Anyone who develops web sites knows that the only way to tell whether their code does what they intend it to do is to actually fire up their browser and look at the site. So, although I hear about the best practices for making web sites accessible (such as having “alt” attributes in image tags), I feel that I really have no idea how accessible my sites are because I cannot afford to test them with the expensive auditory browsers made for the hearing-impaired.

I do not want to actually listen to the audio because that would take too much time. I do not want something as complex or full-feature as an actual auditory browser. I simply want a text readout of what the audio would be. I thought that the people who make JAWS, which seems to be the most popular auditory browser, might have a free program for developers to test their sites against JAWS. It is, of course, in their best interests to make sure that as many sites as possible work well with their product. But I have contacted them and they have no such program. They suggested that I buy simply buy the expensive JAWS product if I wanted to do testing. I’m sorry, but no.

After searching the web for other programs to simulate the auditory browser experience, the only thing I could find was a Firefox extension called Fangs. But although it is nicely written and is much better than nothing, the lastest version was released in 2006 and is pretty minimalistic.

So I am wondering: what am I missing here? How can it be that almost noone thinks its a good idea to verify a site’s accessiblity by actually testing its accessibility? Perhaps I am crazy, perhaps the world is crazy, or perhaps it just doesn’t care. Or, maybe there is a program out there that does what I’m asking. Any suggestions?

Once you begin to understand how a blind person uses a computer, you will find that testing with real screen readers, and using them as the blind person uses them, to be very efficient. No one sits down with a print out or text transcript as a testing technique. They fire up the tools and listen. With a little practice, you can learn to listen at 350 words per minute and use all of the shortcut keys adroitly enough to test the features you build into an application.

Yes, the tools are expensive; they serve a very small audience and are incredibly costly to keep catching up with new technologies. Yet, they are what the People with Disabilities depend on, and they are the tools that should be used for testing.

If you’re serious about accessibility, and your business needs to affirm the accessibility of your products(*), the tools and actual testing are a small and worthwhile investment.

Then, after you understand how a blind person uses a computer, and uses the assistive technology tools, put your hands behind your back and start using a mouth stick or a head stick as your only input method. After that, put on some ear defenders and try finding text alternatives for all of the audio material you might come across.

Actual testing is the only good way of assuring accessibility, and if you are really interested, you’ll invest in the tools and take the time to learn how to use them exactly as the people who depend on them.

* Businesses who sell their products to any part of the U.S. Government are required to affirm the accessibility of those products (how they comply with “Section 508″) by completion of a “Voluntary Product Accessibility Test” report (VPAT). The VPAT is a legal document that must be accurate.