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Manual Testing

2:12 with Aisha Blake

User testing is an awesome way to put your money where your mouth is and see just how a user will interact with your app. Including users who actually live with various disabilities and work with assistive technology on a daily basis can give your accessibility testing incredible authenticity. As with user testing in general, consider asking anyone you know who uses assistive technology to take a run at what you’ve built. You may find that their patterns of use are different than you expected!

[MUSIC] 0:00
You're probably at least a little familiar with the benefits of testing your code. 0:04
But testing for accessibility should be part of that process. 0:08
There are lots of options when it comes to testing the accessibility of our projects. 0:13
Ranging from quick and dirty manual techniques 0:17
to building automated tests directly into your workflow. 0:20
Manual techniques are a great way to test things out piece by piece. 0:24
It's possible to experience the site from a perspective 0:28
as close to that of the user as possible. 0:32
But it's also fairly inefficient if you're going in without a plan. 0:35
In this video, we'll talk about some manual testing techniques 0:39
to help ensure your site is up to snuff. 0:41
The first thing you'll want to do is tab through yourself 0:45
to see if everything that needs focus can be focused on. 0:48
All of the functionality built into the site like forms and 0:51
video controls should be usable and the mouse shouldn't be necessary at all. 0:55
Next, use assistive technology like a screen reader or 1:00
any of the others we've mentioned. 1:04
It would be a difficult and expensive endeavor to try and 1:06
replicate the experience of a user 1:09
accessing your content with every single type of assistive device. 1:12
But the screen readers we discussed in the first stage are a good place to start. 1:16
If time allows, try navigating through using a switch controls. 1:21
It's great to walk through on your own and make sure everything works as intended. 1:26
But we as developers are often a little 1:30
two close to the project to be great usability testers. 1:34
You may not be able to accurately anticipate how some or 1:37
even most of your users will go about navigating your site. 1:41
User testing is an awesome way to see just how a real user will interact with your 1:45
app including users who actually live with various disabilities and 1:50
work with assistive technology on a daily basis 1:55
can give you accessibility testing incredible authenticity. 1:58
Consider asking anyone you know who uses the assistive technology to make a run 2:02
of what you built. 2:07
You may find that their patterns of use are different than you expected. 2:07

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