Usability Testing with people with disabilities

We conduct usability testing with someone with a disability to validate our design decisions and determine whether your site is meeting accessibility standards.  Through one-on-one moderated Usability Testing with a member of your target demographic, we test specific areas of concern and gauge the overall impression of your site.

What’s the ROI of ADA Compliance?

If you have a website with an improved user experience for people with disabilities, you can become the go-to company for that specific product, especially if you are offering a simple and straightforward experience. If your customers are happy that they can make a purchase in a relatively short amount of time compared to other sites, they will remember your brand as something that is easy to interact with, and will be more likely to become a returning visitor. 

By bringing your company into compliance with disability legislation such as the ADA, WCAG and Section 508, you will expand the reach of your audience and increase your brand value.

Need help making your website accessible?

If you want to make your website ADA, WCAG or Section 508 accessible, we can help. With our Web Accessibility service, our team at Diff can ensure that your website meets the latest standards in accessibility compliance. Get in touch with us to review your company’s needs.