Screen Reader Testing
Design Processes
Using a product the way a blind person does — by listening to it — to find what breaks.
In practice
Screen reader testing means navigating your interface with VoiceOver, NVDA or JAWS, eyes off the screen, and hearing what it announces. Automated tools catch perhaps a third of accessibility problems; the rest — confusing order, meaningless labels, traps you cannot escape — only appear when you actually try to use the thing without sight.
Questions
What is Screen Reader Testing?
Screen reader testing is manually operating an interface through assistive technology to verify it can be understood and completed without vision.
Why do you use Screen Reader Testing?
Because automated checks pass pages that are unusable in practice, and the people this affects are the ones least able to work around it.
How do you use/apply Screen Reader Testing?
Learn the basic commands of one screen reader, navigate your key flows by headings, landmarks and controls, and note everything that is unclear, unlabelled or unreachable.
When do you use Screen Reader Testing?
Before shipping any new flow, and after any change to structure or interactive components.
Who uses Screen Reader Testing?
Designers, developers and QA — ideally everyone on the team, at least once.
