Test with screen readers
Screen readers are the primary interface for blind users and many users with severe low vision or motor disabilities. Automated accessibility scanners cannot detect incorrect announcements, wrong reading order, missing context, focus traps, or broken keyboard interactions. A page that passes automated checks can still be completely unusable by a screen reader user. Manual screen reader testing with representative tasks is the only way to verify real usability for this population.
Quick Reference
- Automated tools catch ~30-40% of accessibility issues — screen reader testing finds the rest
- Test with NVDA + Chrome or Firefox on Windows; JAWS + Chrome on Windows; VoiceOver + Safari on macOS/iOS; TalkBack + Chrome on Android
- Verify: all interactive elements are reachable by keyboard, announced correctly, and operable
- Check dynamic content: live regions (
aria-live), modal dialogs (focus trap), and custom widgets (menus, tabs, trees) - Test real user flows: form completion, navigation to a destination, error correction
Check
Test the page with at least two screen reader / browser combinations: (1) NVDA + Chrome (Windows) or VoiceOver + Safari…
