Cypress JS SDK

The Evinced Cypress JS SDK integrates with new or existing Cypress tests to automatically detect accessibility issues. By adding a few lines of code to your Cypress project, you can begin analyzing all the web pages and DOM changes to provide a dynamic view of how your site can become more accessible. As a result of the test, a rich and comprehensive report is generated to easily track issues to resolution.

Interested in seeing this in action? Contact us to get started!

Prerequisites

  • Cypress version 10.0.0 or higher

Get Started

Installation

The Cypress JS SDK package is not publicly available. Contact us to get started!

With a local copy of the Cypress JS SDK gzipped tar package (.tgz extension), install it in your project directory using NPM or Node package manager of your choice:

1# Using NPM
2npm install -D {path to Cypress JS SDK package}

Authentication

To launch Cypress JS SDK you need to have a Service ID and an API Key.

Where to find your Evinced SDK credentials

These credentials are available via the Evinced Product Hub in the Automation for Web or Automation for Mobile product areas. Click the Get SDK button to see the Service Account ID and API Key at the bottom of the page.

Authenticate for Offline Testing

There are two methods to provide the token: offline mode and online mode. Online mode contacts the Evinced Licensing Server. Offline mode assumes that an Evinced employee already supplied you a JSON Web Token (JWT). If an offline token is required, please reach out to your account team or support@evinced.com.

We encourage setting credentials in environment variables and setting them in code by reference.

1# Online mode
2export EVINCED_SERVICE_ID=<serviceId>
3export EVINCED_API_KEY=<apiKey>
4
5# Offline mode
6export EVINCED_SERVICE_ID=<serviceId>
7export EVINCED_AUTH_TOKEN=<token>

Example

1// Set online credentials method
2Evinced.setCredentials({
3 serviceId: Cypress.env('EVINCED_SERVICE_ID'),
4 secret: Cypress.env('EVINCED_API_KEY'),
5});
6
7// OR
8
9// If provided a JWT by Evinced
10// Set offline credentials method
11Evinced.setOfflineCredentials({
12 serviceId: Cypress.env('EVINCED_SERVICE_ID'),
13 token: Cypress.env('EVINCED_AUTH_TOKEN'),
14});
15

Your First Test

SDK Initialization

To use Cypress JS SDK you need to authenticate. Please refer to Authentication section for details. In the cypress/support/e2e.js file add the following lines to initialize SDK and provide either offline or online token. Note: for Cypress version <10 the file cypress/support/index.js should be used.

1import Evinced from "@evinced/cypress-sdk";
2
3// Initialize SDK
4Evinced.init();
5
6// Set online creaentials method (through Evinced licence server)
7Evinced.setCredentials({
8 serviceId: Cypress.env('EVINCED_SERVICE_ID'),
9 secret: Cypress.env('EVINCED_API_KEY'),
10});
11
12// OR
13
14// Set offline credentials method
15Evinced.setOfflineCredentials({
16 serviceId: Cypress.env('EVINCED_SERVICE_ID'),
17 token: Cypress.env('EVINCED_AUTH_TOKEN'),
18});

Add Evinced accessibility checks (Single Run Mode)

This is a simple example of how to add an Evinced accessibility scan to a test. Please note the inline comments that give detail on each test step.

1it("Evinced basic example", () => {
2 // Navigate to site
3 cy.visit("https://demo.evinced.com/");
4 //Scan for a11y issues, get the result and assert on the number of issues found
5 cy.evAnalyze().should((issues) => {
6 expect(issues).to.be.empty();
7 });
8});

Add Evinced accessibility checks (Continuous Mode)

This is an example of how to add a continuous Evinced accessibility scan to a test. Using the evStart() and evStop() methods, the Evinced engine will continually scan in the background capturing all DOM changes and page navigations as the test is executed. This will capture all accessibility issues as clicking on drop-downs or similar interactions reveals more of the page. The advantage of continuous mode is that no interaction with the actual test code is needed.

1context('Evinced Demo Site tests', () => {
2
3 it('Search Test', () => {
4 cy.visit('https://demo.evinced.com/');
5
6 // Start the Evinced engine
7 cy.evStart();
8
9 const BASE_FORM_SELECTOR = '#gatsby-focus-wrapper > main > div.wrapper-banner > div.filter-container';
10 const SELECT_HOME_DROPDOWN = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(1) > div > div.dropdown.line`;
11 const SELECT_WHERE_DROPDOWN = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(2) > div > div.dropdown.line`;
12 const TINY_HOME_OPTION = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(1) > div > ul > li:nth-child(2)`;
13 const EAST_COST_OPTION = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(2) > div > ul > li:nth-child(3)`;
14 cy.get(SELECT_HOME_DROPDOWN).click();
15 cy.get(TINY_HOME_OPTION).click();
16 cy.get(SELECT_WHERE_DROPDOWN).click();
17 cy.get(EAST_COST_OPTION).click();
18
19 // Conclude the scan, print issues to cy.log with logIssues and print the report JSON object to browser's console
20 cy.evStop({logIssues: true}).should((issues) => {
21 console.log(JSON.stringify(issues, null, 2));
22 });
23 });
24});

API

Evinced.init(options)

Initializes the Evinced object within the project.

Example

1import Evinced from "@evinced/cypress-sdk";
2Evinced.init();

Note: this call is intended to be done only once in support file. Second call of this method will lead to the error.

Please refer to configuration to see examples of using init with options. Return value void

Implementation details

  • Listens to Cypress events
    • window:before:load - Injects Evinced to the page, continues recording if needed
    • window:before:unload - Stores the state of the current page
    • test:before:run - Initializes test scope state
  • Registers ev commands
    • evAnalyze()
    • evStart()
    • evStop()
    • evSaveFile()
  • Registers Chai assertions
    • evValid()

evAnalyze(options)

Scans the current page and returns a list of accessibility issues.

Note: This method is not supported if evStart() is already running.

Please refer to configuration to see examples of using init with options.

Example

1cy.evAnalyze({ rootSelector: "#some .selector" }).should((issues) => {
2 expect(issues).to.have.length(6);
3});

Return value

Promise<Issue[]>

A Report object is returned containing accessibility issues. This is the recommended method for static page analysis. For more information regarding reports as well as the Report object itself, please refer to our detailed Web Reports page.

evStart(options)

Continually watches for DOM mutations and page navigation and records all accessibility issues until the evStop() method is called. This method is recommended for dynamic page flows.

Example

1cy.visit("https://example.com/page-a");
2cy.evStart({ rootSelector: "#some .selector" });
3cy.visit("https://example.com/page-b");
4cy.evStop().should((issues) => {
5 expect(issues).to.have.length(6);
6});

Return value Promise<void>

evStop(options)

Stops the process of issue gathering started by evStart() command.

Example

1cy.visit('https://example.com/page-a');
2cy.evStart();
3cy.get('#some .selector').click();
4cy.visit('https://example.com/page-b');
5cy.get('#another .selector').click();
6cy.evStop({logIssues: true}).should((issues) => {
7 expect(issues).to.have.length(10);
8});

Return value

Promise<Issue[]>

Returns an object containing recorded accessibility issues from the point in time at which the evStart() method was instantiated. For more information regarding reports as well as the returned object itself, please refer to detailed Web Reports page. Default options

1{
2 logIssues: false // Will log every accessibility issue to Cypress console when true
3}

evSaveFile(issues, format, destination)

Saves list of the issues in a file, with the specified format and location. For example, format could be ‘json', 'html, 'sarif' or 'csv'. Please find detailed information on Web Reports page.

Example

1const filePathJson = "./reports/results.json";
2const filePathSarif = "./reports/results.sarif.json";
3const filePathHtml = "./reports/results.html";
4const filePathCsv = "./reports/results.csv";
5cy.visit("https://example.com/page-a");
6cy.evAnalyze().then((issues) => {
7 cy.evSaveFile(issues, "json", filePathJson);
8 cy.evSaveFile(issues, "sarif", filePathSarif);
9 cy.evSaveFile(issues, "html", filePathHtml);
10 cy.evSaveFile(issues, "csv", filePathCsv);
11 cy.readFile(filePath).should("exist");
12});

Return value Promise<void>

issues.evValid(options)

Throws a chai exception if any issues exist that don't match the provided filters.

Example

1cy.evAnalyze().should("be.evValid", {
2 ignoreSeverities: ["CRITICAL"],
3 ignoreTypes: ["NOT_FOCUSABLE"],
4});

Default options

1{
2 ignoreSeverities: [],
3 ignoreTypes: []
4}

Aggregated Report

The aggregated report feature allows you to have a general aggregated report for the whole run (not only for one test or suite). This report will contain all the issues found by the tests where evStart() and evStop() commands were called. It is still possible to use the evSaveFile() command in any place of your code along with this Aggregated Report feature.

Example

Important! The feature is not supported by the Cypress frameworks versions <10.

For using the aggregated report feature you should add the special entry evReporterOptions to your cypress.config.js file:

1const os = require('os');
2
3module.exports = {
4 env: {
5 // To disable the feature just comment out the whole evReporterOptions entry.
6 evincedConfig: {
7 reporterOptions: {
8 reportFormat: 'html', // Sets a desired format for the report. Available options are: html, sarif, and json.
9 filePath: './evincedReports/aggregatedReport.html', // Specifies a path to the final aggregated report file.
10 tmpDir: os.tmpdir(), // Specifies the temporary directory to store temporary report files.
11 reportTimeStamp: new Date().toISOString() // Provides a unique timestamp for the report to distinguish to which test run the temporary files belong to. Please do not change this value unless you are sure what you would like to achieve.
12 }
13 }
14 }
15};

Configuration

The same configuration object can be used in Evinced.init, evStart() and evAnalyze() methods but with a bit different consequences. By providing some options in Evinced.init method you define a global configuration for all calls of evStart() or evAnalyze() methods. Please note that global configuration is not intended to be altered from tests due to it will affect all the rest tests as well as tests running in parallel threads. To alter configuration in specific tests you can provide config on the method's level, for instance with evStart() it defines local configuration for this particular session until evStop() is called. If provided in both levels, the command's level config will override the global one.

Engines configuration

Evinced uses two separate engines when scanning for accessibility issues, one is the aXe engine and the other is the Evinced engine. By default, Evinced disables the aXe Needs Review and Best Practices issues based on customer request and due to the fact they are mostly false positives. Please note this setting when comparing issue counts directly. See an example of how to enable Needs Review and Best practices issues in our toggles section.

Configuration object type

The type of options object is:

1type SkipValidation = {
2 selector: string,
3 urlRegex: string,
4 validationTypes: string[]
5};
6
7type IssueContentPerType = {
8 [key: string]: {
9 knowledgeBaseLink: string
10 }
11}
12
13type EvOptions = {
14 logIssues?: boolean;
15 rootSelector?: string;
16 axeConfig?: any;
17 debug?: boolean;
18 strict?: boolean;
19 logging?: any;
20 toggles?: {
21 [key: string]: boolean;
22 },
23 skipValidations?: SkipValidation[],
24 issuesContentPerType?: IssueContentPerType[]
25};
1
2### Log Issues
3Controls whether to print detected issues with `cy.log` command or not.
4
5`false` by default.
6
7Applicable in `Evinced.init`, `evStart()`, `evStop()` and `evAnalyze()`
8
9
10** Example **
11
12```js
13Evinced.init({ logIssues: true });

Root Selector

Sets a CSS selector to limit the Evinced Engine to scan only the selected element and its children. Must be a valid CSS selector. If not set, the Evinced Engine will scan the entire document.

null by default.

Example

1cy.evAnalyze({ rootSelector: "#some .selector" }).should((issues) => {
2 expect(issues).to.have.length(6);
3});

AXE Configuration

Evinced leverages Axe open-source accessibility toolkit as part of its own accessibility detection engine. The Evinced engine is able to pinpoint far more issues than Axe alone.

For the full Axe config options, see Axe Core API.

Example

1const axeConfig = {
2 rules: {
3 "link-name": { enabled: false },
4 },
5};
6
7// Global config
8Evinced.init({ axeConfig });
9
10// Command config
11cy.evAnalyze({ axeConfig });
12cy.evStart({ axeConfig });

Errors Strict Mode

When set to true it switches SDK in mode when Evinced SDK errors are thrown as runtime errors and stops current test execution. Otherwise errors are printed into console except critical ones.

false by default.

Example

1Evinced.init({ strict: true });

Engine Logging

Switches logging on for engine. Log messages from the engine will be printed to console.

Levels are: debug, info, warn, error

null by default.

error is a default level on engine side.

1 cy.evStart({
2 logging: {
3 LOGGING_LEVEL: 'debug',
4 ADD_LOGGING_CONTEXT: true
5 }
6 });

Reports Screenshots

The Screenshots feature allows to include screenshots to the Evinced reports. When the feature is enabled, Evinced will take screenshots of the page, highlight an element with a specific accessibility issue, and include them to the report.

screenshots_feature

false by default.

Note: The Screenshots feature may affect the test run performance.

Enabling the Screenshots feature

For enabling the Screenshots feature you should set the enableScreenshots parameter to true. It can be done in two ways:

1// Can be passed via a global config during initialization.
2Evinced.init({
3 enableScreenshots: true
4});
5
6// OR
7
8// Can be passed via a command config during the command execution.
9cy.evAnalyze({
10 enableScreenshots: true
11});
12cy.evStart({
13 enableScreenshots: true
14});

Toggles

Toggles are feature flags which controls SDK and Engine behavior. With toggles we introduce experimental features or manage the way how accessibility issues are gathered. The list of toggles is not specified so we suggest not to rely on specific toggle name or value and use them in investigation purposes only.

Example enabling aXe Best Practices and Needs Review Issues

1Evinced.init({
2 toggles: { USE_AXE_NEEDS_REVIEW: true, USE_AXE_BEST_PRACTICES: true },
3});

Skip Validations

Skips specific validations for the given URL pattern and the selector.

SkipValidation[] by default.

Example

1 const skipValidationsParametersForEvStart = [
2 {
3 selector: 'span.slds-checkbox--faux',
4 urlRegex: 'www\.example\.org',
5 validationTypes: [
6 'WRONG_SEMANTIC_ROLE',
7 'NOT_FOCUSABLE',
8 'NO_DESCRIPTIVE_TEXT'
9 ]
10 },
11 {
12 selector: 'div.showtime-b > figure',
13 urlRegex: 'www\.example\.org',
14 validationTypes: [
15 'WRONG_SEMANTIC_ROLE',
16 'NOT_FOCUSABLE'
17 ]
18 }
19 ];
20 cy.evStart({
21 skipValidations: skipValidationsParametersForEvStart,
22 });

How to identify ID for the specific issue type is described in web reports section.

Knowledge Base Link overrides

This custom parameter helps to customize knowledge base links in the reports. Those links are displayed in the reports as follows:

kb_links

The knowledge base link can be overridden for every issue type ID.

Example

1Evinced.init({
2 issuesContentPerType: {
3 WRONG_SEMANTIC_ROLE: {
4 knowledgeBaseLink: "https://yourKnowlegdeBase.com/",
5 },
6 },
7});

Where WRONG_SEMANTIC_ROLE is ID of the type of the specific issue. In this example, the corresponding issue type for this ID is Interactable Role. How to identify ID for the specific issue type is described in web reports section. After passing the type ID and a custom knowledge base link we are set to see it in the reports.

Shadow DOM support

Example

The feature **is not yet implemented** in this SDK. If you'd like to increase the priority of it, please contact support@evinced.com.

IFrames support

When set to true, the accessibility tests run analysis on iframes that exist inside the page. Default is false.

The feature **is not yet implemented** in this SDK. If you'd like to increase the priority of it, please contact support@evinced.com.

Proxy

If your organization is using proxy server for outbound communication, you should set up these proxy server settings to the SDK so it can work properly. Setting the proxy details is done as in the following example:

Example

You can configure pages to load over the HTTP(S) proxy via environment variables. You can optionally specify username and password for HTTP(S) proxy. Here is an example of a global proxy:

1export HTTPS_PROXY=https://username:password@your-proxy-url:port

Global Switch

Global Switch allows to disable or enable Evinced functionality. It could be needed, for example, while working on functional tests in your local environment or for running some CI jobs that are not intended to gather information regarding accessibility issues.

When switched off

  • evStart() and evSaveFile() will be bypassed.
  • evStop() and evAnalyze() will return an empty report.

true by default.

Important! Global Switch environment variable overrides the global configuration option.

Switch on/off Evinced functionality in config

1// Add the following code to cypress.config.js (version >=v10) or cypress.json (version <v10)
2env: {
3 evincedConfig: {
4 switchOn: false
5 }
6}

Switching off Evinced functionality with environment variable

1export CYPRESS_EV_SWITCH_ON="false"

Uploading reports to Evinced Platform

Introduction

Evinced Platform allows you to seamlessly collect, organize, visualize and monitor Evinced accessibility reports in one place. In this section, we will guide you through the key functionalities of the upload methods of the accessibility reports from the Evinced SDK to the Evinced Platform, which was introduced in version 4.3.0. This upload method is fully compatible with the previous versions of the Evinced SDK API, and is disabled by default.

Enabling upload to Platform

To enable the uploading functionality of accessibility reports to the Evinced Platform you will need to set the enableUploadToPlatform feature flag to "true" via global setUploadToPlatformConfig method:

1 // file: support/e2e.js
2 import Evinced from '@evinced/cypress-sdk';
3 Evinced.setUploadToPlatformConfig({ enableUploadToPlatform: true, setUploadToPlatformDefault: false })

or you can use the external config evConfing.json and add the values to be loaded. The external config has more precedence if both initialization options are used.

1 "uploadToPlatformOptions": {
2 "enableUploadToPlatform": true,
3 "setUploadToPlatformDefault": false
4 }

Automatic Upload of Reports

Once the enableUploadToPlatform method is set to "true", then by default all generated reports will be uploaded to the Platform upon calling the evStop() command. If you want to change this behavior, set the setUploadToPlatformDefault feature flag to "false":

Automatic Upload of Reports

Once the enableUploadToPlatform feature flag is set to "true" via global setUploadToPlatformConfig method, then by default all generated reports will be uploaded to the Platform upon calling the evStop() command. If you want to change this behavior, set the setUploadToPlatformDefault feature flag to "false":

1
2import Evinced from '@evinced/cypress-sdk';
3Evinced.setUploadToPlatformConfig({ enableUploadToPlatform:true, setUploadToPlatformDefault: true })
4

If the setUploadToPlatformDefault is disabled, you can still upload selected reports to the platform. For that, use the following parameter in the evStop() command:

1cy.evStop({ uploadToPlatform: true }).then((report) => { // uploadToPlatform flag is optional. Use it in case you have the setUploadToPlatformDefault flag set to false. If you have the setUploadToPlatformDefault flag set to true then every report will be uploaded to the platform.
2 // some code
3 });

Test names

To facilitate report management and be able to distinguish between different reports on the Platform, use the Cypress.currentTest (https://docs.cypress.io/api/cypress-api/currenttest) method to inform the test name and test class. It's recommended to do that in the "beforeEach" hook.

1beforeEach(() => {
2 cy.addLabel({
3 testName: Cypress.currentTest.title
4 });
5});

Labels and Custom Fields

You can attach labels and custom fields to your report to enhance readability in the platform. The labels will be added to the uploaded reports. See the following code example of how to set that up:

1it('Test', () => {
2 cy.addLabel({
3 environment: 'testEnvironment',
4 });
5
6 cy.customLabel({
7 userAgent: 'Chrome'
8 });
9 // the rest of the test
10});

Use of beforeEach and afterEach Hooks

We recommend using the beforeEach and afterEach hooks to control analysis sessions and upload reports to the platform. This way, each test will be uploaded separately with its own report.

In beforeEach hook use evStart() to start Evinced analysis and set any labels you want for the report to contain when uploading to the platform. In the afterEach hook call evStop() to stop analysis and upload reports to the platform. See this code example:

1beforeEach(() => {
2 cy.evStart();
3 cy.visit('https://getevinced.github.io/spa-example/#/services');
4 cy.addLabel({
5 testName: Cypress.currentTest.title
6 });
7});
8
9afterEach(() => {
10 cy.evStop({ uploadToPlatform: true }).then((report) => {
11 // some code
12 });
13});

Putting all of this together

Here is a complete code snippet of how to perform uploads to the platform on a per-test basis.

1
2context('Upload to platform', () => {
3 beforeEach(() => {
4 cy.evStart();
5 cy.visit('https://getevinced.github.io/spa-example/#/services');
6 cy.addLabel({
7 testName: Cypress.currentTest.title
8 });
9 });
10
11 afterEach(() => {
12 cy.wait(1000);
13 cy.evStop({ uploadToPlatform: true }).then((report) => {
14 expect(report).to.have.length(22);
15 });
16 });
17
18 it('Test. Upload to platform with hooks', () => {
19 cy.addLabel({
20 environment: 'demo',
21 customFields: { newValue: 'testValue' }
22 });
23
24 cy.customLabel({
25 customParameter: 'demo label',
26 productVersion: '1.00'
27 });
28 });
29});
30

Tutorials

You can find fully functional example projects on our GitHub

Tutorial 1

Generating a comprehensive accessibility report for your application

In this tutorial, we will enhance our existing Cypress UI test with the Evinced Cypress SDK in order to check our application for accessibility issues. In order to get started you will need the following:

  1. All of the prerequisites for the Evinced Cypress SDK should be met
  2. Evinced Cypress SDK should be added to your project

Preface - existing UI test overview

Let’s consider the following basic UI test as our starting point.

1context("Evinced Demo Site tests", () => {
2 it("Search Test", () => {
3 cy.visit("https://demo.evinced.com/");
4 const BASE_FORM_SELECTOR =
5 "#gatsby-focus-wrapper > main > div.wrapper-banner > div.filter-container";
6 const SELECT_HOME_DROPDOWN = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(1) > div > div.dropdown.line`;
7 const SELECT_WHERE_DROPDOWN = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(2) > div > div.dropdown.line`;
8 const TINY_HOME_OPTION = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(1) > div > ul > li:nth-child(2)`;
9 const EAST_COST_OPTION = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(2) > div > ul > li:nth-child(3)`;
10 cy.get(SELECT_HOME_DROPDOWN).click();
11 cy.get(TINY_HOME_OPTION).click();
12 cy.get(SELECT_WHERE_DROPDOWN).click();
13 cy.get(EAST_COST_OPTION).click();
14 });
15});

We wrote this test for a demo travel site called TRVL that has a few known accessibility issues.

The purpose of this test is to check the functionality of the main application screen and ensure a user can successfully select their desired trip. For now, this test is only concerned with the functional testing of the app. However, with the help of the Evinced Cypress SDK, we can also check it for accessibility issues along the way. Let’s go through this process with the following step-by-step instructions.

Step #1 - Initialize the Evinced Cypress SDK

In your cypress/support/e2e.js file add the following lines to add the Evinced engine to your project. See details about Evinced.init in API section.

1import Evinced from "@evinced/cypress-sdk";
2Evinced.init();

Step #2 - Start the Evinced engine

Now that we have everything we need to scan for accessibility issues, let’s start the Evinced engine. Since we are going to use it scan throughout our test, the best place for its initialization will be our before method.

1context("Evinced Demo Site tests", () => {
2 before(() => {
3 // Start the Evinced engine
4 cy.evStart();
5 });
6
7 it("Search Test", () => {
8 cy.visit("https://demo.evinced.com/");
9 const BASE_FORM_SELECTOR =
10 "#gatsby-focus-wrapper > main > div.wrapper-banner > div.filter-container";
11 const SELECT_HOME_DROPDOWN = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(1) > div > div.dropdown.line`;
12 const SELECT_WHERE_DROPDOWN = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(2) > div > div.dropdown.line`;
13 const TINY_HOME_OPTION = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(1) > div > ul > li:nth-child(2)`;
14 const EAST_COST_OPTION = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(2) > div > ul > li:nth-child(3)`;
15 cy.get(SELECT_HOME_DROPDOWN).click();
16 cy.get(TINY_HOME_OPTION).click();
17 cy.get(SELECT_WHERE_DROPDOWN).click();
18 cy.get(EAST_COST_OPTION).click();
19 });
20});

Step #3 - Stop the Evinced engine and create reports

As our test was executed we collected a lot of accessibility information. We can now perform accessibility assertions at the end of our test suite. Referring back again to our UI test the best place for this assertion will be the method that gets invoked last - after. To stop the Evinced engine and generate the actual object representation of your accessibility report simply call the evStop() method. We can then output the report files in JSON format.

1context("Evinced Demo Site tests", () => {
2 before(() => {
3 // Start the Evinced engine
4 cy.evStart();
5 });
6
7 after(() => {
8 // Conclude the scan, print issues to cy.log with logIssues and print the report JSON object to browser's console
9 cy.evStop({ logIssues: true }).should((report) => {
10 console.log(JSON.stringify(report, null, 2));
11 });
12 });
13
14 it("Search Test", () => {
15 cy.visit("https://demo.evinced.com/");
16 const BASE_FORM_SELECTOR =
17 "#gatsby-focus-wrapper > main > div.wrapper-banner > div.filter-container";
18 const SELECT_HOME_DROPDOWN = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(1) > div > div.dropdown.line`;
19 const SELECT_WHERE_DROPDOWN = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(2) > div > div.dropdown.line`;
20 const TINY_HOME_OPTION = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(1) > div > ul > li:nth-child(2)`;
21 const EAST_COST_OPTION = `${BASE_FORM_SELECTOR} > div:nth-child(2) > div > ul > li:nth-child(3)`;
22 cy.get(SELECT_HOME_DROPDOWN).click();
23 cy.get(TINY_HOME_OPTION).click();
24 cy.get(SELECT_WHERE_DROPDOWN).click();
25 cy.get(EAST_COST_OPTION).click();
26 });
27});

For the sake of simplicity of this tutorial let’s simply assume that our application is accessible as long as it has no accessibility issues found. Thus, if we have at least one accessibility issue detected - we want our tests to be failed. Let’s add the corresponding assertion to our after method. For more information regarding reports as well as the Report object itself, please see our detailed Web Reports page.

1after(() => {
2 // Scan for a11y issues, create the JSON report, and assert on the number of critical issues found
3 cy.evStop().should((issues) => {
4 expect(issues).to.be.empty();
5 });
6});

You are now set to run the test and ensure the accessibility of your application! So, go ahead and run it via your IDE or any other tooling you use for JavaScript development.

Fail the test if critical issues are found

Here you can see a way of failing your test if critical accessibility issues are found using the Cypress JS SDK.

Using evAnalyze:

1cy.evAnalyze().should((issues) => {
2 const criticalIssues = issues.filter((issue) => issue.severity.name === 'Critical');
3 assert(criticalIssues.length === 0, 'found critical issues');
4});

Using evStart/evStop:

1await browser.evStart();
2
3cy.evStop().should((issues) => {
4 const criticalIssues = issues.filter((issue) => issue.severity.name === 'Critical');
5 assert(criticalIssues.length === 0, 'found critical issues');
6});

The criticalIssues array will contain all the critical issues found during the scan. If the array is not empty, the test will fail on the assertion.

Support

Please feel free to reach out to support@evinced.com with any questions.

FAQ

  1. Can I configure which validations to run?

Yes, see the configuration section for details on how to configure Axe validations to your needs.

  1. Can I run tests with Evinced using cloud-based services like Sauce Labs, Perfecto, or BrowserStack?

Yes, we have tested the Evinced SDK on many of these types of cloud-based services and expect no issues.