# Results of Quick Testing of Documentation Tools' Accessibility

DevFeed: [Results of Quick Testing of Documentation Tools' Accessibility](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/results-of-quick-testing-of-documentation-tools-accessibility-38449.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://eevis.codes/blog/2022-08-11/results-of-quick-testing-of-documentation-tools-accessibility/>)

Author: Eevis Panula

Published: 2023-01-03T08:57:41.997000Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Eevis Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/eevis-blog.md>)

Topics: [Accessibility](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/accessibility.md>), [Testing](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/testing.md>), [Documentation](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/documentation.md>), [Swagger](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/swagger.md>), [Browser Extension](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/browser-extension.md>), [OpenAPI Specification](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/openapi.md>), [Document Object Model (DOM)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/dom.md>)

Tags: [accessibility](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/accessibility.md>), [automated](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/automated.md>), [color](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/color.md>), [documentation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/documentation.md>), [input](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/input.md>), [keyboard](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/keyboard.md>), [openapi-specification](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/openapi-specification.md>), [screen](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/screen.md>), [swagger](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/swagger.md>), [testing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/testing.md>)

## AI overview

This article reports quick accessibility testing of Swagger, Read the Docs, Docusaurus, and GitBook using the Axe browser extension, DOM inspection, and keyboard testing. The testing was not exhaustive because it did not include screen readers, narrower viewports, or zooming. For Swagger UI, Axe identified 64 issues, including color-contrast problems, form inputs without programmatically associated labels, and missing landmark regions.

## Source excerpt

When writing my blog post about what backend devs can do for accessibility, I did some quick accessibility tests for different documentation tools. Initially, I thought I'd write about the results in that blog post, but there was just too much to report. So, I ended up writing this blog post. I chose four tools that I know many projects are using. These tools are: Swagger Read the Docs Docusaurus GitBook First, I ran an automated test with the aXe browser extension and dug deeper into the DOM based on the test results. After that, I tested the site with a keyboard. In this blog post, I'll share the test results and some thoughts about them. As you can see from the steps described above, the testing was not exhaustive. I just wanted to get an overview of the issues. I did not, for example, test with a screen reader or with narrower viewports (or zooming). This was a conscious decision, partly because I didn't have time and partly because this blog post would've been super long. And I think this already provides some overview of the state of accessibility of these tools. Let's get started. Swagger URL used for testing: https://petstore3.swagger.io/ Swagger is a set of tools used for API documentation. The Swagger API project started in 2011. Initially, it was a specification, but it was later named OpenAPI Specification. So it has a long history, and many projects use it. One of its tools is Swagger UI, a user interface for browsing the API endpoints. That's the one I'm testing for this blog post. Testing Swagger UI with Axe Runnin Axe-browser extension showed 64 issues, two of which are critical, 35 serious, 18 moderate, and 7 minor. Most of the issues (37) were related to color contrast issues. The contrast ratio for the problematic color combinations ranged between 2.03 and 3.75. Another problem was form input without programmatically associated labels. Some of them were flagged, but when I started digging deeper into the site's code, I noticed that not every insta