Economic Efficiency of Automated Web Accessibility Testing for Reducing IT Enterprises’ Operating Costs

Abstract

The relevance of this study is driven by the growing role of web-oriented services in the activities of IT enterprises, the tightening of regulatory requirements for web accessibility, and the need to optimize operating costs in an environment of continuous digital product development. Traditional approaches to web accessibility testing, which are largely based on manual testing, are characterized by high labor intensity, limited scalability, and substantial time expenditures, which adversely affect the economic efficiency of quality assurance processes. The purpose of this article is to provide a scientific justification for the economic feasibility of automating web accessibility testing as a tool for reducing operating costs and improving the efficiency of quality assurance processes for digital products of IT enterprises. The study employs systemic and analytical approaches to examine web accessibility automation in the context of production and economic processes, comparative analysis to contrast manual and automated testing methods, as well as methods of theoretical generalization and structural and logical analysis to formulate conceptual conclusions.

In the results of the study, the impact of web accessibility testing on the structure of operating costs of IT enterprises was examined, and it was established that the automation of such testing increases the productivity of testing processes and shortens development iteration cycles. It was found that the integration of automated tools into continuous integration and deployment pipelines facilitates the early detection of typical violations of WCAG requirements and reduces costs associated with late-stage rework. It was demonstrated that automation contributes to the stabilization of the operating cost structure and increases its predictability. At the same time, challenges related to the limitations of automated methods, organizational barriers, and uncertainty in the quantitative assessment of the economic effect were identified. The conclusions summarize that the automation of web accessibility testing is an effective component of cost and quality management of digital products in IT enterprises, provided that automated and expert approaches are combined and systematically integrated into production processes. Prospects for further research are associated with the development of formalized models for assessing the economic efficiency of web accessibility automation, the improvement of methods for quantitative analysis of indirect economic effects, and the expansion of the functional capabilities of automated tools.