Conformance Testing

An accessibility evaluation method that checks whether a website or digital product meets the requirements specified by accessibility guidelines or standards such as WCAG. Conformance testing can be performed manually by human evaluators or through automated testing tools that scan for guideline violations. While conformance testing is a foundational accessibility practice, research suggests it captures only about half of the accessibility problems users actually encounter, missing issues related to information architecture, unexpected content behaviour, and interaction difficulties that emerge during real use.