Testing - automated testing tools

Question

I'm wondering what DIA recommends in the way of automated checks that can be run on our code for example?

Answer

There are a number of automatic tools for testing a web page’s conformance to WCAG 2.0, and they vary widely in accuracy, functionality, and cost. Depending on how many pages you have to test, and how involved you want to get, you have some good options.

Note: even the best automated testing tool can only reliably test up to 30% of WCAG 2.0 success criteria. So manual checking is always necessary.

A really strong one that is free and reports zero false positives is aXe: http://www.deque.com/products/axe/. It can be integrated by your developers, if you have any, into their workflow so they commit code that has fewer errors. Or you can install their browser extension for Chrome (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/axe/lhdoppojpmngadmnindnejefpokejbdd) or Firefox (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/axe-devtools/) and test page by page yourself, right in the browser’s developer tools. It’s very straightforward.

A similar option is Tenon.io, but it comes at a relatively small fee based on the number of pages that you analyse.

You can also use the WebAim Wave site as a good start for testing. You have to be able to decipher actual faults from false starts, but it does include a colour contrast component, which if you figure out what it's saying is quite useful for that at least. And the Wave report screen does show you things like heading structure and use of lists, which are common traps.