TL;DR: Leverage AI-powered video analysis with Replay to automatically audit UI accessibility, identify potential issues, and generate code fixes directly from screen recordings.

Accessibility is often an afterthought in UI development, leading to frustrating experiences for users with disabilities. Traditional accessibility audits can be time-consuming and require specialized expertise. What if you could automatically analyze UI accessibility simply by recording a user interacting with your application? This is the promise of behavior-driven reconstruction, and tools like Replay are making it a reality.

The Problem: Manual Accessibility Audits Are Painful#

Manual accessibility audits involve navigating your entire application with assistive technologies like screen readers, carefully examining ARIA attributes, and verifying color contrast ratios. This process is:

•Labor-intensive: Requires significant time and effort from developers or accessibility experts.
•Error-prone: Human auditors can miss subtle accessibility issues.
•Reactive: Accessibility issues are often discovered late in the development cycle, leading to costly rework.
•Requires specialized knowledge: Developers need a deep understanding of WCAG guidelines and assistive technologies.

The result? Many applications are shipped with accessibility issues, creating barriers for users with disabilities.

A Solution: AI-Powered Accessibility Auditing from Video#

Imagine a world where you can simply record a user interacting with your application, and an AI automatically identifies potential accessibility issues and even suggests code fixes. This is the power of Replay. Replay analyzes video recordings of user interactions to reconstruct the UI and identify potential accessibility violations. By understanding how users are interacting with the UI, Replay can provide more accurate and actionable accessibility insights than traditional screenshot-based tools.

How Replay Works: Behavior-Driven Reconstruction#

Replay uses "Behavior-Driven Reconstruction," meaning it analyzes video recordings to understand user behavior and intent. This allows Replay to:

•Reconstruct the UI: Analyze the video to identify UI elements, their properties, and their relationships.
•Simulate User Interactions: Replay simulates how a user with a disability might interact with the UI, for example, using a screen reader or keyboard navigation.
•Identify Accessibility Issues: Detect potential accessibility violations, such as missing ARIA attributes, insufficient color contrast, or keyboard navigation traps.
•Generate Code Fixes: Suggest code changes to address the identified accessibility issues.

This approach offers several advantages over traditional accessibility auditing methods.

Benefits of Video-Based Accessibility Auditing#

•Automation: Automates the process of identifying accessibility issues, saving time and effort.
•Proactive: Enables developers to identify and fix accessibility issues early in the development cycle.
•Improved Accuracy: Reduces the risk of human error by leveraging AI to analyze UI accessibility.
•Actionable Insights: Provides clear and actionable insights, including code suggestions, to help developers fix accessibility issues.
•Contextual Understanding: Understands the intent behind user interactions, leading to more relevant accessibility recommendations.

Replay in Action: A Practical Example#

Let's walk through a simple example of how to use Replay to audit the accessibility of a button component. We'll start by recording a short video of a user interacting with the button. Then, we'll upload the video to Replay and see what accessibility insights it provides.

Step 1: Record User Interaction#

Record a short video of a user interacting with the button. Make sure the video clearly shows the button's label, state, and any associated ARIA attributes. This video will serve as the source of truth for Replay's analysis.

Step 2: Upload Video to Replay#

Upload the recorded video to Replay. Replay will automatically analyze the video and reconstruct the UI.

Step 3: Review Accessibility Insights#

Once the analysis is complete, Replay will provide a list of potential accessibility issues. For example, Replay might identify that the button is missing an ARIA label, or that the color contrast is insufficient.

Step 4: Implement Code Fixes#

Replay will also provide code suggestions to address the identified accessibility issues. For example, Replay might suggest adding an

text

aria-label

attribute to the button:

typescript
// Example code suggestion from Replay
<button aria-label="Submit form">Submit</button>

By following these steps, you can use Replay to quickly and easily audit the accessibility of your UI components.

Replay Features for Enhanced Accessibility Auditing#

Replay offers several features that enhance its ability to audit UI accessibility:

•Multi-page Generation: Analyze user flows across multiple pages to identify accessibility issues that might not be apparent on a single page.
•Supabase Integration: Integrate with Supabase to automatically store and manage accessibility audit results.
•Style Injection: Inject custom styles to test the UI with different color schemes or font sizes.
•Product Flow Maps: Visualize user flows and identify potential accessibility bottlenecks.

These features make Replay a powerful tool for ensuring that your applications are accessible to all users.

Replay vs. Traditional Accessibility Auditing Tools#

Feature	Manual Audit	Automated Tools (e.g., Axe)	Replay
Requires Human Expertise	✅	❌	❌
Time-Consuming	✅	❌	❌
Catches Contextual Issues	✅	❌	✅
Requires Code Access	✅	✅	❌
Video Input	❌	❌	✅
Behavior Analysis	❌	Partial	✅
Code Generation	❌	❌	✅

Code Example: Replay-Generated Accessible Form#

Let's imagine Replay analyzed a video of a user filling out a form. The original HTML might have looked like this:

html
<form>
  <label>Name:</label>
  <input type="text" id="name">
  <label>Email:</label>
  <input type="email" id="email">
  <button>Submit</button>
</form>

After analyzing the video and identifying potential accessibility issues, Replay might suggest the following improvements:

html
<form>
  <label for="name">Name:</label>
  <input type="text" id="name" name="name" aria-describedby="name-hint">
  <small id="name-hint">Enter your full name.</small>

  <label for="email">Email:</label>
  <input type="email" id="email" name="email" required aria-describedby="email-hint">
  <small id="email-hint">A valid email address is required.</small>

  <button type="submit" aria-label="Submit form">Submit</button>
</form>

Here's what Replay did:

•Added
text
for
attributes to the labels to associate them with the corresponding input fields.
•Added
text
aria-describedby
attributes to provide additional context and instructions for each input field.
•Added
text
required
attribute to the email field to indicate that it is a required field.
•Added an
text
aria-label
to the button to improve accessibility for screen reader users.

📝 Note: These are just a few examples of the types of accessibility improvements that Replay can suggest. The specific suggestions will depend on the content of the video and the specific accessibility issues that are identified.

Frequently Asked Questions#

Is Replay free to use?#

Replay offers a free tier with limited features. Paid plans are available for users who need access to more advanced features and higher usage limits.

How is Replay different from v0.dev?#

While both Replay and v0.dev aim to generate UI code, they differ significantly in their approach. v0.dev relies on text prompts and component libraries, while Replay analyzes video recordings to understand user behavior and reconstruct the UI. Replay's behavior-driven approach allows it to capture nuances of user intent and generate more accurate and contextually relevant code, especially for accessibility. Replay understands what the user is trying to do, not just what the screen looks like.

What types of accessibility issues can Replay identify?#

Replay can identify a wide range of accessibility issues, including:

•Missing ARIA attributes
•Insufficient color contrast
•Keyboard navigation traps
•Missing alternative text for images
•Incorrect heading structure
•Inaccessible form elements

Can Replay generate code for different UI frameworks?#

Yes, Replay supports generating code for a variety of UI frameworks, including React, Vue.js, and Angular.

Ready to try behavior-driven code generation? Get started with Replay - transform any video into working code in seconds.

Accessibility Auditing UI from Screen Recordings with AI