A 30 minute session to get some practice with a part of QACing.
Make sure you have axe DevTools installed before the session:
Warm-up
Here are a few questions about axe DevTools. Pick one and bring your answer along to the session!
- What’s axe’s Manifesto?
- Roughly speaking, how many issues does axe’d automatic tests catch?
- Where / how else can you run axe?
- Can automated testing cover every accessibility issue?
Share your answers
Here are some example answers. Don’t peek until you’ve shared your own, though!
What’s axe’s Manifesto?
Among other things: zero false positives and highly configurable.
Roughly speaking, how many issues does axe’d automatic tests catch?
“On average 57% of WCAG issues” according to their docs on GitHub. But the most accurate answer is “It depends”.
Where / how else can you run axe?
Lots of places! In particular: in unit tests with jest-axe and in end-to-end tests with cypress-axe or playwright-axe.
Can automated testing cover every accessibility issue?
No! But it can pick up lots. As you might expect, it’s good at quantitative stuff, but not so good at qualitative stuff. Check out Automated accessibility testing for more detail.
Check that axe DevTools returns few (or no!) issues
After five minutes of testing, stop and do a one-minute review with a partner. What did you do, what did you learn?
- How many Critical issues did axe flag?
- How many Serious issues did axe flag?
- How many Moderate issues did axe flag?
- How many Minor issues did axe flag?
- How many Best Practice issues did axe flag?
How to run and read axe
If you’d like a detailed guide, check out Running and reading axe DevTools.
Videos
Cool-down
What next?
Set yourself a goal to put what you learned into practice.
- What will you do?
- When will you do it?
- Where will you do it?
- Who will be involved?
- How will you do it?
- Why do this?
Write a sentence starting with “I will…”. Include as many of the 5Ws and 1H as you can for best results!
Quick reflection
Pick one to answer and share with the group.
- What did you enjoy about the session?
- What surprised you?
- How confident do you feel running and reading axe DevTools now?
Further Reading
List of Axe HTML versions. Choose the latest version to read a List of Axe HTML Rules with Description and Impact. Follow the rule link to read How to Fix the Problem, Why it Matters, and Compliance Data & Impact.