RE: [User Testing] A11Y user testing sessions

I agree with Steve's view. In fact I would go so far as to say that, with
many websites, user testing before any remedial work has been done can be a
complete waste of time and money. Because, very often, websites at that
early stage in the game are completely unusable to disabled people. No good
asking a screen reader user to test a website if all the pages have been
created as single images and the tester cannot even find the content! (Yes,
that does happen, though it is an extreme example!)

There is also another factor. User testers can find what's wrong, but they
can't tell you how to fix it. One huge benefit you get from an
accessibility audit, if done by an expert professional, is that the
consultant will tell you how to fix the defects they found, including what
markup to use.

Once you have fixed all the defects the audit found and had the recheck,
bring in the user testers at that stage. They will find anything overlooked
by the auditor, or that the developers might have unwittingly introduced
along the way. Find testers with a wide range of impairments, using a range
of assistive devices.

Regards,
Guy Hickling
Accessibility Consultant