Accessibility Testing with Jenna Charlton and the Testim Community

In our latest Testim Community Ask Me Anything event we sat down with Testing and Agile Instructor, Jenna Charlton to learn more about her leadership in accessibility testing and inclusion.

The Testim Community is a free platform where developers and QA automation professionals can learn from peers, attend online events with industry leaders, and uplift their skills with the latest in testing and quality resources. Read on to learn more about our community discussion with Jenna.

How did you get started championing for accessibility in testing? Can you share why you are passionate about this subject?

I started really getting involved in a11y when I worked for Progressive Insurance about 3 years ago. My reasons for getting involved go all the way back to childhood. First reason is I have a disability. I’m ADD, have a learning disability, and have CPTSD, so I’m advocating for my own needs as well as the needs of others. I also grew up very connected to the disabled community.

My mom was an early childhood teacher. She specifically worked with preschoolers on the spectrum and with intellectual disabilities. I helped in her classroom growing up and in her school there were also children who were deaf, blind, and physically disabled. At one point I thought about going into education, but I love technology and a11y allows me to advocate for a community I really care about and continue to do a job I love.

What resources can you share for someone working to advocate for accessibility testing at their company?

Here are some fantastic resources to get started:

• WebAIM has tons of research, tools, training materials, peer reviewed studies, and reports about what the current trends are
• Deque University has a fantastic library of training materials
• ANDI is a great tool to use for people just getting started on their a11y journey. It shows you WCAG violations, explains why they’re violations and links to how to fix them. Learn more here.
• How to Meet WCAG requirements (quick reference here)
• WCAG 2.0 Abstract
• WCAG 2.1 Abstract and Techniques
• NVDA
• The A11y Project

From your experience, are there some industries that are an exception for developing with accessibility in mind?

There are no industries exempt or an exception when it comes to accessibility. The requirements of WCAG are industry agnostic and any time you’re not following the requirements of WCAG (or 508 for government work) you run a risk of a lawsuit.More importantly, accessibility is the right thing to do, just in general. Even if you don’t think you have any disabled users, following WCAG helps you ensure you’re following clean coding standards since so many of the requirements are rooted in following good coding practices. And any time we make our apps better for disabled users the experience improves for all our users. This is one of the fundamental tenets of universal design.

Given your years of experience in the field, what are some common myths about accessibility testing?

I think the biggest misconception is that screen reader and keyboard only testing is enough. While that’s a great MVP it should be your starting point, it shouldn’t be your forever strategy. Also, so many people assume what disabled users need. You haven’t really tested until you’ve brought in disabled users to try your app. Disabled people are great at self advocacy because they’ve had to do it their whole lives, so never build something for the disabled community without including them in the conversation.

What are some checker tools that you can incorporate into your testing practices?

I really like ANDI, it’s not perfect, but I think it’s a really nice tool. Also the accessibility audit tool built into Chrome. It’s built on Deques Axe platform so it’s really robust. I believe Tenon.io also has a free tool you can use, it’s a little different than the others in the way it works and has lots of customization options. From an automation standpoint I always suggest Axe by Deque and pA11y.

What are some prevalent challenges that you have seen in automation and accessibility?

A major challenge is thinking automation is enough. Only 30–40% of a11y issues can be found using automation, the rest you really need to be hands on with the app.

Who are some leaders in accessibility that you look up to right now?

So many wonderful thought leaders to follow on Twitter, including:

• Aisha Blake @AishaBlake
• Crystal Preston-Watson @ScopicEngineer
• Crutches&Spice @Imani_Barbarin
• Ashlee Boyer
• Derek Featherstone @feather
• IAAP @IAAPOrg
• A11y Project @A11yProject

There’s so many more, but these are a great start!

Can you call out a company right now that is leading the way in accessibility testing and why?

I think the BBC is doing a great job and Microsoft is really making big strides in improving their a11y. Also, Salesforce has centered a11y for a long time. This is always a tough question to answer because if they’re doing a good job, you don’t really hear about it. You more often hear about the companies that aren’t doing accessibility testing.

Can you give a sneak peak on some projects that you are working on and/or speaking upcoming engagements for us?

Sure! I am very excited to share the following events with you all.

• I’ll be speaking at Eclipse Con Virtual in October
• I’m also speaking at Test Leadership Congress later this month
• And I have a keynote (my first one!!) at StarWest in October

Closing:

(Tristan) Community Manager: Jenna, thank you for being with us in the Testim Community today and sharing your leadership and wisdom with us.

Jenna: I’m so happy that I was able to spend some time with the community! Thank you for having me!

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Jenna Charlton Bio:

I am a testing and agile instructor for Coveros and before that I was a tester for many years. I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. More specifically I grew up in Shaker Heights,which is a Cleveland suburb. If you read or watched ‘Little Fires Everywhere.’ (Yes, that’s really what the community looks like.) I’m a testing and agile instructor for Coveros and before that I was a tester for many years.

I’m a big advocate for web accessibility and I want to help make tech (and the world in general) a more inclusive place. When I’m not working I love pro-wrestling, punk rock, ska and folk punk. I also cuddle every cat I can get my hands on and play way too much Animal Crossing. Follow me on Twitter @SheWrestlesTest.