Automated testing
Also known as: Accessibility scanners
Automated testing uses tools to scan a page for accessibility problems in seconds — but it only catches about a quarter to a third of the issues that matter.
In plain terms
Scanners like axe or WAVE are great at finding machine-checkable problems: missing alt text, low contrast, empty labels. What they can't judge is whether your alt text is actually meaningful, whether the reading order makes sense, or whether a custom widget is usable. Those need a human.
Why it matters
Relying on a scanner alone gives false confidence — a "0 errors" report can still hide a checkout that's impossible to complete with a keyboard. Automated testing is the first pass, not the whole job.
A scanner passes a form because every field has a label — but a human tester finds the labels say "Field 1" and "Field 2", which help no one.
Related terms
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