Tools and testing
Motor
- Last reviewed
- 9 August 2026
Tools and techniques to help you test for motor accessibility.
Motor impairments
Motor impairments can affect physical movement and dexterity.
Common conditions and situations include:
arthritis cerebral palsy multiple sclerosis Parkinson's disease broken arms or other short-term injuries
Barriers to consider
Motor impairments can make it difficult to:
make precise movements use a mouse, trackpad or touchscreen use small controls complete tasks quickly hold or operate a device use services that require a particular type of movement
How to test
Start with automated checks
Use accessibility testing tools to identify common accessibility issues. Automated checks are a useful starting point, but they cannot identify every barrier.
You can use tools such as:
axe DevTools WAVE Evaluation ARC Toolkit Accessibility Insights
See [Find and use tools] for more information about these tools and when to use them.
Do manual checks
Check that:
users can navigate and operate the service using a keyboard interactive elements are large enough to select users do not need to make precise movements controls work with different input methods where appropriate users have enough time to complete tasks content and functionality work in different device orientations where relevant
You can use tools such as Target size to help with some of these checks.
Consider assistive technology
Some people with motor impairments use keyboards, switches, voice control or other assistive technology.
Test your service with relevant input methods where appropriate.
Understand user needs
Accessibility personas can help you understand how people with different access needs might experience your service. They are a starting point for identifying user needs and deciding what to test.
Chris – user with rheumatoid arthritis
Chris mainly uses a keyboard to navigate content.
Chris needs:
keyboard navigation some screen reader use clearly labelled HTML elements
[View Chris's profile and task]
Ron – older user with multiple conditions
Ron uses offline support for services when available.
Ron needs:
accessible offline support high contrast and clear text clear page structure
[View Ron's profile and task]