At accessiBe, we believe accessibility isn’t just a checkbox. As a product company we need real users at the heart of every product decision. For years we worked with different usability testers, but now we’ve formalized a powerful collaboration between our technical teams and a dedicated group of blind usability analysts, now known as accessLabs.
accessLabs is a team of nine blind professionals who test and improve our accessibility tools in real time, bringing authentic user perspectives into every product decision. Led by Shane Lowe and Ty Littlefield, both blind experts in assistive technology, the group works directly with accessiBe’s Product, Professional Services, and Design departments to ensure our solutions aren’t just technically compliant — they’re truly usable. accessLabs brings authentic user perspectives into the core of how we build, test, and refine our AI-powered accessibility solutions.
What is usability testing?
Usability testing is the process of evaluating a website’s functionality and experience from the perspective of a user with disabilities. At accessiBe, this means working with blind professionals who rely on screen readers and keyboard navigation to uncover what automation can miss.
From unlabeled buttons and misleading link text to auto-playing media and skipped form fields, these barriers can seriously impact someone’s ability to engage with a website — even if it “passes” an automated scan.
In a previous blog Usability testing for website accessibility: Why it matters and how to do it, Ty teaches businesses how to simulate a basic blind user experience:
- Turn off your screen and try to navigate with a keyboard only
- Ditch the mouse. If you can’t access content without it, your site isn’t accessible
- Listen closely.Screen reader output should make sense out loud
- Check for missing alt text or poorly labeled graphics
- Inspect form controls and buttons for clear, meaningful labels
“Your simulation will never match a blind user’s real experience — but it’ll show you how much there is to learn. That’s why our testing matters. We help you find what AI and sighted testers can’t.”
— Ty Littlefield, Co-Director, accessLabs
In addition to in-house product testing, accessiBe offers customers professional services likeUser Testing or Manual Testing & Compliance Review (MTCR) pairing experienced testers with your website to provide actionable, real-user insights.
AI is here to stay
Artificial intelligence is transforming digital accessibility, helping to scale solutions and automate fixes faster than ever. But AI alone can’t catch every nuance or real-world use case. That’s why accessLabs plays a critical role — putting our products through their paces every day, simulating how people with blindness or low vision actually interact with websites.
This human-centered testing uncovers issues no algorithm can catch and drives meaningful innovation. With WCAG 2.2 rolling out this year, the accuracy and depth of feedback from accessLabs will be more important than ever in helping us meet the newest standards and go beyond compliance to true usability.
Artificial Intelligence plays a major role in digital accessibility today, helping businesses scale solutions and automate fixes faster than ever. But even the most sophisticated AI can’t replicate the lived experience of navigating a website as a blind user.
That’s where accessLabs comes in. Every day, the team puts our products to the test — using screen readers, keyboard navigation, and real-world use cases — to identify friction points, missing labels, confusing structures, or content that simply doesn’t make sense without sight.
This human-centered approach not only helps us meet new standards like WCAG 2.2, but pushes us beyond minimum compliance toward true usability — something no algorithm alone can promise.
“Usability isn’t theoretical. It’s personal. We’re testing these tools as people who rely on them every day.”
- Shane Lowe, Co-Director, accessLabs
Cross-functional collaboration drives innovation
What makes accessLabs unique isn’t just the testers, accessLabs is more than just a testing group. The usability analysts are embedded across teams. Collaborating closely with technical teams to understand challenges, prioritize solutions, and translate insights into best practices.
This enables a feedback loop that fuels high quality innovation in a timely manner, and results in accessibility solutions that serve everyone better.
Business value: Practical accessibility through real-user testing
For businesses, accessibility offers a strategic advantage, enabling a better user experience, higher retention rates, and lower bounce rate. accessiBe’s collaboration with usability analysts ensures that accessibility isn’t theoretical or surface-level but tested and validated by people who rely on these tools daily.
This also translates into reduced legal risks and better engagement from a wider audience. By investing in usability testing with accessLabs, accessiBe empowers organizations to build digital experiences that truly include everyone.
