Harness the Power of Accessibility Analysis in Cypress with Voice Feedback and Detailed Summaries
(Cover image from pexels.com by Pixabay)
ACT 1: EXPOSITION
In the relentless pursuit of top-notch accessibility, the open-source wick-a11y accessibility Cypress plugin has been our steadfast ally, akin to John Wick navigating the underworld with precision and determination.
Previously, we explored its remarkable capabilities in breaking accessibility barriers (Previous Article).
Now, with wick-a11y v1.2.1, we're entering new realms with two extraordinary features: Voice Support and the Summary of Violations.
But why add voice 🔊?
The reason behind adding the voice capability to the plugin arose from a significant realization: many individuals working on testing website accessibility themselves suffer from disabilities. They are deeply invested in making the web more friendly, usable, and accessible for everyone.
Given that the Cypress runner is not particularly accessibility-friendly, I believed that adding this feature would at least provide some assistance to those individuals with disabilities, easing their work with a tool like wick-a11y and making their tasks a bit easier.
The code of the plugin is available on GitHub and npm for installation.
ACT 2: CONFRONTATION
Tackling accessibility issues can be as chaotic as one of John Wick's high-stakes confrontations. But with the new features in wick-a11y v1.2.1, you're equipped with tools that streamline and enhance your accessibility testing process.
VOICE SUPPORT
In a world where rapid response is crucial, wick-a11y's new Voice Support feature acts like a guiding voice providing essential information throughout your analysis.
This feature offers audible feedback at various levels of your accessibility analysis—from the suite, test, and violation type levels down to individual DOM elements. Whether you’re overseeing a comprehensive suite audit or focusing in on a single element, the voice feedback provides essential assistance to identify and resolve accessibility issues—like John Wick methodically dealing with each adversary.
The analysis at a specific level in the Cypress Log can be heard by clicking the play button beside it. While the voice is playing, the user can pause, resume, and stop the voice analysis using the respective buttons.
💬 Accessibility voice is only available when tests are run in the Cypress runner (
npx cypress open), and the Cypress environment variableenableAccessibilityVoiceis set totrue.
SUMMARY OF VIOLATIONS
Just as John Wick keeps a precise count of his limited ammunition, the new Summary of Violations feature in the Cypress Log keeps a detailed tally of accessibility violations.
This feature categorizes violations by their severity, including critical, serious, moderate, and minor, helping testers focus on the most pressing issues first. This structured summary helps prioritize and tackle the most severe issues first, giving you an overall understanding of how accessible your website is.
✨ By clicking on one of the severity groups in the summary, the details for all the violations of that severity type will be shown in the browser console.
ACT3: RESOLUTION
In this blog post, we focused on two new features of the wick-a11y plugin: Voice Support and the Summary of Violations. With these enhancements, wick-a11y continues to empower testers and developers.
By incorporating voice feedback, the plugin aids those with disabilities by offering an inclusive approach to accessibility testing. This feature was added to assist individuals who are deeply invested in making the web more accessible and user-friendly for everyone. By adopting these new features, you're not just helping your web applications meet accessibility standards but also elevating the user experience to legendary status.
Check out these Wick-a11y voice videos to see how wick-a11y looks when incorporated into your testing framework!
Embrace the power of wick-a11y v1.2.1 and become the unstoppable force in your accessibility mission. 💪
Don't forget to leave a comment, give a thumbs up, or follow my Cypress blog if you found this plugin and this post useful. Your feedback and support are always appreciated! ❤️🙌
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