Approach summary (SDET perspective)
I’d build a two-tiered automated a11y pipeline: lightweight “fast” checks on every commit and deeper “full” checks on PR merge / nightly runs, with tooling, triage workflow, and prioritization rules.
Automatable checks (reliably)
- Structural/semantic: missing alt, empty buttons, form labels, ARIA misuse detection, color contrast (algorithmic), heading order, skip-links.
- Static DOM rules via axe-core, pa11y, Google Lighthouse.
Not reliable: dynamic reading order, cognitive accessibility, realistic screen-reader experience — require manual/assistive-device testing.
CI integration: fast vs deep
- Fast (on push/PR): run axe-core CLI + lightweight contrast checks against component snapshots or single-page render. Fail fast with severity threshold (critical/violation). <2 min.
- Deep (pre-merge/nightly): headless browser suites (Puppeteer/Selenium) exercising major flows, Lighthouse audits, cross-viewport & RTL checks. Generate full reports and artifacts. ~10–30 min.
Triage false positives
- Enrich rules with app-specific config (ignore selectors, custom rules).
- Auto-classify failures: definite (missing alt), probable (color borderline).
- Provide reproducible artifacts (DOM snapshot, screenshot, failing selector, minimal repro).
- Create a lightweight triage dashboard where SDETs or accessibility champions can mark false positives, link to guidelines, and annotate fixes; store ignores in codebase with comments and TTLs.
Prioritization across teams
- Use impact x effort scoring: impact = user reach & severity (screen reader block vs minor contrast); effort = dev time estimate.
- Blockers (keyboard trap, missing labels on auth flows, forms) = P0; high-traffic UX issues = P1; visual-only low-impact = P2.
- Integrate into sprint planning: convert P0/P1 as acceptance criteria for related stories; create cross-team accessibility backlog and monthly review with product/accessibility owners.
- Track metrics: violations trend, time-to-fix, coverage of critical flows.
This balances developer velocity with accessibility quality and gives measurable, actionable output for teams.
