Assistive technology
Test digital services with the assistive technologies people rely on.
All of our digital products and services must work with assistive technology. This means everyone can use our services with the technology they rely on.
Follow the GOV.UK guidance on how to test with assistive technology. Record your results in the same document as your manual tests.
Which technology to test with
The assistive technology you test with may depend on the level of testing you will do. If you're not sure, find out about testing tiers and guidelines.
We aim to test with the assistive technologies that are most commonly used by our citizens. This means we refer to the WebAIM screen reader user survey and follow the GDS Service Standard for our most visited and critical services.
Some technologies (JAWS and Dragon) require paid licenses to use. We may use free alternatives but ask external auditors to test with these technologies.
Screen readers
Highest tier
- JAWS / Chrome
- NVDA / Edge
- VoiceOver / Safari
- Talkback / Chrome
High tier
- NVDA / Chrome
- VoiceOver / Safari
Medium or Low tier
- NVDA / Chrome
Screen magnifiers
For all tiers, use Windows magnifier or Apple Zoom.
Speech recognition
Highest
- Dragon
High, Medium or low
- Windows Voice Access or Apple Voice Control
How to test
Refer to the following guides for instructions on using each technology: