What is an Accessibility Conformance Report?
An Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) is a document that summarizes a website’s or web application’s accessibility features and conformance with online accessibility principles and standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The report typically includes information on the website or web application’s accessibility status, including any detected faults or accessibility barriers and the activities taken to remedy them.
Why is an ACR important?
Accessibility Conformance Reports are an important tool for organizations to use to ensure that their websites are accessible to people with disabilities and that they are in compliance with web accessibility laws and regulations such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
An ACR gives transparency about a website’s or web application’s accessibility state, allowing individuals with disabilities and website or web application owners to understand the accessibility status and make educated accessibility decisions. Furthermore, an ACR can assist in identifying and correcting accessibility issues, as well as improving accessibility compliance over time.
Example of an Accessibility Conformance Report
Depending on the instrument and the scope of the website or web application being analyzed, multiple sorts of ACRs can be created. The following are some examples of information that may be included in an ACR:
- A summary of the accessibility compliance status of the website or web application, including the percentage of pages that passed, failed, or had warnings.
- A summary of the accessibility concerns discovered on the website or web application, organized by accessibility guideline or standard (e.g., WCAG 2.0, Section 508, etc.).
- Detailed information regarding particular accessibility issues discovered on the website or web application, including the location of the issue and the methods taken to resolve it.
- Evaluation of the website or web application on various devices and browsers, including a test matrix with the various sorts of devices, browsers, and user agents utilized.
It is crucial to remember that different organizations may have varied ACR generation techniques and needs. To generate an ACR, some may require both automated and manual testing, or solely automated testing.”