Last week, I wrote about reducing the time an accessibility issue has been in the backlog and how it often leads to improved design and development practices that naturally incorporate accessibility.
Today's issue will be controversial. Just go with it.
The number of critical accessibility issues identified in production
Gasps! I know! Waiting to test things in production! How dare I?!
We all do it, so don't bother. Some of us will admit it, some of us will go one step further and work on those issues before anything else. However you want to cut it, you will be testing things in production. So you might as well look at the number of issues that you find, track that number and try to reduce it.
Because an accessibility issue made it all the way to production, it means it slipped passed a bunch of defenses. So the number gives you insight into the effectiveness of your accessibility efforts throughout the development process and highlights areas you need to improve next.
Critical accessibility issues in production directly affect users with disabilities, potentially preventing them from using core features of your product. Seeing that number trend upwards can damage your brand's reputation.
How to track this number
- Severity classification. Clearly define what constitutes a "critical" accessibility issue and make sure everyone applies this consistently.
- Regular audits. Roll up your sleeves and do periodic automated and manual accessibility audits of your production environment.
- Issue logging. For any issue you find that's critical, log it. Note where and how you caught each critical issue.
- Trend analysis. Monitor the number of critical issues over time to identify patterns or spikes.
Strategies to reduce the number
- Automated checks. Integrate automated accessibility testing tools into your CI/CD pipeline.
- Pre-release checklist. Develop a comprehensive accessibility checklist that must be completed before any release.
- Root cause analysis. Perform thorough analysis of each critical issue to prevent similar problems in the future.
I should add that having an incident response plan can come in quite handy. As you work to address these critical issues, you'll gain valuable insights into potential weaknesses in your process. All these knowledge gaps can then be addressed through training and process improvements.
I've noticed that teams that are not afraid to test things in production and work on reducing the number of critical accessibility issues identified tend to adopt more rigorous testing practices, leading to higher overall product quality and stability. This encourages a shared responsibility for accessibility, rather than everyone treating it as the domain of a single role or team.