Notes # 25: How To Select A Meaningful Sample For Accessibility Testing?

Personal Notes

As Turkish Technology, we have been announced as finalists for the Travel For Every Body Awards presented by Selling Travel Magazine in the Digital Innovation category. Our project is the Aviation Sign Language Dictionary, which is available on YouTube in Turkish Sign Language and International Sign. The Deaf community experiences challenges in understanding aviation terminology, and this causes some problems on the ground. For example, terms like “check-in” or “boarding pass” are not common words used in daily life, but they are vital in ground operations. So, many Deaf person don’t know these terms. Therefore, based on our focus group discussions with the Deaf community, we decided to prepare a video dictionary explaining key aviation terminology.

Travel For Every Body is a great opportunity for recognition and visibility regarding the needs of the Deaf community. We are very excited to be there.

News

WCAG 3 – September 2026 Update

Source: W3C

Work on WCAG 3 is ongoing. In this latest update, you can send your feedback to the Working Group and open new discussions via GitHub. In the "1.1. About This Draft" section, there is a set of questions you can work on. For me, the most critical one is: "Are there user needs which are not covered?" If you see any unmentioned needs in WCAG 2.2, you can raise a flag now. Also, the conformance model will change a lot. Rather than applying a pass/fail methodology, a more flexible approach will be adopted. Details are not available yet, but if you have ideas, you can write them as well.

AbilityNet And Mova Reveal Hidden Human Cost Of Inaccessible Services

Source: mova

In partnership with AbilityNet, mova has released an insightful report. This report stands out because it avoids relying on numbers or percentages to measure the impact of inaccessibility on people with disabilities. Instead, it highlights the psychological harm, common digital accessibility barriers, and forced dependence on others, such as carers, directly through the participants' own words. It serves as an excellent resource for understanding what inaccessibility actually feels like, moving beyond abstract statistics and economic data.

Twenty Years Of The CRPD: New UN Report Calls For Renewed Action On Disability Inclusion

Source: UN DESA

As the international community marks the twentieth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a new report by the United Nations Secretary-General has been published. Let me cite the digital accessibility section: “Although more countries have adopted digital accessibility regulations, only 5 per cent of local government portals complied with international web accessibility standards in 2024. The report calls for digital platforms, public services and artificial intelligence technologies to be designed and implemented in accordance with the accessibility and non-discrimination principles of the CRPD.”

Inspirations

Accessibility For Small Business

Source: Michael Harshbarger

This article presents nothing new, but it is still an inspirational piece because of its simplicity. Sometimes we talk about accessibility as it is rocket science and provide too many details, even to newcomers. Yes, this is an expertise, and yes, there are many details. However, as Michael Harshbarger mentioned, starting accessibility work should not require very much technical knowledge or infrastructure. The action-oriented nature and simplicity of the article are my key sources of inspiration.

How Many Pages Is Enough In An Accessibility Audit?

Source: Afixt

In Notes # 22, I covered WCAG-EM, a methodology outlining how to select samples for accessibility testing. This article serves as a step-by-step practical guide on how to effectively apply WCAG-EM in your workflow. Karl Groves tackles controversial questions and challenges standard industry assumptions around sampling as well. Shortly, the main issue is not the page count. Component architecture and root causes should be the main point.

Why Testing Every Website Maybe Unnecessary?

Source: CANAXESS – YouTube

Here is content similar to the article above, a video for audiovisual learners. This time, sampling is discussed in the context of enterprise-level organizations with a large number of websites. Seeing an increasing amount of content on WCAG-EM makes me hopeful, as it may lead to a more systematic approach to accessibility. On the other hand, there is a slight risk: organizations should always be reminded that an audit based on sampling cannot be used to claim full conformance. In other words, WCAG-EM is just a starting point, not the road to the finish line.