Trusted Tester

Awareness Course

Presenter: TBD | Date TBD

Office of Government-wide Policy

GOAL: To provide an overview of the purpose, benefits, and components of the Trusted Tester certification program.

Webinar Logistics

• Technical Support:
• Report technical issues via the Chat tool.
• Adobe Connect Technical Support
• Adobe Connect Visual Quick Start Guide for Participants
• Tutorials: https://forums.adobe.com/docs/DOC-6942#jive_content_id_Connect_Tutorials
• Adobe Connect Overview��

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Participation Guidelines

• Participate
• Mute your phone when you are not speaking
• Do not put your phone on hold
• Raise your hand to ask a question
• Identify yourself when speaking��

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Today’s Agenda

Introductions

Webinar Objectives

Trusted Tester Program Purpose

Role of the Trusted Tester

​

Components of the Trusted Tester Review

Trusted Tester Curriculum and Requirements

Webinar Wrap Up

Participant Introductions

Share your:

• Name
• Title/Job Description
• Agency
• Webinar Expectations��

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Objectives

Describe the:

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Trusted Tester Program Purpose

Section 508 Accessibility Standards

What is Section 508?

• A law and set of standards that �requires Federal agencies to make �Information and Communication �Technology (ICT) accessible �to individuals with disabilities.
• Applies to ICT that is procured, �developed, maintained, or used�by agencies of the Federal government.
• Section 508 was enacted to eliminate�barriers to ICT, make opportunities �available for persons with disabilities, �and encourage development of �technologies that will help achieve these goals.

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Why Accessibility Matters

Accessibility Is Everyone’s Responsibility

• Citizens rely on their �government for a range of essential services.
• Federal employees require equal access to technology to successfully perform their jobs.
• When equal access to information is not afforded to individuals with disabilities, those people may be excluded from essential information, services, or opportunities that should be available to all Americans.

​

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Benefits of Conformance

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Origins of the Trusted Tester Program

Developing a Consistent, Repeatable Process

• USCIS/DHS developed test checklist and repeatable test process to train IT testers in the federal space.
• Other agencies recognized the benefit of a standardized testing process.
• DHS developed program to certify testers for accessibility in the federal space and opens the course at no cost to the program participant.
• DHS worked with Access Board to revise the test process to align with WCAG 2.0 and the Revised Section 508 Standards.

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Trusted Tester Purpose

• Manual test approach that aligns with the Revised Section 508 Standards and the ICT Testing Baseline requirements.
• Provides repeatable, shareable, and reliable conformance test results.
• Agencies that adopt the Trusted Tester Process only accept test results from individuals who have been certified as Trusted Testers.
• The current version of Trusted Tester is only used to evaluate websites and web applications. It cannot be used for non-web software or documents.

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Trusted Tester Role

What is a Trusted Tester?

Person certified to:

• Provide accurate and repeatable test results.
• Follow the Trusted Tester Process to evaluate web content for conformance with Revised Section 508 standards.
• Use approved, standardized testing tools. This standardized process is used to ensure that the accessibility testing is done the same way every time.

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Who Should Become a Trusted Tester?

• Trusted Testers may perform the role as part of their job or may be a dedicated tester based on organization’s volume of development and needs.
• Team members that make great Trusted Testers include:
• Section 508 Program Managers
• Web content managers
• IT testing professionals
• Developers and other members of the development team
• But remember, anyone who wants to can become a Trusted Tester!

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Benefits of Using a Trusted Tester

How Will it Help My Agency?

• Promotes a common �understanding of the �Section 508 Standards.
• Unifies the test process, �tools, and reporting.
• Allows test results to �be shared.
• Integrates Section 508 into the development and acquisition lifecycle.
• Improves ability for developers to reproduce test results which expedites remediation of non-conforming content.

​

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Benefits of Becoming a Trusted Tester

What’s in it for Me?

• Trusted Testers have a marketable skill that makes them more employable in the IT development community.
• Trusted Testers have a greater understanding of accessibility requirements and provide valuable insight to agencies in meeting accessibility requirements.
• Trusted Testers help their agencies produce higher quality products and help all users gain equitable access to information and digital services.
• While there is a time investment, the certification program is available online to anyone at no cost.

​

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Components of the Trusted Tester Review

ICT Baseline v Trusted Tester

What’s the Difference?

ICT Baseline

• Describes how to evaluate conformance to the Revised Section 508 Standards.
• Establishes the minimum tests that determine whether Web content meets requirements.
• Not a test process but is used to create one.
• Tool agnostic.

Trusted Tester

• Formal process aligned to the ICT baseline that details how to test and what tools to use.
• Provides a required test sequence and tools.
• Reduces ambiguity, increases consistency of results, and emphasizes methods that meet Section 508 ICT Accessibility requirements.

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Section 508 Conformance Tests

Examples

Conformance tests look for accessibility issues such as:

• Keyboard access - All functionality of the content is operable through a keyboard interface. 
• Repetitive content - A mechanism is available to bypass (or skip) content that is repeated on multiple pages.
• Images - All non-text content that is presented to the user has an equivalent text alternative.
• Contrast - Visual presentation of text and images of text has a sufficient contrast ratio for people with low vision.
• Links - Purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone or from the link text together with its programmatically determined link context.

�

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Testing Practices

• Trusted Tester is a manual process.
• Most accessibility requirements necessitate manual inspection because they require human judgment to determine if conformance is met.
• Automated tools can be an important part of development and help quickly identify common errors and accessibility issues, but tools have limitations.
• If you use automated tools, they must be augmented by manual testing.�

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Testing Tools

• Trusted Tester uses two tools – ANDI and the Colour Contrast Analyser – to help facilitate the testing process.
• These tools were selected based on several factors including ease of use, ease of teaching, and accuracy of results.
• The tools are free to install and use.
• They assist the tester with verification of accessibility properties and reduce the need for a tester to view source code or have in-depth knowledge of programming languages.

​

�

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Accessible Name and Description Inspector (ANDI)

Semi-automated Code Inspection

• Developed by the Social Security Administration.
• Reveals what a screen reader should say for interactive elements.
• Gives practical suggestions to improve accessibility and check 508 compliance.

�

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

ANDI Demonstration

Semi-automated Code Inspection

Extended description of animation is located in the speaker notes.

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Colour Contrast Analyser (CCA)

• Free color contrast checker tool that allows you to easily determine the contrast ratio of two colors simply using an eyedrop tool.
• Enables you to optimize content–including text and visual elements–for individuals with vision disabilities.
• Used to inspect color contrast when contrast cannot be programmatically identified by ANDI.�

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

CCA Demonstration

Extended description of animation is located in the speaker notes.

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Accessibility Conformance Report Tool (ACRT)

• Standalone browser-based application used to track accessibility test results.
• Developed specifically to provide results against the Trusted Tester test IDs.
• Provides the ability to report test results for conformance to the Revised Section 508 Standards and generates an easy-to-read report.

�

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Trusted Tester Curriculum and Requirements

Trusted Tester Program Curriculum

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

FACA-ALL-049-B

FACA-ALL-049B

What is Section 508 and Why is It Important?

​

Course Purpose: Web-based course introducing Section 508 is and why it is important to make accessible products ICT. This course serves as a prerequisite to all other Section 508 compliance training courses.

Course Duration: 10+ hours

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

DHSA-TT-100-A

DHSA-TT-100-A

Section 508 Standards for Web

​

Course Purpose: Web-based course providing a basic understanding of the Section 508 standards for web and web applications. This course is a prerequisite for anyone planning to certify as a Trusted Tester.

Course Duration: 20+ hours

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

DHSA-TT-150-A

DHSA-TT-150-A

Trusted Tester Tools for Web on Windows

​

Course Purpose: In this web-based course, students will install and begin to learn about the required software used for testing web sites for Section 508 conformance, including system requirements and recommended workstation configurations.

Course Duration: 5+ hours

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

DHSA-TT-200-A

DHSA-TT-200-A

Section 508 Standards for Web

​

Course Purpose: Web-based course teaching the Trusted Tester process and associated tools for testing websites and for compliance with Section 508 standards.

Course Duration: 20+ hours

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

DHSA-TT-201-A

DHSA-TT-201-A

Practice Exam for Web on Windows

​

Course Purpose: In this web-based practice exam, students will perform 508 compliance testing using the test process, determining appropriate methods for web content and entering results of their evaluation for scoring. 

Course Duration: 20+ hours

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

DHSA-TT-202-A

DHSA-TT-202-A

Trusted Tester Certification Exam for Web on Windows

​

Course Purpose: The web-based exam involves testing a multi-page application for Section 508 compliance using the DHS Section 508 Compliance Test Process. Certificate award is based on accurate reporting of compliance issues. 

Course Duration: 10+ hours

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Certification Requirements

• Students must complete all courses and score 90% or better on the final exam.
• Practice exam allows unlimited attempts before taking the final exam.
• Final exam allows 2 attempts (one attempt, one retake.)
• Further attempts require coordination with DHS.
• Check with DHS on completion timeline requirements, as these may change.

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y

Webinar Wrap-Up

Webinar Wrap-up

Closing Remarks

• Thank you for coming!
• Remember – accessibility is everyone’s responsibility.
• For enrollment and Trusted Tester program questions, visit Training.Section508testing.net.
• For questions about this training and other Section 508 resources, visit Section508.gov.�

G S A O F F I C E O F G O V E R N M E N T - W I D E P O L I C Y