Assistive-tech compatibility testing

Description

Assistive-technology compatibility testing is the part of the accessibility program where the abstract WCAG conformance claims meet the reality of users with NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver, TalkBack, magnifiers, and switch-control input. Automated accessibility scanners catch maybe 30 to 40 percent of issues; the rest surface only when a real assistive-tech stack tries to drive the product. A working compatibility testing program covers the matrix of supported AT (typically the two leading screen readers per platform plus magnification and switch-control), the test cadence (usually each release for changed surfaces, plus a full sweep on a longer cycle), the documentation of compatible versions and known-issue list (with the known-issue list serving double duty as input to the accessibility statement), and the regression-test integration that catches new breakage before release rather than after. AT compatibility is genuinely fragile against framework upgrades and design-system changes; a passing test today is not a guarantee that the same flow passes after the next React or Tailwind upgrade. The regression integration therefore matters more than any one-time audit, and the audit cadence is more usefully tied to release boundaries than to calendar dates.

Required by (5 regulations)

• ACA

  Accessible Canada Act, S.C. 2019, c. 10; AODA, S.O. 2005, c. 11

• ADA

  42 U.S.C. §§12101–12213

• EAA

  Directive (EU) 2019/882

• EN 301 549

  ETSI EN 301 549 V3.2.1 (2021-03)

• Equality Act

  Equality Act 2010, c. 15

Fulfilled by (3)

• deque · partial · medium effort · $$
• In-house build · medium effort
• In-house build · partial · medium effort · $
  Build assistive-tech compatibility testing against the Xbox Accessibility Guidelines (published Microsoft framework + checklist).

ClearLaunch does not accept payment from vendors. Methodology.

Evidence formats

• AT test matrix
• compatibility-version dashboard