7 cool accessibility testing tools

Accessibility testing is not a simple subject, but it can be very approachable if you have the right tools. In this blog post I will introduce seven accessibility testing tools I’ve used, and how they may help you become a proponent of testing for accessibility, like me.

Photo by LUM3N on Unsplash

1. Funkify is an extension for Chrome that helps you experience the web and interfaces through the senses of extreme users with different abilities and disabilities. There are 2 options available, Funkify Free and Funkify Premium. Depending on the option you choose you could explore simulators like Dyslexia, Cognition, Motor, and Vision (among others).
   Do you or someone you know have an extreme impairment? What are some barriers you wish more people were aware of?
   Get the Funkify extension here.
2. NoCoffee visual simulator is similar to Funkify and explores extreme visual impairments like color blindness, nystagmus, low acuity, cataracts, and other visual disabilities.
   “See” what it’s like to use your favorite website with NoCoffee, and share your experience in the comments.
   Get the NoCoffee extension here.
3. NVDA (None Visual Desktop Access) allows blind and vision impaired people to access and interact with the Windows operating system and many third party applications. It is a popular free open-source option for a screen readers.
   Download and experience NVDA today!
4. WAVE (Web accessibility evaluation tool) is a suite of evaluation tools that helps authors make their web content more accessible to individuals with disabilities. WAVE can identify many accessibility and Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) errors. I like that it also facilitates human evaluation of web content.
   Download WAVE here.
5. Accessible-colors.com is an in browser color contrast checker. Which is nice because it evaluates color contrast against WCAG AA compliance and provides accessible alternatives to your colors in real time.
   Get to know color compliance here.
6. ColorZilla is another browser extension that assists web developers and graphic designers with color related tasks — both basic and advanced.
   It includes a color picker, eye dropper, gradient generator and many additional advanced color tools. This tool is a nice next step to getting deeper into color contrast and approachable web design.
   Get ColorZilla for Chrome here.
   Get ColorZilla for FireFox here.
7. Lighthouse is a new-ish open-source tool for improving the quality of web pages through automation. You can run it against any web page, public or requiring authentication. It has audits for performance, accessibility, progressive web apps, SEO and more. You can run it in Chrome DevTools, from the command line, or as a Node module.
   Learn more about using Lighthouse here.

Please share your accessibility testing tools and resources with us in the comments. I would love to build up more knowledge of the tools available and help spread awareness of using them.

Photo by Eric Krull on Unsplash