HealthTech B2B SaaS Accessibility Provider: Conducting an Accessibility Audit for Client Applications

HealthTech B2B SaaS Accessibility Provider:

Conducting an Accessibility Audit for Client Applications

Industry: Healthcare & Life Sciences

Conducting an Accessibility Audit for Client Applications

Industry: Healthcare & Life Sciences

Industry Context

People with visual, hearing, speech or other physical impairments may find it difficult to complete online tasks in environments that have not considered their needs. HealthTech organizations, dedicated to improving quality of life, are addressing discrimination in technology by prioritizing accessibility and creating inclusive mobile and web applications.

SaaS organizations have discovered that accessible applications offer additional benefits in an increasingly competitive market:

A wider user base
Decreased loading times that increase customer satisfaction
Improved visibility in search engines thanks to better SEO performance of web applications

Client Challenge

The client, a B2B SaaS organization in HealthTech, has three applications (two mobile and one web application) that promote healthy behavior changes. The client sought a formal accessibility audit to identify and resolve any accessibility issues present in their applications. This preventative measure would avoid legal non-compliance issues as well as resolve technical defects that may have been overlooked by functional tests.

The client understood that costly technical and legal issues would impede wide adoption and business growth. More importantly, as a startup, the client recognized their ethical behaviors would lay the groundwork for their reputation and values as a HealthTech organization.

Approach

Encora’s quality assurance engineers reviewed the client’s digital assets to confirm compliance with best practices and regulatory guidelines to lay the foundation for optimal performance.

Encora used accessibility frameworks and tools to conduct quality assurance testing, both manual and automated testing, to provide full coverage in screening processes and manual simulations. The client’s mobile applications were tested on Android and iOS using physical devices while the web portal was tested on four major web browsers.
Encora applied the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and Section 508 of the United States Rehabilitation Act to determine the testing guidelines used for all three applications. With the QA test results, Encora provided the client with detailed, impairment-specific recommendations to improve the applications and guide the client in ensuring a broader, more diverse user base.

Results

The client was able to identify 53 ways to improve their applications for those hard of hearing and with limited visibility. They expanded their user base to people with disabilities, impairments, and aging populations. The accessibility audit helped the organization align its products and services with one of its core values, inclusivity.

The cleaner applications load faster, improving customer satisfaction.

Meeting legal accessibility requirements and industry best practices has facilitated acquiring vendors and investors.