15 minute website accessibility test

There are many occasions when I want to be able to do a quick evaluation of a web site or a group of sites. To enable me to do this quickly and consistently I have developed a set of tests that I can complete in a quarter of an hour. The tests will indicate the level of accessibility of a website. It will not show every wrinkle in the website but give a good view of the level of intent of the owner to make the site accessible, ranging from: Not aware/do not care, through trying to improve, through to ensuring accessibility is integral to the design and content.

I am publishing them for three reasons:

• I hope other people will find them useful.
• I am interested in feedback suggesting other tests that could be incorporated, bearing in mind the limited time for the test.
• I hope web site owners will check out their sites to see how well they would score. In some cases some small changes to the website could produce significant improvements.

Since this article was originally published the 15 Minute Test has been enhanced and updated, and published as part of First Seven Steps to Accessible Websites, the test is the first of the seven steps.