Naming Suggestions for Manual Accessibility and Quality Assurance Testing File Names

Over the years, I have developed a naming convention for files during manual accessibility and quality assurance testing.

Excel File Name

I found it easier to store my findings in an Excel file, similar to the one used for the older DHS Trusted Tester version 4 or similar files, named as follows. 

Below are the main parts of the file-naming convention.

• Website or application name
• Server
  • PROD
  • DEV
  • TEST
  • UAT (Use Acceptance Testing)
  • STAGING
• Date

An example would be the following:

• DSH – DEV – DT20260217
• SSA Application – PROD – Dt20260217

Note that each page would have its own tab that would be the name of the page or an abbreviation, since Excel tab names can only be 31 characters long.

Screenshot Naming Convention

I use a similar naming convention for screenshot filenames that includes the page name and a short description of the problem.

• Website or application name
• Server
  • PROD
  • DEV
  • TEST
  • UAT (Use Acceptance Testing)
  • STAGING
• Page Name
• Short Description of the Problem

The same applies to screenshots; a few example file names would be the following:

• FBI – TEST – About Us Page – Missing ALT Text for Images under the What’s New Heading
• IRS Intranet – TEST – Home Page – Poor Color Contrast of the Focus Rings in the HEADER MegaMenu
• WHD WOW – UAT – Login Page – Not Able to Activate the MegaMenu Drop-down Items with a Keyboard

Issue Tracking Software Problem Names

I also use a similar pattern when naming issues in issue-tracking software to indicate whether the problem is an accessibility, functional, or content issue.

Again, the name convention is similar to the others, but is as follows.

• Website or application name
• Issue Types
  • Accessibility
  • Functional
  • Content
• Server
  • PROD
  • DEV
  • TEST
  • UAT (Use Acceptance Testing)
  • STAGING
• Page Name
• Short Description of the Problem

A few example issue names would be the following:

• FBI – ACCESSIBILITY – DEV – About Us Page – Missing ALT Text for Images under the What’s New Heading
• IRS Intranet – FUNCTIONAL – TEST – Not Able to Open or Close All Show hide Content with One Button
• WHD WOW – CONTENT – UAT – Login Page – Confusing Text In Second Paragraph Under the “News” Heading

Conclusion

By using this naming standard, you can more easily group issues, meaning all the problems for one website or application. Then, by the type of issues, the server tested on, and the pages.

Hope this was helpful.

If you have any suggestions to improve it, please leave a comment.