A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Accessibility Testing in Agile Software Development: Results from a Multiple Case Study

It is important to include accessibility testing in
software development to ensure that the software developed
is usable by as many people as possible, independent of their
capabilities. Few guidelines exist on how to include accessibility
testing in an agile process, and how to select testing methods
from a cost-benefit point of view. The end result is that many
development teams do not include accessibility testing, since they
do not know how to prioritize the different testing methods
within a tight budget. In this paper, we present an evaluation
of nine accessibility testing methods that fits in an agile software
development process. We discuss the cost of each method with
regards to resources and knowledge requirements, and based on
a cost-benefit analysis, we present an optimal combination of
these methods in terms of cost and issues discovered. Finally, we
describe how accessibility testing methods can be incorporated
into an agile process by using the agile accessibility spiral.