Testing the accessibility of your website

The de-facto standards for testing accessibility - the W3C Accessibility Initiative Guidelines (WCAG) - are used as a basis for our website accessibility tests. However we always supplement the guidelines with "real world" user experience. We use input from panels of disabled users to support our specialist technical analysis. Once your site has been tested to be sufficiently compliant with the W3C guidelines at the appropriate level and demonstrably usable by disabled people we issue an accessibility compliance certificate. This will allow you to demonstrate that independent specialists, as well as disabled users, have verified that your website provides an effective level of service for all users.

The website accessibility test results are sent to you by email as a short PDF report. For more details please see below. If you need a fuller report, with detailed explanations of problems found and a detailed action plan for improvements, then you should consider our Website Accessibility Reports.

Testing For Compliance With The W3C Accessibility Initiative Guidelines (WCAG)

For website owners and developers who are familiar with the WAI guidelines our test report gives a Pass, Fail or Near mark for each of the checkpoints at the level being tested. Where appropriate we make a short comment to clarify why a particular mark has been given.

To complete our test we undertake the following actions:

1. Set a series of appropriate tasks for some members of our disabled user panel to complete.
2. Run an automated audit to check for the errors that can safely be identified automatically.
3. Validate the HTML code for a representative sample of pages, including all entry pages, site maps, primary content pages, templated areas and interactive pages.
4. Validate the style sheets (CSS files) to check compliance.
5. Conduct a series of manual checks for compliance with each of the WAI guidelines using the W3C accessibility checklist.
6. Collate the results from steps 1 to 5 into a standard score sheet and add comments if required.

For websites up to 250 pages you can order by credit or debit card using the secure Papal system. Level 1 (A) tests cost £249, Level 2 (AA) tests £499 and Level 3 (AAA) tests £599. All these prices exclude UK VAT. If you prefer to pay by other methods or you are not liable for payment of UK VAT you can indicate this when you place your order and we will contact you to discuss invoicing details.

Testing for compliance with the United States Government S508 accessibility guidelines

We can also test websites for compliance with the USA Section 508 accessibility checklist. The price for this is £249 plus VAT. For larger sites (those with multiple, separately edited, sections), or if you would like to discuss your requirements with us please email sales@userite.com or use our contact form.

Testing website templates for accessibility

Most corporate websites are built using a series of templates to define the overall look and feel for groups of pages. Our template accessibility testing service is designed to help during the development stage of creating a website. By checking a template's accessibility before it is put into production ensures that you have an accessible platform into which you can safely insert your content.

Our template testing service is undertaken by one of our experts who will test each template for :-

1. Valid and efficient HTML or XHTML code
2. Valid and effective CSS code
3. Compliance with W3C Accessibility guidelines
4. Overall usability using Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Jaws (screen reader)

The test result will explain each problem found and suggest at least one suitable solution. As part of the service we also provide email support and a final re-test so that you can be confident of achieving fully accessible templates quickly and easily.

Pricing for template accessibility tests

• For a single template: £245 +VAT
• For each subsequent template (same website): £165 +VAT

If you would like to order a test or discuss your requirements with us please email sales@userite.com or use our contact form  Note that when your site is complete you may wish to have a full accessibility audit or an accessibility test and certification  carried out. Prices for these will be offered at significant discounts where we have previously tested one or more templates on the website.

 

Our Commitment

Userite has been conducting Accessibility auditing for seven years and we are committed to encouraging the development of accessible websites :

• If our tests show that you need to make changes to your website we will conduct a second test, at no extra charge, within a period not exceeding eight weeks. Just let us know when you have made the changes.
• If there is any question in regard to any of our findings we will provide a detailed response, normally within five working days.
• If you update a part of the website, or add a new section that does not involve a major overhaul, within six months, we will re-test the whole site at a reduced rate (50%).
• To maintain our independence we do not undertake repairs or recommend design agencies. We do provide training and support services at competitive rates (please refer to our training section).

Our Certificates

The three levels of certificate correspond to the W3C/WAI checkpoint levels A, AA & AAA.

The Userite level 1 certificate is awarded when the web-designer has taken reasonable steps to ensure that the site complies with the priority 1 (level A) WAI guidelines. This means that most disabled (and non-disabled) people will be able to work through your site, though often with some difficulty.

The Userite level 2 certificate is awarded when the web-designer has taken reasonable steps to ensure that the site complies with the priority 2 (level AA) WAI guidelines. This means that the web designer has taken steps to increase the level of accessibility for his/her website so that most disabled people can use the site as easily as anyone else.

The Userite level 3 certificate is awarded when the web-designer has taken reasonable steps to ensure that the site complies with the priority 3 (level AAA) WAI guidelines. This means that all disabled users can expect to obtain exactly the same information and services as non-disabled users.

To order a test please please use our on-line order form

 

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