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Beyond Compliance: Authentic Accessibility Testing

BPN Workplace Solutions, a division of Blind Professionals Network, offers expert accessibility testing services to ensure your software, systems, and applications are truly usable by blind and visually impaired employees, customers and website visitors. We go beyond automated reports to provide authentic insights that only a user with lived experience can deliver.

Our service is a strategic investment in a genuinely inclusive and productive workplace.

Workplace and & Internal Systems Accessibility Testing

This service is for companies focused on empowering their blind and visually impaired employees. We understand that your internal software, databases, and proprietary systems are the backbone of your business. Our testing is designed to ensure these tools are fully accessible so your employees can work with maximum efficiency and confidence.

Our Internal Systems testing process:

User-Centric Evaluation: We simulate how a blind professional would interact with your software to identify usability issues that automated tools often miss.
Employee Productivity: We evaluate your internal systems to identify and eliminate barriers that slow down your employees.
Keyboard Navigation: We verify that your entire system can be navigated and operated efficiently using only a keyboard, ensuring your employees can perform their jobs without relying on a mouse.
Logical Flow & Clarity: We test whether information is read in a logical, coherent order by the screen reader and if all on-screen elements are announced clearly and accurately.
Custom Workarounds: If we identify accessibility barriers, we don't just point out problems. Our experts will use their extensive knowledge to develop creative workarounds and alternative methods that enable your employees to perform their tasks efficiently.
Tailored Solutions: We don't just find problems; we help you solve them by providing actionable roadmaps for improving your internal tools.

How this service benefits your company:

Investing in our accessibility testing is a strategic decision that benefits your organization in multiple ways:

Legal & Contractual Protection: Our testing ensures compliance with international accessibility standards such as WCAG, which is the foundation for legal requirements in many countries. This significantly reduces your company's risk of costly litigation and legal claims. We also validate compliance with federal laws like Section 508 (if applicable), which is vital for securing government contracts.
Improved Employee Productivity: Ensure your blind and visually impaired employees can work with the same speed and efficiency as their sighted colleagues, boosting morale and overall output.
Competitive Advantage: Position your company as a leader in diversity and inclusion, which not only attracts a wider talent pool but also enhances your public image.

Public-Facing Website Accessibility Testing

This service is for any company committed to making its website accessible to all potential customers. An accessible website is crucial for expanding your market reach, protecting your brand, and ensuring everyone can engage with your business online.

Ensuring your website is accessible isn't just a matter of compliance—it's a smart business decision with powerful benefits:

Reduced Legal & Financial Risk: Proactively identifying and fixing accessibility issues helps your company comply with legal standards and reduces the risk of litigation.
Expanded Market Reach: An accessible website allows you to serve the millions of blind and visually impaired individuals who make up a significant customer base. By making your site usable for them, you open your business to a new and loyal market.
Enhanced Brand Reputation: Proactively committing to accessibility demonstrates that your company is socially responsible and committed to inclusion, strengthening your public image and attracting a wider range of customers.
Improved User Experience for Everyone: Many accessibility features, like clear navigation and logical headings, benefit all users, including those with temporary or situational disabilities.

Our Website Testing Process

Keyboard-Only Navigation: We navigate your entire site using only a keyboard to ensure all links, buttons, and forms are fully operable and logically ordered.
Logical Structure: We test the heading and landmark structure (H1, H2, etc.) to ensure a clear and logical hierarchy that makes it easy for screen reader users to understand and navigate the content.
Descriptive Text: We verify that all links, buttons, and form fields are clearly labeled and descriptive when read aloud by a screen reader, so users know exactly what each element does.
Form Usability: We test the entire form-filling process to ensure that labels are properly associated with their fields and that all error messages are announced to the user.
Image Accessibility: We verify that all images have accurate, descriptive alternative text and that decorative images are properly hidden from screen readers.
Dynamic Content Testing: We assess how the screen reader handles dynamic changes on the page, such as modal windows, pop-ups, and live updates, to ensure new content is announced correctly.

Screen Reader Website Usability Testing

This service provides an authentic and invaluable evaluation of your digital products. We go beyond automated accessibility audits by having your website, application, or software tested by highly experienced blind professionals who are expert users of screen readers and other assistive technologies. Our service provides you with a direct, firsthand look at the real-world user experience, identifying barriers that automated tools often miss.

Reasons to Have Usability Testing

While automated tools can check for technical accessibility errors, they cannot replicate the human experience.1 Screen reader usability testing uncovers critical issues that impact a user's ability to navigate and interact with your site, such as:

Disjointed Reading Order: A screen reader may read content in a jumbled or illogical order, making it impossible for a user to understand the flow of information.
Vague Link and Button Labels: Links labeled "click here" or buttons with no text are meaningless to a screen reader user, leaving them unable to take action.
Inaccessible Forms: Form fields without proper labels, or error messages that a screen reader cannot announce, prevent users from completing essential tasks like signing up or making a purchase.
Keyboard Navigation Issues: Many screen reader users rely solely on keyboard commands.4 Our testing identifies where a user gets trapped, blocked, or confused when navigating with the keyboard.

Our Specific Usability Testing Process

Our certified testers use industry-standard screen readers like JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver to conduct a thorough evaluation of your digital product. Our process is hands-on and includes a deep dive into the following areas:

Keyboard-Only Navigation: We navigate the entire site using only the keyboard to ensure all links, buttons, forms, and interactive elements are fully operable.
Heading and Landmark Navigation: We check for a logical and hierarchical heading structure (H1, H2, etc.) and proper use of ARIA landmarks to allow for efficient navigation.
Descriptive Link and Button Text: We evaluate the clarity and context of all interactive elements to ensure they are meaningful when read out of context.
Accurate Alt Text: We verify that all images have descriptive alternative text and that decorative images are properly hidden from screen readers.
Form Usability: We test the entire form-filling process, ensuring that labels are associated with their fields, error messages are announced, and the user's focus is returned to the correct location.
Dynamic Content Testing: We assess how the screen reader handles dynamic changes on the page, such as modal windows, live updates, and pop-ups, to ensure they are announced correctly.

Our Comprehensive Approach

No matter which service you choose, our process is focused on the real-world user experience. We conduct thorough, manual testing with all major screen reader software, including JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver, to give you a complete picture of your accessibility.

What Makes Us Different

What truly sets our service apart is our team. Our accessibility testers are not just engineers; they are all blind or visually impaired professionals. This means you gain a direct, unfiltered perspective on the usability of your systems. We don’t just provide a checklist of compliance issues; we deliver authentic insight into what works and what doesn't in the real world. Our testing provides not just a report but a clear, actionable roadmap to true accessibility.

Click here to explore our accessibility testing packages.

The ultimate goal of all BPN Workplace Solutions accessibility testing is to ensure that all individuals that are blind or visually impaired can use computer programs, applications, systems, and websites, with the same level of efficiency and independence as an individual that is sighted.

We would be honored to discuss how we can help you build a more accessible and inclusive digital environment. Contact BPN Workplace Solutions to schedule a brief consultation and learn more about our accessibility testing services.