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Evaluating Web Content

Evaluating web content for accessibility should involve a combination of automated tests and manual evaluations. For example, while automated tests can identify if there is an accessibility violation at a technical level (e.g., missing alternate text for images), such automated tests cannot accurately assess the quality of the alternate text when such information is included. Evaluating a website for accessibility requires attention to both automated and manual accessibility tests to ensure all individuals with disabilities have equitable access to information.

Automated Testing

Automated tests may include the use of enterprise accessibility tools or web browser testing tools to evaluate the technical accessibility issues of a website or web-application. Automated testing covers approximately 20-30% of accessibility tests and therefore should not be relied upon for an accurate evaluation of a website’s accessibility. Automated testing can be used during the development process and discovered issues should be resolved prior to manual testing.

Some automated tools offer accessibility monitoring for large organizations. These enterprise tools perform large-scale assessments by scanning and reporting on accessibility issues of websites in an organization. The CCC Technology Center has acquired a license for the Pope Tech Website Scanning Tool to assist colleges in monitoring and evaluating public-facing websites for accessibility issues.

Manual Testing

Manual testing (or human evaluation) goes beyond automated checkers. By using keyboard-only interactions, screen readers, and browser plugins, one can verify that the site is functionally accessible to real people.

Since manual testing is resource-intensive, we recommend a targeted approach rather than testing every single page. To get the best results, focus on a representative sample of your site's core components:

  • Core Infrastructure: Site templates, menus, headers, and footers
  • Key Interactions: Forms, dialog modals, alerts, and dynamic content
  • Critical Paths: Important information, Login and account recovery
  • Support: Help centers and "Contact Us" pages

Another effective strategy is to follow the data. Use your website analytics to identify your top-visited pages and prioritize them for manual review. This ensures you are fixing the barriers that affect the largest number of users first.

The Pope Tech Website Scanning Tool offers features that help you track and perform manual testing. To learn more, review the tool's manual testing documentation.

Manual Testing Resources

California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office Home Page

Inquiries about the CCC Accessibility Center may be directed to: accessibility@ccctechcenter.org

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