The following tools, methods and technologies are used in accessibility testing:

Accessibility Checkers (Phase 1)

• Wave (free open-source Edge, Chrome and Firefox plugin).
• Axe (free open-source Edge, Chrome and Firefox plugin).
• Lighthouse (free open-source Edge, Chrome and Firefox plugin).

Manual Checklist (Phase 2)

• NHSBSA Accessibility Test Manual Checklist. Note that this is currently under review whilst the Test Community seek options to automate these tests and/or reduce the scope (but not quality).

Assistive Technologies (Phase 3)

• Screen Readers: Mac based Voice Over (free pre-installed on macOS and iOS), JAWS (licensed, please contact Test Lead) and Windows based NVDA (free open source).
• Speech Recognition: Mac based Voice Control (free pre-installed on macOS and iOS) and Windows based Dragon (licensed, please contact Test Lead).

We do not support or promote the usage of the following:

• Any other automated checkers, the tools above have been chosen due to their accuracy, support and fit.
• Any other screen reader or speech recognition tool. There are many different versions of these tools, but these have been recommended by DAC and are part of the GDS test coverage. Using other versions may also affect our coverage and quality of this testing.

GDS Guidance:

Where possible, GDS say it is good practice to test with other assistive technologies, browsers and OS settings. NHSBSA Testers should speak to User Researchers or request analytics data to understand what the service’s userbase may use.

GDS recommend prioritising:

• older versions of assistive technology - especially JAWS and TalkBack
• other assistive technologies - especially VoiceOver on macOS (screen reader) with Safari and ZoomText (screen magnifier)
• changing colours - using Windows High Contrast mode and Firefox browser settings
• testing with other combinations of browsers and assistive technologies

Other combinations of browsers and assistive technologies to prioritise are:

• Firefox (latest version) and JAWS
• Firefox (latest version) and NVDA
• Firefox (latest version) and Dragon

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