Accessibility in software testing is a human right and key to inclusive design, requiring early integration, practical testing methods, and human judgment alongside automation. Advocates like Ady Stocks push for cultural shifts, continuous learning, and ethical responsibility to ensure digital inclusion for all.

How To Test This?

interview episodes where Mamadou N’diaye talks with with software testing experts

• https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spidey1944
• https://www.youtube.com/@HowToTestThis
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mamadou-ndiaye-consultant/

Episode Details

• Show Notes: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spidey1944/episodes/How-to-test-Accessibility-Without-Being-An-Expert---Ady-Stokes-e3lvlgi
• Published: 2026-07-12T12:30:16Z
• Duration: 01:03:37
• Author: Mamadou N’diaye

Overview

The podcast centers on the importance of accessibility in software testing, emphasizing it as a fundamental human right and a critical component of inclusive design. The guest, Ady Stocks, shares his journey into testing and his advocacy for integrating accessibility from the start of development. He discusses common misconceptions, such as the belief that accessibility only benefits a small group or that all images require alternative text, and clarifies best practices - like using descriptive alt text for functional images while avoiding redundancy when trends are already explained in text.

Ady highlights practical approaches to accessibility testing, including keyboard navigation, contrast checks, and using tools like WAVE to identify issues. He stresses that while automation can catch 35 - 50% of accessibility problems, human judgment is essential for evaluating usability. He promotes a shift-left mindset - not just moving testing earlier, but embedding accessibility into design and culture. With WCAG 3.0 introducing a bronze-silver-gold rating system, he encourages testers to prepare by gaining hands-on experience and learning foundational skills, even without coding expertise.

Beyond technical guidance, the discussion covers broader themes such as the economic impact of accessibility (the $4 trillion “purple economy”), its universal benefits as people age, and the ethical responsibility to ensure digital inclusion. Ady advocates for testers to become accessibility champions, sharing knowledge through training, mentoring, and asking critical questions in design processes. He supports continuous learning across disciplines, urging testers to adopt a generalist mindset and develop critical thinking - especially important in an AI-driven future where evaluating outputs and prompting effectively will be key skills.

What If

• What if you integrated accessibility checks into your solo development workflow starting today?
  • Move: Run WAVE and Lighthouse on your live project weekly, document top 3 issues, fix one per week.
  • Why Now?: Early fixes prevent costly rework; AI-generated UIs are increasing contrast and navigation regressions.
  • Expected Upside: Reduce post-launch bug reports by 40% and expand market reach to 15% of users with disabilities.
• What if you started validating alt text like a scientist - only describing trends, not raw data?
  • Move: Audit all image descriptions in your app, convert data-dense alt text into trend summaries, remove redundancy if text already explains visuals.
  • Why Now?: Overloaded alt text harms screen reader UX; WCAG 3.0 emphasizes cognitive load reduction.
  • Expected Upside: Improve content clarity and cut screen reader navigation time by up to 50%.
• What if you tested your app’s security and accessibility using only your keyboard for one hour each week?
  • Move: Disable mouse, tab through your app weekly, check for traps, logical order, and try appending /admin to URLs.
  • Why Now?: Keyboard navigation exposes hidden UX flaws and security gaps missed by automated tools.
  • Expected Upside: Detect critical usability and exposure risks early, reducing reliance on third-party audits.

Takeaway

• Implement a “no mouse challenge” to test keyboard accessibility on your software, ensuring logical tab order and visible focus indicators.
• Use free tools like WAVE to conduct baseline accessibility audits, focusing on contrast, heading structure, and actionable fixes for the top six WebAIM issues.
• Create and share a one-page accessibility checklist or quiz for your projects to quickly identify common issues like missing alt text on functional images or poor color contrast.
• Prioritize descriptive alt text that conveys trends over raw data, especially for graphics, and avoid redundancy when information is already explained in surrounding text.
• Dedicate one day per week to learn accessibility fundamentals through free resources like WebAIM or DEQUE University to build audit skills and apply them to client or personal projects.