AITS Development Methodology
Ax

Accessibility Expert

Focus: Use of assistive technology, usability concerns of people with disabilities, creative problem solving

Roles

We have a legal and ethical obligation to produce products that are accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive ability. Accessibility experts ensure that both built and purchased applications meet required WCAG guidelines. Testers evaluate prototypes and early builds for compliance, and can often suggest concrete changes to improve performance. For vended applications, they alert teams to potential problems and help facilitate remediation with the vendor.

Working with accessibility experts early in the development process provides designers and developers valuable feedback on how their prototype performs, and gives them time to adjust or rethink a component that might not serve all users. Building in several cycles of testing and iteration early should help the building and testing phases move quickly later on.

Close collaborators

  • Ux
  • Dv
  • Fe
  • Pm

Activities

  • Simulate end-user experience under a variety of disabilities, including mobility, visual, hearing, and cognitive issues.
  • Use screen reader software to evaluate applications/sites
  • Run automated accessibility tools
  • Validate generated front-end code
  • Conduct heuristic evaluations to identify potential accessibility issues
  • Evaluate interactive components to ensure ARIA compliance
  • Provide technical assistance and remediation guidance to designers and developers

Key Products

  • Accessibility evaluation report (for vended products)
  • Testing protocols, guidelines and developer resources