As you design, develop, or create digital content, use one or more of the following methods to check accessibility.
Checklists
Checklists are one method used to evaluate digital content for accessibility.
- Word and PowerPoint Accessibility Checklist (WebAIM)
- Web Accessibility Easy Checks (W3C)
- WebAIM’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2 Checklist
- Deque’s Web Accessibility Checklist
- 18F Web Accessibility Checklist
- Elsevier Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 Checklist
- Web Accessibility Testing Quick Reference (WebAIM)
- ICT Testing Baseline for Web Accessibility (US Access Board)
Automated Accessibility Tools
Automated checkers are quick and easy to evaluate digital content for accessibility but can’t check for every potential accessibility issue. The list below contains different types of checkers.
To determine text legibility and visual contrast, use a color checker. The list below contains some popular contrast checkers, but many color contrast checker tools are available online.
Assistive Technologies
Automated checkers are useful, but they cannot verify all issues. Testing with assistive technology such as screen readers can help identify accessibility problems and usability issues.
Try screen reader keyboard commands and gestures used to read and navigate content with the following screen readers on the Windows and Mac operating systems:
- Job Access With Speech (JAWS) – a popular screen reader for Windows.
- NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) – an open-source screen reader for Windows.
- VoiceOver – Apple’s built-in screen reader with macOS and iOS.
For website evaluations using screen readers, try WebAIM’s in-depth tutorials: