Testing Overview
No automated tool can find all accessibility issues. UCOP’s Testing Tools guidance emphasizes that accessibility testing must combine automated checks, manual review, and real-user testing. A robust testing regimen should include:
- Automated scanning across pages (to detect obvious WCAG violations
- Browser extensions and developer tool audits
- Manual testing (keyboard navigation, focus order, screen reader sampling)
- Developer-level checks for ARIA, semantics, and scripted behavior
Siteimprove (UC System Tool)
UC Merced participates in the UC-wide Siteimprove program, which regularly crawls campus websites and generates accessibility, quality assurance, and SEO reports.
The tool helps site owners detect WCAG violations, broken links, content issues, and more. Crawls generally occur every five days under the UC license. To request scan coverage or dashboard access for your site, submit via our Report a Technology Barrier form.
Browser Plugins & Manual Checks
Browser-based testing is essential to catch issues that scanners can’t detect. Common tools include:
- WAVE Toolbar by WebAIM — visual feedback and error highlighting in Chrome/Firefox.
- Axe Developer Tools — integrates into browser dev tools for deeper inspection
- Functional Accessibility Evaluator (FAE) — quick one-page audits. (Listed by UCOP as a recommended tool) UCOP testing tools
- Keyboard-only testing — ensure all interactive elements are reachable and operable via Tab, Enter, Space, Arrow keys, Esc. (See guidance in University of Colorado manual testing guide)
- Focus indicator review — ensure visible focus outlines and logical tab order.
Developers Corner
Developers should validate deeper semantic and interactive behaviors. Key practices include:
- Use semantic HTML and proper landmarks (header, nav, main, footer, article, section
- Apply ARIA roles and properties only when native semantics don’t suffice — see W3C WAI-ARIA spec
- Test scripting for keyboard support, event handling, focus management, and dynamic update
- Include accessibility tests in CI pipelines using tools like axe-core
