Accessibility Testing: Section 508 Compliance and More

(Elective)

This tutorial covers the Elective area of the Test Management Body of Knowledge (TMBOK) required for the Certified Test Manager (CTM) certification. This tutorial also covers the Elective area of the Certified Software Test Professional requirements.

For cost and cities where this course might be offered, check our Public Training Schedule. To bring this course to your test team at your location, contact our Education and Professionals Services Group.

Concepts

Accessibility affects nearly everyone in every industry, including you. Why? Because software is being used on more devices than ever before -- often under non-optimal conditions -- by people of all ages, many of whom have differing capabilities. You undoubtedly fit into one or more of these categories, as well as your users. Achieving "practical accessibility" means to ensure that a system works for everyone who is likely to use it (including users with disabilities), on a reasonable range of devices and situations, and complies with applicable standards and laws. This course provides practical testing strategies to confirm that a system complies with US Rehabilitation Act Section 508. It also shows how to verify that a system is accessible across a broader range of users and situations so that it can fulfill today's sophisticated expectations for all users.

Participants will learn:

• What software accessibility is
  • Who and what it affects
  • How it applies to traditional software and web-based systems
  • Disabilities that affect users and devices (temporary, situational, and chronic)
  • Magnitude of the issue and opportunities
• Standards that are used to determine software accessibility compliance
  • Federal, state, industry, and international laws
  • W3C web standards
  • Assistive technologies
  • Identifying the range of compliance desired or required
• How to test for accessibility
  • Setting test priorities
  • Manual inspection and testing
  • Automated validation assistance
  • Key user trials and acceptance testing
• Practical approaches to increasing accessibility
  • Early involvement in the software development process
  • Expertise pooling
  • Raising awareness that accessibility features are present
  • Standards and best practices
• Where to get more information (for developers, testers, and managers)

Biography

Jay Ruuska is a software testing and project management consultant. Previously he held positions at IBM and EDS in the United States and Europe. He has been involved in the disciplines of user-interface testing across various media since 1987. An honors graduate of the University of North Texas, he is also a member of the Program Review Board, Practical Software Quality and Testing (PSQT) Conferences.