Tutorials·13 June 2026 · 8 min read
My practical accessibility smoke test before release
A ten-minute accessibility pass any QA can run before release — keyboard, focus, contrast, and the obvious screen-reader checks.
accessibilitya11ychecklist
Series
Accessibility for QA.
Practical accessibility checks any tester can run before release — and where the tooling stops. You don't need to be a specialist to catch the obvious accessibility failures. This series covers the keyboard-first smoke test, what automated scans like axe catch and miss, and why a Lighthouse score isn't a test.
Who it's forManual QAAnyone shipping UI
// overview
Accessibility gets framed as a specialist discipline you need certification to attempt — which is exactly how it ends up tested by nobody. This series makes it practical for ordinary QA: the checks you can run before release with no tooling and no expertise, and a clear-eyed view of where the automated scanners stop.
The arc starts with the highest-value habit — driving the whole flow from the keyboard — widens to a full release smoke test, and then draws the line: what tools like axe catch, what they can't see, and why a Lighthouse score isn't an accessibility test.
You won't come out a specialist. You will come out able to stop the obvious, embarrassing accessibility failures from shipping every sprint.
// reading order
- Tutorials·13 June 2026 · 6 min read
Keyboard testing: the fastest accessibility check QA can run
Tab through the page. That single habit catches more accessibility bugs than most automated scans.
accessibilitykeyboarda11y - Tutorials·13 June 2026 · 8 min read
Screen reader testing without pretending to be an expert
Catch the blatant screen-reader failures in fifteen minutes with the reader already on your machine — meaningful names, sensible images, labelled fields, announced changes.
accessibilityscreen-readera11y - Tutorials·13 June 2026 · 8 min read
How to test forms for accessibility
Forms break accessibility hardest — labels, required state, announced errors, focus management, and keyboard-operable custom widgets. The form-specific pass.
accessibilityformsa11y - Tutorials·23 December 2025 · 9 min read
Adding accessibility tests with axe — a practical walkthrough
axe-core is the engine behind most accessibility testing in 2026 — and it's surprisingly approachable. Here's a practical walkthrough of integrating axe with Playwright, what it catches, and what it misses.
accessibilityaxeplaywrighta11y - Opinions·16 December 2025 · 7 min read
Your Lighthouse score isn't an accessibility test
A 100 Lighthouse accessibility score doesn't mean your site is accessible. The score is a smoke alarm — useful, but not a test. Here's what it actually measures, and what you still need to check manually.
accessibilitylighthousea11y - Deep dives·13 June 2026 · 8 min read
Focus order bugs: small issue, big user impact
Focus order is the route a keyboard user takes through your page. When it's wrong the page looks perfect and becomes unusable — and scans don't catch it.
accessibilitya11ykeyboard-testingfocus-management
// RELATED QA.CODES RESOURCES
Checklist
Next seriesManual QA that still matters