Ensuring your website meets accessibility standards is crucial for creating an inclusive experience for all users. This tutorial will guide you through using two free tools: Lighthouse, built into Chrome, and the Silktide browser plugin, to evaluate your website’s accessibility and follow best practices.

1. Using Lighthouse for Accessibility Testing

Lighthouse is a powerful, automated tool built into Chrome that can analyze accessibility along with performance, SEO, and best practices.

Steps to Run an Accessibility Audit with Lighthouse:

1. Open your website in Chrome.
2. Right-click on the page and select “Inspect” or press Ctrl + Shift + I (Windows) or Cmd + Option + I (Mac) to open Chrome DevTools.
3. Navigate to the “Lighthouse” tab in DevTools.
4. Select “Accessibility” and optionally include other categories like SEO or Performance.
5. Click on “Generate report”.
6. Wait for the audit to complete and review the report. It provides a score and detailed suggestions on how to improve accessibility.

Key Features:

• Highlights accessibility issues with explanations and links to resources.
• Suggests actionable solutions to address the identified problems.

Link to Lighthouse: Learn more about Lighthouse

2. Using the Silktide Browser Plugin for Accessibility Evaluation

The Silktide Accessibility extension is a free browser plugin that provides a detailed analysis of web pages, highlighting issues directly on the page for easier navigation and correction.

Steps to Use Silktide Browser Plugin:

1. Install the Silktide plugin:
   • Go to the Chrome Web Store and install the Silktide Accessibility Tool.
2. Open your website in Chrome.
3. Click on the Silktide icon in your browser toolbar to activate the plugin.
4. The tool will analyze the page and overlay it with indicators showing specific issues.
5. Click on highlighted elements to view detailed information and suggestions for fixing each issue.

Key Features:

• On-page highlights make it easy to see exactly where problems are.
• Provides guidance and descriptions to help you understand accessibility standards.

Link to Silktide Plugin: Silktide Accessibility Tool

Tips for Using These Tools Together

• Initial Audit with Lighthouse: Start with Lighthouse for an overview and to get a comprehensive report that identifies key issues.
• Detailed Analysis with Silktide: Use the Silktide plugin to see visual highlights and fix specific issues in context.
• Iterative Testing: After making changes, rerun both tools to ensure the issues are resolved and the accessibility score is improved.

By combining the insights from Lighthouse and the targeted, visual feedback from the Silktide plugin, you can create a more accessible website that meets best practices and improves the user experience for everyone.