With new regulations on the horizon, digital accessibility is more important than ever. In the EU, the European Accessibility Act comes into effect on 28 June 2025, requiring a wide range of digital products and services to be accessible. UK businesses offering services in the EU will need to comply, even post-Brexit.
In the UK, accessibility is covered under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018, which require public websites and apps to meet specific accessibility standards. See the UK's Accessibility guidance (gov.uk)
Meanwhile, in the US, new rules under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) will soon require public sector websites and mobile apps to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards, with compliance deadlines set for 2026 and 2027.
Why accessibility matters for inclusion and your business
Accessible design is about creating technology that works for everyone. When digital products are built with inclusion, they empower people with different abilities, backgrounds, and needs to participate fully in work, learning, and everyday life. It’s about equity, dignity, and ensuring no one is left behind. When we improve accessibility, we often improve usability for everyone because accessibility standards are rooted in best practices that make digital experiences clearer, faster, and easier to use.
When accessibility isn’t prioritised, it can lead to frustrated users, poor customer experiences, lost sales, and increased support requests. For public services, it can also lead to legal risks or compliance issues. But investing in accessibility brings clear benefits: it broadens your user base, improves usability for everyone, boosts customer satisfaction, and enhances your brand reputation.
When considering accessibility, a common question arises: What’s the best way to test whether your software is accessible? There isn’t a single method that covers it all. However, prioritising testing with real users, especially those with lived experience of disability, offers the most invaluable insights.
Understanding accessibility standards
WCAG 2.2
WCAG stands for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, a globally recognised standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), to help make digital content accessible to people with disabilities.
The latest version, WCAG 2.2, outlines a set of testable criteria that ensure websites and apps can be used by as many people as possible, including those with visual, auditory, cognitive, and motor impairments.
WCAG is organised around four core principles, often referred to by the acronym POUR:
Perceivable: Users must be able to perceive the content (e.g. with screen readers or alternative text)
Operable: Users must be able to interact with the interface (e.g. using a keyboard or voice commands)
Understandable: Content must be clear and predictable in how it behaves and is presented
Robust: Content must work reliably across a range of devices, platforms, and assistive technologies
Together, these principles form the foundation of inclusive design and guide teams in building better, more accessible digital experiences.
A, AA and AAA accessibility levels
WCAG defines three levels of conformance:
Level A
This is the minimum Level of compliance. It covers the most basic accessibility requirements, such as providing text alternatives for non-text content, ensuring navigation is possible using a keyboard, and avoiding content that could trigger seizures (like flashing animations). Meeting Level A means your product avoids the most serious accessibility blockers, but many users may still face difficulties.
Level AA
This is the most commonly targeted Level for public and commercial websites and apps. It includes all Level A requirements plus additional features that address a wider range of barriers. For example, it requires good colour contrast between text and background, accessible forms with clear labels, and consistent navigation. Meeting Level AA means your product is usable by a much larger audience, including people with visual, auditory, and cognitive disabilities.
Level AAA
This is the highest Level of accessibility and includes the most stringent requirements. It goes beyond AA by requiring features like sign language interpretation for videos, even stronger colour contrast, and avoidance of complex language unless alternatives are provided. Because of the technical and content constraints, Level AAA is often not achievable across an entire site or app. It's typically reserved for specific use cases, like government services or health information, where the audience may rely heavily on enhanced accessibility.
If you're unsure which Level to target, AA is generally the most practical and widely accepted standard.
Accessibility is a team effort
Accessibility isn't just a design or development task—it requires collaboration across design, UX, development, content, and QA. From choosing accessible colours and clear copy to coding for screen readers and testing keyboard navigation, it's a shared responsibility.
Importantly, accessibility isn't a one-time project. As your product evolves, you'll need to review and adapt. Retrofitting accessibility into legacy software can be particularly complex and time-consuming, making it more efficient to build inclusively from the start.
The value of accessibility testing
In our experience, the most valuable insights come from watching real users interact with your product. We've run usability testing with people who use screen readers, magnifiers, and alternative input devices or who have age-related or neurodiverse needs, and we've seen firsthand how different their interaction patterns can be.
For example, screen reader users often listen at high speed, use keyboard shortcuts instinctively, and skip content that your team might assume will be read. These patterns are hard to predict without observing them.
While some teams do internal QA using screen readers like NVDA, JAWS, or VoiceOver, it's important to note that not all screen readers behave the same. Optimising for one can unintentionally break the experience for another. That's why we recommend identifying the most common tools your users rely on and testing accordingly.
How to test the accessibility of your software
We’re accessibility specialists with experience supporting product teams across highly regulated sectors, such as government, education, and healthcare, where accessibility is essential.
Testing accessibility effectively means going beyond automated checks or compliance checklists. It requires a combination of methods that uncover technical barriers and real-world usability issues.
Here are three proven approaches:
1. Accessibility testing with people with disabilities
The most effective way to assess accessibility is to observe how people with various access needs interact with your product. This might include users who rely on screen readers, magnification tools, alternative input devices, or those with neurodiverse or age-related conditions.
Moderated one-to-one sessions allow teams to see firsthand where users encounter friction or barriers, and gather rich qualitative feedback that automated tools can’t provide.
At Fruto, we plan and run accessibility testing sessions with users who have lived experience of disability. We manage recruitment, facilitation, and analysis and deliver clear, actionable findings to help you prioritise improvements.
2. Accessibility audits
A structured audit against the WCAG 2.2 AA standards can help identify compliance issues across key user journeys and components. This involves reviewing keyboard navigation, screen reader support, colour contrast, focus management, and form behaviour.
Audits are beneficial for establishing a baseline, guiding remediation work, and ensuring consistency across a product.
Fruto conducts structured WCAG 2.2 AA audits tailored to your product scope. We provide detailed findings, prioritised recommendations, and time for your team to ask questions or explore solutions.
3. Team training and accessibility workshops
Improving accessibility is a multidisciplinary effort. Workshops can help your team build confidence and shared understanding, whether they learn how screen readers interact with code, how keyboard navigation works, or explore inclusive design principles.
Workshops can be tailored to different roles, such as design, content, or development, so everyone knows how to contribute.
Fruto delivers practical, role-specific workshops to help teams confidently apply accessibility principles. Sessions are interactive, hands-on, and based on real user scenarios.
Let us help you
We’re accessibility specialists with experience supporting product teams across various sectors, including government, education, and healthcare. While accessibility is legally required in many regulated industries, we believe it’s essential in every digital product because inclusive design leads to better, more usable experiences for all.
Contact us to discuss ways we can help.
