Atomic Tests vs. Holistic Tests: A New Testing Approach
Introduction When people hear “accessibility testing,” they often think of a checklist: “Does this button have alternative text?” “Is the contrast ratio high enough?” WCAG 2.2 is built around clear pass/fail checks like these. WCAG 3.0 moves toward a broader unit of evaluation, aiming to consider overall user experience quality. That shift naturally changes how we test. We now combine fine-grained checks (Atomic) with real-world contextual evaluation (Holistic). This shift directly connects to the score-based conformance model discussed in WCAG 3.0 Conformance Model: Beyond A/AA/AAA. The weight you give each test type can change the score and the level you reach. ...