Day 31: A11y throughout a Product's Lifecycle, Waterfall vs. Agile

Published on 31 Dec 2018

• journal
• was
• quality-assurance

Moving onto the next WAS Body of Knowledge study topic: integrating accessibility into the quality assurance process. Approximate study time: 1 hour.

• Started researching how to consider accessibility at different stages of a product's life from inception to launch.
• Read It's time to let go of the waterfall model of accessibility (Karl Groves).
• Read Integrating accessibility across the agile and waterfall development lifecycle (Irfan Ali).

Considering accessibility shouldn't just happen at the mockup or code level. It can happen throughout the product's entire life:

• concept,
• requirements,
• design,
• prototyping,
• development,
• quality assurance,
• user testing, and
• regression testing.

Additionally, I read about the agile and waterfall processes and when to apply accessibility when working through the cycle:

• waterfall approach: present throughout each step and is well documented
• agile approach: discussed at scrum meeting, established as a requirement, built into design and architecture, use standardized testing with TDD and automation

Love this statement by Karl Groves which nails it when it comes to encouraging the development of an accessible product rather than blockading it:

Become a member of the team, not a gatekeeper, and you will be seen as a resource instead of a hurdle.