Monthly Archives: February 2025

Accessibility, Testing, Xceptance

WCAG Testing in E-Commerce: Compliance, Accessibility, and Business Impact

TL;DR: The EU’s upcoming legislation makes WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) compliance non-negotiable. With 87 million EU citizens living with disabilities, accessibility isn’t just ethical—it’s smart business. Xceptance, as experts in testing, offers comprehensive WCAG testing to help businesses meet legal requirements while improving user experience and inclusivity. Compliance isn’t just about avoiding fines—it’s about embracing inclusivity, enhancing user trust, and unlocking new market potential.

The Growing Need

Digital accessibility is no longer a nice-to-have — it’s a fundamental necessity. The European Commission estimates that over 87 million people in the EU experience some form of disability – that’s nearly 20% of the population. In Germany alone, that number translates to roughly 7.8 million individuals with severe disabilities. These numbers highlight the importance of making websites, apps, and digital services accessible to all users. The European Accessibility Act (EAA), which will come into effect in June 2025, mandates that e-commerce businesses comply with WCAG 2.2 Level AA standards. This means that online stores, banking services, and digital platforms must remove barriers that hinder people with disabilities from using their services. Non-compliance doesn’t just mean legal repercussions — it risks alienating a significant customer base and damaging brand reputation.

Challenges in E-Commerce

E-commerce businesses face unique challenges in ensuring accessibility compliance:

  • Complex User Interfaces: Online shops often use dynamic elements, pop-ups, carousels, and multimedia content, which can be difficult for assistive technologies to interpret.
  • Checkout and Payment Issues: Forms, captchas, and payment gateways must be accessible to users relying on screen readers or keyboard navigation.
  • Mobile Responsiveness: Accessibility must be maintained across devices, including smartphones and tablets.
  • SEO and Usability Overlap: Many accessibility improvements, such as proper heading structures and alt text, also enhance SEO and user experience.

Without structured WCAG testing, businesses risk excluding a significant customer base and facing compliance issues.

Xceptance: Your Partner in WCAG Compliance

Xceptance specializes in comprehensive software testing, including in-depth WCAG compliance verification. We go beyond simply checking boxes; we empower you to create an inclusive and user-friendly experience.

  • Automated and Manual Testing: We use automated tools to identify accessibility gaps and complement this with manual testing by experts using screen readers and keyboard navigation.
  • Evaluation Against WCAG 2.2 Guidelines: Our tests cover perceivability, operability, understandability, and robustness, ensuring compliance with Level AA standards.
  • Real-User Simulations: We test e-commerce platforms with real users to gain real-world insights into accessibility challenges.
  • Detailed Reporting and Actionable Recommendations: We provide clear, structured reports outlining issues, their impact, and practical solutions.
  • Ongoing Compliance Support: Accessibility is an ongoing process. We help businesses continuously monitor and improve their accessibility standards.

Business Benefits Beyond Compliance

Accessibility isn’t just about checking a legal box—it’s a competitive advantage:

  • Expand Your Customer Base: An accessible site welcomes millions of potential customers.
  • SEO Boost: Many accessibility best practices align with improved search engine rankings.
  • Stronger Brand Trust: Inclusive brands build deeper connections and customer loyalty.
  • Future-Proof Your Business: Early compliance with WCAG standards means staying ahead of regulations and market shifts.

Don’t Wait – Embrace Accessibility Today

The 2025 WCAG compliance deadline is fast approaching. Xceptance provides the expertise and support you need to ensure your online store meets the legal requirements and delivers an exceptional experience for every user.

Ready to unlock the full potential of an accessible e-commerce platform? Contact Xceptance today for a consultation.

A visual call to action for web accessibility, featuring the text "Embrace Accessibility Today" in a dynamic and eye-catching design.
Automation, Open Source, Testing

Neodymium 5.1 – Get more done faster

TL;DR: Neodymium 5.1 has been released with a host of impressive new features. These include full-page screenshots in reports, enhanced control over JSON assertions, accessibility testing via Google Lighthouse, and simplified session handling and URL validation.

The newest enhancements primarily focus on these key areas to boost testing efficiency and user experience.

Enhanced Reporting: We’ve significantly improved the quality and usability of test reports. You now get more informative and insightful results with features like full-page screenshots, enhanced JSON assertions for easier data comparison, and a streamlined report structure for improved readability.

Accessibility Testing: Recognizing the growing importance of web accessibility, we’ve integrated Google Lighthouse to automate accessibility checks. This allows you to easily identify and address accessibility issues within your web applications, ensuring compliance with WCAG standards.

Streamlined Workflows: We’ve introduced several features to streamline your testing processes. These include improved session handling for cleaner test environments, enhanced configuration options for greater flexibility, and robust URL validation to prevent unintended access to sensitive systems and ensure test stability.

These improvements are all about making your testing smoother and more dependable. You’ll get better results and learn more from them, so you can build even better software! So, let’s get into the details, shall we?

Enhanced Reporting

Neodymium 5.1 brings significant improvements to its reporting capabilities, providing you with more insightful and informative test results.

Improved Screenshots

You can now capture full-page screenshots with highlighted viewports for better visibility of the test context. Additionally, the last element, the test has interacted with, will be highlighted. This makes it easier to pinpoint the exact location of an interaction and understand the state of the application at that time.

Shows a screenshot of a report with an embedded screenshot showing the marking of the viewpport
Screenshot within Viewport Marking

Test Data Overview

Gain a deeper understanding of your test data and streamline the debugging process by accessing test data in JSON format for each test case. This detailed data analysis capability allows you to quickly identify and resolve potential issues.

Screenshot showing how test data is shown in an Allure report
Test Data within the Allure Report

JSON Assertions

The JSON file comparison feature has been enhanced. It now provides improved accuracy in identifying differences between expected and actual results.

A screenshot with test results on the left and a JSON comparison example on the right
JSON Comparison Within the Allure Report

Environment Information

We’ve added the browser used for testing to the report’s environment section to give you more context about the test results. Also, you can now add custom values to tell the difference between environments or profiles in your test runs, making it easier to figure out if any setup or deployment problems are causing issues.

Step Information and URLs

The clickable URLs included in each step of the report simplify and streamline the process to reproduce test failures and navigate to specific application pages at various points during test execution.

Reduced Report Clutter

The report now features fewer INFO sections, providing a cleaner and more concise overview with less visual noise, allowing for easier identification of critical information.

Accessibility Testing

Neodymium 5.1 now includes Google Lighthouse to help you identify and fix accessibility issues in your web applications. This integration supports your compliance with WCAG standards, and shows that we understand how important web accessibility is.

Shows a screenshot of a report with an embedded Google Lighthouse report
Lighthouse Report Embedded in Neodymium’s Allure Report

Additionally, you can assert against Lighthouse report data to track changes in state or outcome.

Furthermore, this enables WebVitals measurement and verification capabilities.

Workflow Enhancements

Several features help to streamline the testing process and improve overall test automation efficiency.

Popup Blocker

The improved popup blocker boosts test stability by minimizing disruptions from unexpected popups, which can lead to inconsistent test results.

Session Handling

Neodymium now utilizes a dedicated annotation to run @BeforeEach and @AfterEach methods in individual, fresh browser sessions. This guarantees a consistent environment for setup and tear down, and minimizes any influence from prior test steps.

Properties

Environment variables can now be used to override Neodymium properties, providing greater flexibility and simpler integration with CI/CD pipelines. This allows for more dynamic test adjustments based on the specific environment or build.

URL Validation

Restrict test access to certain sites only by defining include and exclude lists. This prevents accidental access to live sites or sensitive data, mitigating the risk of unintended modifications. Any attempt to access a URL not included in the defined list will result in an immediate test failure, providing early feedback and preventing further interactions.

Driver Command-Line Arguments

The configuration now allows for direct pass-through of driver command-line arguments, which streamlines driver setup, facilitates customization, and enables fine-tuning of driver behavior and test execution to meet your specific requirements.

Dependencies

We also updated numerous dependencies to keep them up-to-date and secure. Examples are Selenide, Allure, Log4J, and JUnit.

Summary

Neodymium 5.1 is now available! We value your feedback on new features and any defects encountered. Your input helps ensure Neodymium remains a powerful tool for your needs. You might even find a newer version of Neodymium when you read this article, depending on when you read it.