About Our Rules

How Does Automated Testing Work With AudioEye?

The Accessibility Testing SDK lets you use AudioEye's automated testing suite to analyze your site and get details of the issues discovered.

AudioEye's rules are based on specific criteria we expect are present in your site or code. These are defined by WCAG guidelines (currently built to test for WCAG 2.2 conformance, including levels A-AAA) plus best practices we have developed over years of advising clients how to avoid legal claims caused by accessibility errors.

WCAG guidelines are complex and comprised of multiple criteria, some of which cannot be measured accurately by automated testing. If a rule does not detect any issues, it doesn’t mean the WCAG guideline itself is passed. Rather, the details or expected behavior written in each rule are present.

How Rules Work in Different Testing Scenarios

Each individual test in the automated test package is called a rule (RuleCode).

Depending on the type of testing you are conducting -- like if you are using the --component flag (we attempt to detect this during Jest testing) or if you are running a full page scan -- the set of accessibility rules that will be run is slightly different.

Component vs Full-Page Rules

Not all rules apply to individual html components, and similarly some issues can only be detected during a full page scan. The following rules will not work when using the --component flag

• Aria_Landmarks_Missing
• Heading_H1_Missing
• Heading_H1_Multiple
• Html_Attribute_Lang_Invalid
• Html_Attribute_Lang_Missing
• Html_DocType_Missing
• Html_MainContent_IsAriaHidden
• Html_Page_Title_Missing
• Html_Page_Title_WeakName
• Html_SkipLink_Missing
• Html_SkipLink_Target_Invalid
• Html_SkipLink_WeakName

Rules Requiring Browser Context

Certain rules require the rendered style of the page to properly determine if there is an accessibility issue or not. The following rules are used in other AudioEye testing products but they will not work when you are using the Jest or Cypress testing tools.

• Aria_Label_TextContent_MisMatch
• Audio_Captions_Missing
• Button_Name_Duplicate
• Button_Name_Missing
• Checkbox_AttributeRequirement_Missing
• Element_Disabled_Detect
• Element_Focus_Visible_Missing
• FormField_Autocomplete_Invalid
• FormField_LabelRequirement_Missing
• Heading_Name_Empty
• HtmlList_ChildElem_LI_Missing
• Html_AriaHidden_Tabable
• Html_Name_Redundant
• Html_Possible_Heading
• Html_PresentationChildren_Tabbable
• Html_ScrollableFocus_Invalid
• Iframe_Name_Missing
• Iframe_Tabindex_Invalid
• Imagebutton_Name_Missing
• Img_Name_Missing
• Img_Name_Redundant
• Img_Name_ShouldBe_Empty
• Link_AdjacentHref_Redundant
• Link_Name_Missing
• Link_Name_WeakName
• Link_VisualIndicator_Missing
• Modal_Usage_Cookie_Detect
• Modal_Usage_Detect
• NonText_Contrast_TooLow
• Object_NoText_Name_Missing
• Svg_ExplicitRole_Name_Missing
• Svg_Name_Missing
• Table_Header_Invalid
• Text_Attribute_Lang_Invalid
• Text_Contrast_TooLow
• Text_LetterSpacing_Important_Detect
• Text_LineHeight_Important_Detect
• Text_Size_TooSmall
• Text_Strikethrough_Detect
• Text_WordSpacing_Important_Detect

Check What Rules Run

To see what tests are being run use the --print-test-list flag on the CLI when running a scan.

% npx aetest scan --component --print-test-list < component.html
::: START AudioEye Accessibility Testing SDK CLI :::

Scanning HTML from STDIN
The following rules were run...
   Video_Controls_Missing
   Video_Captions_Missing
   TreeItem_ParentRequirement_Missing
   Text_WordSpacing_Important_Detect
   Text_LineHeight_Important_Detect
   Text_LetterSpacing_Important_Detect
   Text_Language_RightToLeft_Missing
   Text_Contrast_TooLow
   Text_Attribute_Lang_Invalid
   Table_Header_Missing
   Table_Header_Invalid
   Table_Header_Empty
   Table_Caption_Summary_Redundant
   Table_Caption_Missing
   Tab_ParentRequirement_Missing
   Switch_AttributeRequirement_Missing
   Svg_Name_Missing
   Scrollbar_AttributeRequirement_Missing
   Progressbar_AttributeRequirement_Missing
   Option_ParentRequirement_Missing
   Object_NoText_Name_Missing
   NonText_Contrast_TooLow
   Menuitem_ParentRequirement_Missing
   Menuitem_Name_Missing
   Listbox_Name_Missing
   List_ChildRequirement_Missing
   ListItem_ParentRequirement_Missing
   Link_VisualIndicator_Missing
   Link_Name_WeakName
   Link_Name_Missing
   Link_Img_Alt_Redundant
   Link_ExternalWarning_Missing
   Link_DownloadWarning_Missing
   Img_Name_WeakName
   Img_Name_ShouldBe_Empty
   Img_Name_Missing
   Img_AttributeRequirement_Missing
   Imagebutton_Name_Missing
   Iframe_Tabindex_Invalid
   Iframe_Name_WeakName
   Iframe_Name_Redundant
   Iframe_Name_Missing
   Iframe_Name_Duplicate
   Html_ScrollableFocus_Invalid
   Html_PresentationChildren_Tabbable
   Html_Name_Redundant
   Html_MetaRefresh_Detect
   Html_Language_RightToleft_Missing
   Html_Blockquote_Cite_Invalid
   Html_AriaHidden_Tabable
   HtmlList_Definition_ChildElem_Missing
   HtmlList_ChildElem_LI_Missing
   Heading_Sequence_Wrong
   Heading_Name_Empty
   Heading_AttributeRequirement_Missing
   Form_LegendDescription_Missing
   FormField_Name_WeakName
   FormField_Label_Missing
   FormField_Hidden_Autocomplete
   FormField_Autocomplete_Multiple
   FormField_Autocomplete_Missing
   FormField_Autocomplete_Invalid
   Element_TabIndex_Positive
   Element_Interactive_Nested
   Element_Focus_Visible_Missing
   Element_FocusOrder_MisMatch
   Dialog_AttributeRequirement_Missing
   Combobox_AttributeRequirement_Missing
   Combobox_Name_Missing
   Columnheader_ParentRequirement_Missing
   Checkbox_AttributeRequirement_Missing
   Cell_ParentRequirement_Missing
   Button_Name_WeakName
   Button_Name_Missing
   BadTag_Spacer_Detect
   BadTag_Presentational_Detect
   BadTag_Marquee_Detect
   BadTag_Emphasis_Detect
   BadTag_Blink_Detect
   Audio_Controls_Missing
   Aria_Role_Menu_Invalid
   Aria_Role_Invalid
   Aria_LabelledBy_Invalid
   Aria_Label_TextContent_MisMatch
   Aria_DescribedBy_Invalid
   Aria_Attribute_Invalid

Total rules run: 86


AudioEye Rules Version: 8.3.5
Found 3 accessibility issues
   Img_Name_Missing - count: 3

Test results were written to aetest_output.html

::: END AudioEye Accessibility Testing SDK CLI :::

Describing a Rule

If you need more details about a specific issue, you can use the describe command to get more information. For instance, for the result Img_Name_Missing you can find more information by running:

% npx aetest describe Img_Name_Missing
{
  code: 'Img_Name_Missing',
  description: 'We detected an image that is missing an accessible name. The accessible name of an image usually comes from the alt attribute or related ARIA properties and should be provided unless the image is deemed decorative. In the case where an image is unimportant or decorative, provide an alt attribute with an empty value. Otherwise, provide an appropriate alt attribute or related ARIA property for the image to possess an accessible name.',
  fixAtSource: false,
  fullName: 'Image accessible name is missing',
  wcagSuccessCriteriaLevelCode: 'A',
  wcagSuccessCriteriaName: 'Non-text Content',
  wcagSuccessCriteriaNumber: '1.1.1'
}