QA Series: Basic Accessibility Monitoring

• The Smart Way: Automated Accessibility Crawling
• Three Levels to Match Your Needs
• Schedule It and Forget It
• Get Notified When Issues Arise
• Example Output
• Why Automated Accessibility Testing Matters
• Ready to Start?

Part of our QA Testing Series

Accessibility issues aren't just compliance concerns—they exclude real users, create legal liability, and hurt your SEO rankings. But manually checking every page for WCAG compliance? That's overwhelming and inconsistent across large websites.

¶The Smart Way: Automated Accessibility Crawling

Instead of manually auditing pages with checklists, modern QA teams use automated crawlers that systematically discover and validate accessibility compliance across your entire website. Here's how it works:

Intelligent Site Discovery

• Starts from your homepage and follows every internal link
• Discovers pages organically, just like assistive technology does
• Tests real user paths through your site architecture
• Validates accessibility continuously during load testing

Comprehensive WCAG Compliance Checks

• Detects missing alt text and empty image descriptions
• Validates form labels and required field indicators
• Checks heading structure and hierarchy (H1-H6 flow)
• Finds generic link text that confuses screen readers
• Tests ARIA implementation and semantic HTML usage

¶Three Levels to Match Your Needs

The best part? You can choose the testing depth that matches your requirements:

Simple Accessibility Checker

• Core WCAG violations: images, forms, headings, links
• Perfect for getting started with accessibility testing
• Lightweight and fast for continuous monitoring

Comprehensive Accessibility Testing

• Full WCAG 2.1 AA compliance checking with specific rule references
• Advanced ARIA validation and semantic HTML testing
• Detailed reporting with severity classification

Advanced WCAG Compliance Testing

• Color contrast requirements and focus management
• Keyboard navigation and skip link validation
• HTML document structure and landmark testing

¶Schedule It and Forget It

Run these accessibility audits automatically to maintain compliance:

• Pre-deployment validation to prevent accessibility regressions
• Weekly WCAG audits to maintain ongoing compliance
• Post-content-update checks after editorial changes
• Continuous monitoring integrated with your load testing

¶Get Notified When Issues Arise

When accessibility violations are detected, you'll know immediately through:

• Detailed severity classification (High, Medium, Low priority)
• WCAG guideline references showing exactly which rules are violated
• Element-specific reporting with HTML snippets for easy fixing
• LoadForge dashboard integration with pass/fail status for each page

This proactive approach means you can fix accessibility barriers before they affect users or trigger compliance issues.

¶Example Output

LoadForge automatically passes/fails tests for you, but this script also provides detailed accessibility reporting:

[from worker loadforge-684fb9541238f9] Starting simple accessibility check...
[from worker loadforge-684fb9541238f9] Discovered 47 internal pages to check
[from worker loadforge-684fb9541238f9] ACCESSIBILITY ISSUE [HIGH]: Image missing alt attribute on /products
[from worker loadforge-684fb9541238f9] ACCESSIBILITY ISSUE [HIGH]: Form element missing label: email-input on /contact
[from worker loadforge-684fb9541238f9] ACCESSIBILITY ISSUE [MEDIUM]: Generic link text: "click here" on /services
[from worker loadforge-684fb9541238f9] ACCESSIBILITY ISSUE [HIGH]: Page has no heading structure on /privacy
[from worker loadforge-684fb9541238f9] ACCESSIBILITY LOAD TEST: 23 total issues (8 high, 12 medium) found across 47 pages

¶Why Automated Accessibility Testing Matters

Manual accessibility audits are expensive, inconsistent, and can't keep up with content changes. Automated testing:

• Catches 60-80% of WCAG violations that manual reviews often miss
• Tests at scale across hundreds of pages simultaneously
• Provides consistent standards applied uniformly across your site
• Integrates with development workflows to prevent regressions

¶Ready to Start?

Setting up automated accessibility testing is straightforward. We've created comprehensive LoadForge scripts at three complexity levels to match your accessibility maturity.

Get the complete accessibility testing scripts →

Choose your level:

• Simple: Core WCAG checks for images, forms, headings, and links
• Comprehensive: Full WCAG 2.1 AA compliance with detailed reporting
• Advanced: Focus management, color contrast, and keyboard navigation testing

Don't let accessibility issues exclude users or create compliance risks. Automate the testing, maintain WCAG standards, and build inclusive experiences without the manual overhead.