Are you concerned about website accessibility levels? Why not use a VPAT testing tool?
There are plenty of evaluation tools available out there to ensure that the content available on your website meets accessibility guidelines.
Keep in mind that accessibility is an ongoing process and automated scans can only be a part of the process. Let’s find out what exactly are evaluation tools and how they work to ensure VPAT security.
What Are Accessibility Evaluation Tools?
Users can pick either from software programs or online services to test the accessibility compliance levels of their web content. You need to first understand the accessibility requirements for your products and offerings and then choose a suitable option.
A variety of evaluation tools are provided on the official website of Web Accessibility Initiatives (WAI). These tools are said to be helpful in identifying ‘potential’ accessibility issues. Directives are given on the website to apply filters and pick the most suited tools. For instance, you can select attributes like guidelines, language, types of tools (online services, plugins, or software programs), and supported features (HTML and other technologies).
There is a lot more technical jargon associated with the complexity of the web content and the desired compliance level. Hence, expert advice is recommended to choose an evaluation tool for generating the VPAT statement.
Which Are The Best Website Testing Tools For VPAT And ADA Compliance
A VPAT report requires an honest and thorough evaluation of the website content. There are multiple considerations to take into account when selecting a tool to test the features. However, below is a list of the most popular choices for automated scans:
- WAVE by WebAIM: It is a free-to-use tool with the assurance of 100% private and secure reporting. It is an online service and you can get browser extensions to find the accessibility issues within a web page. The stand-alone API product is also released by WebAIM.
- Accessibility Developer Tools by Google: It is part of the Chrome Developer Tools extensions and used for conducting accessibility audits. It is a frequently updated tool, thus can be pretty helpful to identify violations of accessibility rules.
- A designer by Eclipse Accessibility Tools: It is basically a disability simulator that helps designers to understand the barriers for visually impaired users. Moreover, this tool is beneficial to check the accessibility levels of ODF documents.
- Document Accessibility Toolbar by Vision: It is a reliable tool to create accessible documents. The tool can be used for image alt-text, data table type, and color contrast checking. You can also choose this for functions like compliant Word to HTML conversions.
- TAW by CTIC Technology Centre: It is an online tool to confirm compliance with ADA based on the WCAG guidelines. An interesting part about this tool is that it prioritizes issues and fastens the process of remediation.
Accessibility evaluation can be helpful during the web design and development phase. However, relying on these automated scans to publish a VPAT document example is definitely not recommended.
Accessibility specialists do use automated scans but the intended use is to get assistance in achieving compliance. A tool cannot determine ADA compliance, it is a responsible job that requires human judgment.
Moreover, automated scans sometimes produce false positives, so rather than relying on tools invest in thorough manual audits. If interested, contact the accessibility specialists at ADA Compliance Pros. They have been instrumental in ensuring compliance with Section 508 and ADA for over a decade now. Their highly trained website auditors can help you attain peace of mind and total protection against digital accessibility lawsuits.