Making websites accessible is not only the right action but is also required by law and for business reasons. With most companies using the internet to reach consumers, ensuring equity is now a requirement. WCAG, which W3C created, is the world’s main standard for making websites user-friendly for those with disabilities.
When a site is WCAG compliant, its accessibility improves, more users can use it, and legal problems are avoided. However, manual accessibility testing can be difficult to do, is not always reliable, and is limited in how much can be managed. In these circumstances, relying on automated accessibility testing tools is very useful. With these tools, development and QA teams can easily find, follow, and resolve accessibility problems in digital assets using automation frameworks like Selenium ChromeDriver for browser-based validation.
What Is WCAG?
WCAG, or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, is a set of guidelines followed internationally to make websites and digital content available to people with visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities.
The guidelines are organized around four principles, commonly recognized by the acronym POUR:
- Perceivable: Users must be able to notice information, so text alternatives for images are necessary.
- Operable: People using the interface should be able to control it by using a keyboard.
- Understandable: Information should be understandable and organized regularly.
- Robust: Content needs to be comprehensible for a wide variety of user agents, including those made for people with disabilities.
WCAG gives a set of three conformance levels to ensure a clear understanding:
- A (Minimum)
- AA (Recommended)
- AAA (Maximum)
The common standard is for websites to be WCAG 2.1 AA compliant to meet most legal and compliance rules.
The Role of Automated Accessibility Testing
For reliably testing accessibility in complicated cases and with screen readers, you need manual testing. However, automated tools complement this process by:
- Quickly scanning pages for common issues.
- Providing consistent test results.
- Detecting regression in CI/CD pipelines.
- Generating reports for audit and compliance.
- Saving time and reducing human error.
Automated accessibility testing can detect up to 25–50% of accessibility issues, primarily structural and semantic problems, but it cannot replace human validation. It is, however, an essential first step toward accessible web development and can be executed using Selenium ChromeDriver to simulate user interactions in different browsers.
Top Automated Accessibility Testing Tools
Below are some of the accessibility testing tools:
- LambdaTest: LambdaTest is a GenAI-native test execution platform that enables you to perform both manual and automated testing at scale across 3000+ browser and OS combinations. It not only supports web and mobile automation but also offers tools like Accessibility DevTool, which helps you conduct accessibility testing in real time across browsers and real devices.
Features:
- Test accessibility across 3000+ real browser and OS combinations
- Helps perform accessibility automation testing using Selenium, Cypress, Playwright, and more.
- Supports CI tools like Jenkins, GitHub Actions, and GitLab CI
- Visual and accessibility regression testing
- Axe by Deque Systems: Axe serves as a free and open-source way to add accessibility checking into the development process. It works quickly, is easy to use, and meets worldwide standards set by WCAG.
It can be integrated with Selenium ChromeDriver or Puppeteer for browser-based automation, enhancing accessibility testing coverage in real-world environments.
- Lighthouse by Google: Lighthouse is a free, open-source tool built into Chrome DevTools. It audits performance, SEO, best practices, and accessibility.
- With Selenium ChromeDriver, you can automate Lighthouse audits in CI pipelines to include accessibility testing alongside performance and SEO metrics.
- WAVE by WebAIM: WAVE is a visual accessibility evaluation tool that highlights issues directly on the web page. It complements accessibility testing workflows for design validation before automated test execution begins.
- Pa11y: Pa11y is an open-source command-line tool for running accessibility audits based on the HTML CodeSniffer library. It can be combined with Selenium ChromeDriver scripts to perform accessibility testing during browser automation tasks.
- Tenon: Tenon offers automated and API-driven accessibility testing with a focus on integration and reporting. It works well with existing automation stacks like Selenium and LambdaTest, making it enterprise-ready.
- Siteimprove Accessibility Checker: Siteimprove’s tool is part of a broader digital optimization platform, offering accessibility scoring and insights that can complement test automation done with Selenium ChromeDriver.
Accessibility Testing for Mobile Apps
Although web accessibility testing is very important, mobile applications have to be compatible with accessibility rules as well. You can use Google Accessibility Scanner for Android or Accessibility Inspector for iOS to check mobile-based accessibility automatically.
- Integration with CI/CD: Automated accessibility testing is most effective when integrated into continuous integration and deployment pipelines. You can use Selenium ChromeDriver scripts with tools like Axe or Pa11y to detect regressions early.
- Accessibility in Agile and DevOps Workflows: In Agile teams, make accessibility testing part of the Definition of Done. Automate checks at each stage, from pull requests to production builds, using tools that integrate with Selenium ChromeDriver for real-browser automation.
- Accessibility Testing for SPAs and Dynamic Content: Single-page applications (SPAs) present challenges for automated tools due to dynamic content loading and state changes. Using Selenium ChromeDriver with tools like Axe ensures accessibility testing occurs after the DOM has fully rendered.
- Inclusive UX and Accessibility: Accessibility isn’t only about code; it begins with inclusive design. Automated feedback from accessibility testing can help improve UX decisions like color contrast, tab order, and ARIA role placement.
- Accessibility in Design and Development: Automated testing is effective, but accessibility should start earlier, at the design and development phases. Integrating accessibility testing from the beginning ensures long-term compliance and fewer defects later in the cycle.
- Reporting and Remediation: Automated accessibility testing tools typically output detailed reports with issue summaries, code snippets, and WCAG references. Integrating these reports with Selenium ChromeDriver test logs provides a unified view of both functionality and accessibility metrics.
In Conclusion
Accessibility matters both for meeting accessibility laws and for including everyone in your online content. Being WCAG compliant helps a website be accessible and protected from legal issues, and Axe, Lighthouse, and LambdaTest help teams spot accessibility testing problems fast and make improvements easier.
Automated tools help save time; however, full accessibility is reached when combined with manual testing and automation frameworks like Selenium ChromeDriver to test real-world user flows.
When organizations use the proper resources and methods, all users will find their sites and apps accessible, compliant, and open to everyone.
