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18and iOS devices. We would recommend that at least two rounds of an internal
19accessibility audit is carried out for both iOS and Android platforms.</p><p>This should enable us to identify the bulk of the accessibility issues that
20people who make use of text scaling/display scaling and screen readers could
21encounter.</p><h2><a aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1" class="anchor enhancedAnchor_2LWZ" id="why-do-it"></a>Why do it?<a class="hash-link" href="#why-do-it" title="Direct link to heading">#</a></h2><p>In <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/disability/articles/nearlyoneinfivepeoplehadsomeformofdisabilityinenglandandwales/2015-07-13#:~:text=In%202011%2C%20nearly%201%20in,exists%20across%20England%20and%20Wales." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2011, nearly 1 in 5 people (17.9%) in England and Wales</a>
22reported a disability that limited their daily activities. People living in
23deprived areas and working in routine occupations were more likely to be
24disabled, showing the inequality that exists across England and Wales.</p><p>With so many people reporting a need for some accessibility adjustments in their
25everyday lives it is highly likely that we will see a number of these people use
26the apps that we work on.</p><p>It is also of note that, in recent years more directives have been passed (and
27more proposed in future) in order to ensure that web and mobile services are
28accessible by all, like, the <a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/policies/european-union/#web-and-mobile-accessibility-directive" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">EU’s 2016 Web and Mobile Accessibility Directive</a>
29as well as the UK’s 2010 Equality Act requires businesses to provide access to
30everyday services.</p><p>Both of these require digital services to meet a WCAG 2.0 AA standard. Ignoring
31directives like these can lead to litigation, as seen by this <a href="http://karlgroves.github.io/a11y-lawsuits/lawsuits.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">large list of such cases</a>
32and in recent years this has to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/04/beyonce-parkwood-entertainment-sued-over-website-accessibility" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">beyonce.com</a>, <a href="https://www.nad.org/2011/06/16/nad-files-disability-civil-rights-lawsuit-against-netflix/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Netflix</a>, <a href="https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/lawsuit-news/827895-nike-class-action-says-blind-online-shoppers-cant-use-site/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nike</a> being
33litigated.</p><p>Finally, accessibility improvements benefit everyone, not just those with
34accessibility needs.</p><h4><a aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1" class="anchor enhancedAnchor_2LWZ" id="how-to-do-it"></a>
34How to do it<a class="hash-link" href="#how-to-do-it" title="Direct link to heading">#</a></h4><p>We recommend running at least two rounds of accessibility testing throughout a
35private beta phase. Use a checklist based on more established internet
36accessibility standards such as the <a href="https://www.a11yproject.com/checklist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A11y checklist</a>
37and the <a href="https://www.wuhcag.com/wcag-checklist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WCAG checklist</a>, aim to meet
38<a href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/quickref/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WCAG 2.1 AA standards</a>.</p><p>Aim to identify issues associated with text scaling/display sizes, and separately
39test to identify issues associated with using screen readers. We recommend running
40these tests separately as the problems and solutions are very different.</p><p>Try to focus on one discreet journey at a time so that work can be broken
41out into one or more sprints. Identify which bugs are affecting
42reused components to have a better understanding whether a fix could benefit
43multiple journeys.</p><p>Begin with the most important journeys like registration and login to ensure
44users can easily and successfully access the rest of the the app. Once you know
45users can get into the main app, then identify the most pressing accessibility
46issues, i.e. focus or keyboard traps, missing content descriptions, inaccessible
47elements, broken or unreadable UI etc. Once the most grievous issues have been
48corrected, try using an impact effort matrix to prioritise the remaining issues.</p><p>You can try mapping problems on a Miro board that shows all the screens from a
49discreet journey. Review the problems so that the team fully understand them and
50their implications and classify them using a red, amber green system. Relevant
51tickets can then be written and prioritised into sprints.</p><p>Once a ticket has been completed and merged into production we should then
52re-test. Any new accessibility UI (hints, content description, grouping etc.)
53will be added to designs.</p><p>You may also want to think about adding an accessibility statement to the app.
54This may mention our accessibility rating, accessibility features, known issues,
55workarounds, (legally binding) dates when we expect to have fixes in place.</p><h2><a aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1" class="anchor enhancedAnchor_2LWZ" id="when-to-do-it"></a>When to do it<a class="hash-link" href="#when-to-do-it" title="Direct link to heading">#</a></h2><p>If the project is already being developed then we should test when we can get
56production builds on physical devices.</p><p>When the bugs for the first discreet journey have been resolved, work can begin
57on testing the next section or journey within the app. This process will repeat
58until the entire app has been tested.</p><p>Expect there to be fewer problems identified as bugs are fixed and passed on to
59other areas of the app.</p><p>When the app has been fully tested and a public beta build is ready we should
60repeat the testing process again. As before we should expect there to be even
61fewer bugs to focus on.</p><h2><a aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1" class="anchor enhancedAnchor_2LWZ" id="improving-the-process"></a>Improving the process<a class="hash-link" href="#improving-the-process" title="Direct link to heading">#</a></h2><p>Ideally we should consider accessibility implications and requirements when
62defining and designing work. It is important to consider accessibility and be
63vigilant when developing a test for accessibility when new features are added
64and the UI is changed.</p><p>Accessibility is the responsibility of the whole team. Ingraining as much as we
65can into the whole process and considering accessibility will significantly
66reduce the effort required to make the app accessible. This should further
67reduce the bugs that are identified in future audits and eventually remove
68the need for internal auditing.</p><h2><a aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1" class="anchor enhancedAnchor_2LWZ" id="possible-further-testing"></a>
68Possible further testing<a class="hash-link" href="#possible-further-testing" title="Direct link to heading">#</a></h2><p>When we think we have addressed most of the bugs we will want to think about
69getting an external audit. Given that we have 2 apps we will need to find a
70budget for 2 tests. Previously when I have used the Digital Accessibility Centre
71for a website audit it was around £3000.</p><p>We may consider using:</p><ul><li><a href="https://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://digitalaccessibilitycentre.org/</a></li><li><a href="https://abilitynet.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://abilitynet.org.uk/</a></li><li><a href="https://www.rnib.org.uk/rnib-business/website-and-apps/app-accessibility" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.rnib.org.uk/rnib-business/website-and-apps/app-accessibility</a></li></ul><p>Some of these like the Royal National Institute for the Blind can also provide
72observed user testing which would give us more confidence and the insight that
73only real user testing can provide.</p><p>We would then need some time to address any fixes. This would give us the
74confidence to really start advertising our accessibility credentials.</p><h2><a aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1" class="anchor enhancedAnchor_2LWZ" id="more-reading"></a>More reading<a class="hash-link" href="#more-reading" title="Direct link to heading">#</a></h2><p>Check out the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/helping-people-to-use-your-service/making-your-service-accessible-an-introduction" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">gov.uk guidance on accessbility and assited digital</a></p></div></article><div class="margin-vert--lg"><nav class="pagination-nav" aria-label="Docs pages navigation"><div class="pagination-nav__item"><a class="pagination-nav__link" href="/resources/activities/6-3-5-brain-writing"><div class="pagination-nav__sublabel">Previous</div><div class="pagination-nav__label">« 6-3-5 Brain Writing</div></a></div><div class="pagination-nav__item pagination-nav__item--next"><a class="pagination-nav__link" href="/resources/activities/consequence-scanning"><div class="pagination-nav__sublabel">Next</div><div class="pagination-nav__label">Consequence Scanning »</div></a></div></nav></div></div></div><div class="col col--3"><div class="tableOfContents_35-E thin-scrollbar"><ul class="table-of-contents table-of-contents__left-border"><li><a href="#what-is-it" class="table-of-contents__link">What is it?</a></li><li><a href="#why-do-it" class="table-of-contents__link">Why do it?</a></li><li><a href="#when-to-do-it" class="table-of-contents__link">When to do it</a></li><li><a href="#improving-the-process" class="table-of-contents__link">Improving the process</a></li><li><a href="#possible-further-testing" class="table-of-contents__link">Possible further testing</a></li><li><a href="#more-reading" class="table-of-contents__link">More reading</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div></main></div></div><footer class="footer footer--dark"><div class="container"><div class="row footer__links"><div class="col footer__col"><h4 class="footer__title">AND Digital</h4><ul class="footer__items"><li class="footer__item"><a href="https://and.digital/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="footer__link-item">Corporate</a></li></ul></div><div class="col footer__col"><h4 class="footer__title">Social</h4><ul class="footer__items"><li class="footer__item"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/and_digital/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="footer__link-item">LinkedIn</a></li><li class="footer__item"><a href="https://twitter.com/AND_Digital" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="footer__link-item">Twitter</a></li><li class="footer__item"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/and.digital/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="footer__link-item">Instagram</a></li></ul></div><div class="col footer__col"><h4 class="footer__title">Contribute</h4><ul class="footer__items"><li class="footer__item"><a href="https://gitlab.com/ANDigital/murray/murray-playbooks/ux-playbook" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="footer__link-item">GitLab Repository</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="footer__bottom text--center">
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