Testing & Tools

Automated scanners, manual testing, and assistive technology.

• Automated vs Manual Accessibility Testing

  Automated scanners reliably catch about a third of WCAG's success criteria; the rest genuinely require human judgment. Here's the honest breakdown of what each approach can and can't do.

• axe-core Explained: The Industry-Standard Accessibility Testing Engine

  axe-core is the open-source rules engine behind most modern accessibility scanners, built specifically to avoid false positives. Here's how it works and what its results actually mean.

• HTML_CodeSniffer Explained: The Secondary Accessibility Scanning Engine

  HTML_CodeSniffer is an older, broader accessibility rules engine that catches a different, complementary set of issues than axe-core — including WCAG AAA-level checks.

• APCA vs WCAG Contrast: What's Different, and Which One Actually Applies

  APCA is a newer, more perceptually accurate contrast model being developed for a future WCAG version. It's informative today, but WCAG 2.x's ratio-based formula is still the enforceable standard.

• Screen Readers Overview: NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver

  The three most common screen readers behave differently enough that testing with only one can miss real issues. Here's what each one is, and when to test with which.

• Keyboard-Only Testing: A Practical Guide

  Unplugging your mouse and navigating with only a keyboard is one of the fastest, cheapest, highest-value manual accessibility tests available. Here's exactly how to do it.