Testing Methods: Timing Adjustable

Note: The creation of this article on testing Timing Adjustable was human-based, with the assistance of artificial intelligence.

Explanation of the success criteria

WCAG 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable is a Level A conformance level Success Criterion. It ensures that users are not unfairly constrained by time limits. For any content-imposed time limit, one of the following must be true:

users can turn it off,
users can adjust it over a wide range (at least ten times the default),
users can extend it multiple times with a simple action,
the limit is justified because it is part of a real-time event, essential to the activity, or exceeds 20 hours.

This criterion is about more than compliance, it’s about giving people with disabilities the time they need to fully engage with digital content.

I first encountered the importance of this criterion while working with an external vendor. A blind tester projected their screen to a larger display, and while navigating the page, a session timeout modal appeared. The modal could not be dismissed, extended, or adjusted, creating a real barrier. The dialog itself was not announced, a separate accessibility issue, but this experience highlighted how crucial timing adjustments are in real-world scenarios.

Who does this benefit?

Physical disabilities: More time to react, type, and complete activities.
Low vision: Extra time to locate elements and read content.
Blind users: More time to understand layouts, find information, and operate controls.
Cognitive or language challenges: Time to read, process, and comprehend information.
Deaf users relying on sign language interpretation: Extended time to follow content delivered in real time.
Learning and reading disabilities: Ability to pause and read content at a comfortable pace.

Testing via Automated testing

Automated testing excels at speed and scalability, quickly identifying obvious time-limited elements like forms or interactive components. Its limitation is context: it cannot determine whether time extensions or adjustments are practical in real-world use.

Testing via Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI-based testing adds a layer of sophistication, simulating user interactions and predicting barriers that automated scripts might miss. While AI brings pattern recognition and intelligent analysis to the table, it cannot replace human judgment, as false positives or missed nuances are possible.

Testing via Manual testing

Manual testing remains the gold standard, allowing real users, including those with disabilities, to interact with timed content and confirm that turn-off, adjustment, or extension mechanisms work as intended. The trade-off is time and resources: manual testing is labor-intensive and harder to scale across large sites.

Which approach is best?

No single approach for testing Timing Adjustable is perfect. The most effective strategy is a hybrid approach.

Automated tools first flag obvious time-limited content. AI then simulates interactions to evaluate adjustability, extendability, and justification, highlighting potential accessibility issues. Finally, manual testing validates the experience in real-world conditions, ensuring that timing controls are truly usable.

This layered methodology combines the speed of automation, the insight of AI, and the reliability of human testing, minimizing the risk of missing critical timing accessibility issues and ensuring a more inclusive digital experience for all users.