Why not to Rely on Tools during Accessibility Testing

by Nataliia Vasylyna | April 5, 2016 7:42 am

A good software tester always uses certain instruments to improve and streamline the testing process. The whole idea of automated testing[1] arose from the usage of tools during software product testing.

Various auxiliary tools are also widely used in functional testing, load testing, security testing[2], performance testing, etc. Yet there is a type of testing where irrational usage of tools can be critical. This type is called accessibility testing.

What Are the Reasons Not to Overuse Tools during Accessibility Testing?

• Some websites simply don’t allow the usage of validating tools. It can be a big problem, if a tester is accustomed to work only with tools and has limited experience in manual testing[3].
• Validating tools often have the following problem: they throw an error about duplicated variables even if a duplicate can only be found in comments to those variables.
• Different validating tools indicate different errors. It is not easy to understand which of them are actual errors.
• The tools tend to indicate multiple errors, but further manual checking often shows that far from all of them can be considered as real bugs. It takes a lot of time and effort to check all indicated errors, and the results can be disappointing.

Tools are really helpful both for beginners and experienced testers. In a limited way, they can be used during accessibility testing. The main rule here is not to rely on tools completely and always accompany their usage with manual testing.

Related Posts:

• Everything You Should Know About Accessibility Testing[4]
• Accessibility Testing: Creating a World Without Walls[5]
• Universal Care: The Vital Role of Accessibility Testing in Medical Software[6]

Source URL: https://blog.qatestlab.com/2016/04/05/accessibility-testing-tools/

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