My identify is Claire Farndale, and I’m the Accessibility Auditor for Sage.
On this article, I’ll share the day-to-day duties in my position as an Accessibility Auditor to focus on how we, at Sage, are assessing accessibility throughout the enterprise. I’ll share the processes concerned, the duties I full, and what I search for to make sure that all our services are assembly accessibility wants as a part of our promise as a enterprise.
Defining the scope of labor
When I’m assigned a Sage product to audit, I arrange a gathering with stakeholders to debate a number of items of standards. The primary is what they find out about accessibility, and why it is very important Sage. I then transient the stakeholders on the present WCAG tips (2.1 AA).
These are tips that we’ve got additionally used to create our personal inside accessibility checklist which our product design and improvement groups use to create experiences for our clients.
We then work collaboratively to outline the scope of the audit. This may be a strategic path to navigate by means of the system or a full audit of each web page and element.
Among the questions I’ll ask stakeholders may embody:
- What number of environments do I would like to focus on? For instance, do we have to contemplate a Home windows based mostly PC solely, or a Mac working MacOS?
- Do I would like to contemplate gadgets and take a look at on tablets, each Android and iOS, or cell phone?
- Which browsers ought to I take a look at, or which assistive tech do they need to take a look at with? For instance, PC, NVDA and Firefox, or PC, JAWS, Chrome, or VoiceOver and Safari.
- The place will I be working the audit? Will it’s in a particular take a look at setting, or will it’s in a pre-production setting?
It is very important have an outlined scope as a result of the audit will produce actionable outcomes. I then transient the stakeholders on the kinds of exams I can be working and why it is very important run each automated and guide kinds of exams.
Automated take a look at instruments will solely uncover roughly 40% of your accessibility points – the opposite 60% are discovered by a mix of guide exams.
Product walkthroughs
As soon as the scope of labor is outlined and signed off, I then transfer onto the subsequent stage of the audit which finishing up a walkthrough of the product.
Wherever potential I ask the demonstrator if I can file the session so I can discuss with it after I’m conducting the precise bulk of the audit. I’ll then make notes and ask any further questions. In these classes I be aware down the important paths a consumer might take when utilizing the product that I’m auditing, which helps type the essential define of my report.
As soon as my consumer credentials are arrange, I examine I can login efficiently to the setting, after which be aware the date so I can add this to my report. It’s helpful to know the dates you might have performed audits, as these present a snapshot in time for which you should use to check your bottom line outcomes. For instance, it’s possible you’ll perform the primary audit of a product, adopted by one other audit 3-6 months later. Throughout that interval, it is best to see enhancements made and the bug rely lower.
Finishing up audits
That is the place the enjoyable begins. I take a look at the product for as many accessibility bugs as potential with an audit. This generally additionally contains purposeful bugs masquerading as accessibility bugs. Once I discover a bug, I’ll both export the error or take a display screen shot so as to add it into my report, relying on the kind of take a look at I’m working.
As soon as all of the testing is full, I collate all my outcomes, categorise the errors discovered, and report again my findings to the stakeholders.
I like my job and love the very fact Sage has given me the chance to embrace my ardour to make Sage merchandise each internally and externally accessible to everybody. We’ve a journey forward of us however by working along with everybody throughout the Sage household, I do know we’ll succeed. In spite of everything, accessibility is for everybody.
Discover out extra about what we’re doing at Sage to make sure that our objectives are met to make services accessible by 2025. Go to our Sage accessibility hub for extra data on accessibility statements for our merchandise, colleague coaching, and steering for introducing accessibility finest practise into what you are promoting.