ADA compliance is essential for financial institutions. It has gone beyond having wheelchair accessible ramps and doors in your building. It now applies to virtual platforms like websites and apps as well. 

If these elements are not up to date with current requirements, you could alienate customers, fall behind the competition and you may even end up with a lawsuit on your hands. 

Many banks think they are ADA compliant, but a thorough review will reveal that there is room for improvement. They may experience glitches in the system that are keeping features from working as they should, or they may have overlooked certain needs. It could also be that their testing is not as accurate as it could be. 

Many banks have regular audits to determine if their sites are compliant. These are performed via automated and manual means, and they are necessary and effective. 

But if you want to be more extensive, consider having certified disabled testers test your virtual platforms. They will be able to find issues other auditing systems may have missed. 

This article will discuss how essential it is to have website compliancy determined by disabled testers.

The Problem with Automated Testing

Automated testing can be effective in determining some accessibility issues, but it only covers 25 – 30% of the legal requirements. It doesn’t allow you to become fully compliant with current requirements. For example:

• It will look for automated text, but it cannot determine if the text provides a meaningful explanation of the element. The law requires that the text is meaningful.
• It tests for the presence of field form labels, but it cannot determine if it is functional enough to allow a disabled user to complete the form. Legal requirements call for forms that can be completed by impaired users. 

When manual testing is used in conjunction with automated testing, the process yields more accurate results. It involves thousands of tests performed in each asset. The issues are then prioritized to come up with a set of recommendations required to ensure compliance. 

But problem areas can be overlooked if the testing isn’t performed by a disabled person. 

What Type of Disabilities are Being Targeted?

Making a website ADA compliant involves ensuring it is accessible to a wide variety of disabled groups. Therefore, individuals must be brought in representing the following impairments. 

• People that are blind or visually impaired must test to make sure the elements of the site are being picked up by scanners. 
• Testers that are deaf or hard of hearing should ensure that audio elements are captioned. 
• Individuals that have limited or no color perception address issues where only color is used to represent certain values. 
• Those with limited cognitive function may be unable to understand some language. They must ensure that all content is easy to comprehend and scan. 
• People that are prone to seizures must test systems and see to it that there are no triggering elements. 
• Testers with motor skill issues, limited reach or strength perform testing to make sure that the keyboard will function with the website to substitute the need for a mouse. 

The people that engage in testing are not merely market research subjects. They are certified accessibility specialists that have been trained to test accurately. 

The Testing Process for Disabled Users

The testing process involves users being assigned certain tasks including signing in, purchasing a product, providing feedback and more. They use assistive technology to execute these tasks. Then they report back on their experience using a rating scale of 1 to 5 with 1 and 2 being a failing grade. 

The results of disabled testing is compared with that of all users. The data is used to determine whether these issues are specific to those with impairments or if they are general problems. 

It should be noted that most legal issues arise from people that are visually impaired. Therefore, this group is usually made a priority. If the budget only allows for limited testing, visual disabilities will be focused on. Services can go from there to ensure needs are met for a wide group of disabled individuals. 

The issues testers look out for include the following:

• Ensuring the page responds to keyboard commands eliminating the need for a mouse.
• Seeing to it that all users can find and process information easily.
• Creating a robust website design that can be updated to meet evolving requirements. 
• Providing content that’s easy for all users to understand and digest. 

The Importance of ADA Compliant Testing

Some banks may think that taking minimal measures towards compliance is enough, but thorough testing is essential. The most obvious matter is a lawsuit. If someone comes across an overlooked issue when trying to access your services, it could result in an expensive legal matter that will hurt your reputation and your company. 

Another thing to consider is that compliance goes hand in hand with SEO. The more compliant you are, the more likely your site is to get to the top of web sites. 

Yes, manual testing can be expensive, but when you consider what it can do for your business, as well as its ability to prevent a lawsuit, it more than pays for itself. 

When you look on the internet, you will find a wide range of services that offer compliancy testing, but most of these will be automated only. inclusve offers both automated and manual testing provided by certified disabled testers trained to look out for compliancy issues. Contact us for a free consultation and find out how we can get your business on track. 

About inclusve 

inclusve is a web accessibility company with a mission for digital equality for everyone, including those with disabilities. They do this by ensuring websites are fully accessible, so that all users can enjoy an equal experience. www.inclusve.com