Accessibility testing
Automated accessibility testing for web applications
Accessibility should not be a second test suite. Klarent adds accessibility checks to the end-to-end tests you already run, and flags what actually needs fixing.
The accessibility testing problem
Why accessibility testing stalls
A second suite to maintain
Compliance work usually means writing a new, specialised accessibility suite alongside the functional one, and keeping both alive through every release.
Scanner noise
Automated scanners produce long lists of low-value findings, so teams stop trusting the report and the real blockers get lost.
Issues surface late
Accessibility problems are often found just before launch or after an audit, when fixes are expensive and releases are already committed.
Audits go stale
Manual audits are point-in-time. By the next release, new components and flows have shipped that nobody has checked.
Accessibility expertise is scarce
Most product and QA teams are not accessibility specialists, making it difficult to identify meaningful issues and know what to fix first.
Fixes break on change
Accessibility fixes can regress as UI components evolve, creating recurring issues that are easy to miss without continuous coverage.
How it works
How accessibility testing works in Klarent
Step 1 - Reuse
Turn on accessibility checks inside the end-to-end tests you already have. No new scripts, no separate suite.
Step 2 - Run
Checks execute on every journey, on every build, at each step of the flow rather than only on the first page load.
Step 3 - Triage
Failures are categorised and prioritised, not dumped as a raw list, so the team knows what to fix first.
Platform capabilities
Built for accessibility test automation that teams actually trust
Layered onto functional tests
Accessibility checks run inside your existing functional tests, so there is no parallel suite to write or maintain.
Whole-journey coverage
Checks cover the full user journey, including logged-in states, forms and checkout, not just public landing pages.
Categorisation and triage
Failures are categorised and triaged to cut false positives, so the report stays worth reading.
Severity and standard mapping
Every finding maps to a severity and a WCAG success criterion, so teams fix the blocking issues first.
Release-over-release trends
Trend reporting across releases shows what was fixed and what regressed, and doubles as audit evidence.
What gets checked
What Klarent checks on every journey
Colour contrast and legibility
Text and interface contrast ratios, and text that stays readable.
Keyboard navigation
Focus order, focus visibility and keyboard-only access.
Labels and alt text
Alt text, accessible names and form field associations.
ARIA and structure
ARIA roles, landmarks and heading structure for screen reader users.
Dynamic content
Modals, error states and content that changes mid-journey.
Touch targets and interactions
Interactive elements have usable target sizes and can be operated reliably across devices.
Standards covered
WCAG testing mapped to the regulations you answer to
WCAG 2.1 and WCAG 2.2
Findings map to WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 success criteria, showing the specific criterion and conformance level: A, AA or AAA.
Section 508
US federal agencies must make their digital services accessible. Section 508 uses WCAG 2.0 Level AA as its technical standard, which WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 AA build on.
ADA compliance
The ADA's 2024 rule for US state and local government websites names WCAG 2.1 AA as the standard, and WCAG AA is the benchmark most often used for private businesses.
European Accessibility Act
Applies from June 2025 to many digital products and services sold in the EU, including ecommerce and banking. Its harmonised standard, EN 301 549, maps to WCAG 2.1 AA.
Automated vs manual review
Automation verifies rule-based criteria such as contrast, labels and ARIA usage. Whether alt text is meaningful, or how a flow works with a screen reader or other assistive technology, still needs a human review.
Accessibility in your pipeline
Accessibility checks where your team already works
Checks on every pull request
Run accessibility checks on every PR, and gate merges on new critical violations only, so existing debt does not block every build.
Issues into Jira
Each issue lands in Jira with the failing element and the journey step attached, ready for a developer to pick up.
Integrations
Fits into your existing stack
Connect to GitHub, Jira, Slack, and more - no reconfiguring your workflow.
Turn on accessibility checks against your existing journeys.
See Klarent run automated accessibility testing on your own application in a live walkthrough, using the end-to-end tests you already have.
FAQs
Automated accessibility testing checks a web application against accessibility rules, such as WCAG success criteria, as part of a test run instead of a manual audit. In Klarent, those checks run inside the end-to-end tests you already have, so every journey is checked on every build.
Klarent maps findings to WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 success criteria at levels A, AA and AAA. Automation covers the rule-based criteria at each level, such as colour contrast, missing labels and ARIA usage. Criteria that depend on human judgement still need a manual review.
No. Automation catches rule-based issues early and on every release, but some criteria, such as whether alt text is meaningful or how a flow works with a screen reader, need a manual or assistive technology review. Automated checks shrink that manual work and keep it focused.
No. Accessibility checks are turned on inside your existing end-to-end tests, so there is no second suite to write or maintain.
Failures are categorised and triaged instead of being dumped as a raw list, and each one is mapped to a severity and a WCAG criterion, so the team sees the blocking issues first.
Yes. Checks run on every journey, on every build, and can run on every pull request. You can gate merges on new critical violations only, so existing issues do not block every change.
Accessibility checks run on web journeys, including mobile and tablet viewports. Native iOS and Android apps are tested through Klarent mobile app testing.
Every run records which checks passed and failed, mapped to WCAG criteria, and trend reporting shows accessibility results release over release. That history can be shared as audit evidence.