Design

Accessibility Evaluation Protocol

Audit accessibility early to avoid costly fixes later. Evaluate against WCAG, user needs, and assistive tech. Finding problems in design is cheaper than fixing them in production.

Duration
2 hours
Group Size
2-4
Category
Design
Difficulty
Easy
Energy
Medium

Objectives

Participants will:

  • Find accessibility barriers in an interface.

  • Test with assistive technology and users.

  • Prioritize issues by severity.

  • Create a remediation plan.

Outcomes

Participants will produce:

  • A list of accessibility barriers with severity ratings.

  • Test results from assistive technologies.

  • A prioritized remediation plan.

Step-by-Step Instructions


  1. Automated Testing (20 minutes). Run accessibility checkers (axe, WAVE, Lighthouse). These find missing alt text, poor contrast, invalid HTML, and missing labels. They catch about 30% of issues, so document everything.

  2. Manual Testing (40 minutes). Test with keyboard only. Can you reach everything? Is focus visible? Is the tab order logical? Test with a screen reader (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver). Are labels meaningful? Do interactions make sense? Test color blindness modes. Document all barriers.

  3. Test with Users (40 minutes). Watch disabled users attempt key tasks. Where do they struggle? What's confusing? Even one session reveals major problems.

  4. Prioritize and Plan (20 minutes). Categorize issues as Blocker, Major, or Minor. Create a fix plan, starting with quick wins, then major barriers, and finally minor polish. Assign owners and deadlines.

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Facilitator Tips

Automated tools are a starting point. They miss confusing interactions, illogical flow, missing context, and poor labeling. Manual and user testing are essential. If you haven't used a screen reader, prepare to be surprised. What's obvious to sighted users can be opaque to screen reader users. Test early, test often, and test with real users. Keyboard-only navigation exposes poor information architecture and unclear focus states. A bad keyboard experience means a worse screen reader experience. Accessibility issues found during design cost hours to fix. Issues found in production cost days. Issues found after a lawsuit cost millions. Evaluate early and continuously.

Pre-Work

For Facilitators

  • Review participant profiles and expectations
  • Prepare all materials and supplies
  • Test technology and room setup

For Participants

  • Complete pre-session survey
  • Review background materials
  • Prepare examples or case studies

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Materials Required


  • Product or prototype

  • Accessibility testing tools

  • Assistive technologies (screen readers, etc.)

  • WCAG 2.1 AA checklist

  • Variety of devices for testing

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Resources & Templates

W3C - Accessibility Evaluation
W3C guide to evaluating web accessibility.
WebAIM - Testing Guide
WebAIM accessibility testing resources.

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