If website accessibility is part of your work, chances are you rely on automated testing. Click a button and let it do its thing, right?

But have you ever wondered what goes into creating the rules that govern accessibility testing? Or who makes the rules?

As co-chair of the Accessibility Conformance Testing Rules Community Group (or as we call it, ACT-R), I can tell you that the rules don't come out of nowhere. Each one takes hours to write, review, and tinker with, by multiple people, often over the course of days. By my estimate, development of each new testing rule takes a total of about 50-200 hours and requires the expertise of 4-5 people.