Accessibility Audit and what you’ll gain from it.
Ensuring your app or website is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities, is not only the right thing to do but also a key to compliance with legal standards like WCAG 2.1, Section 508, and other global regulations. Whether you’re creating new digital products or maintaining existing ones, an Accessibility Audit is an indispensable step in your journey toward inclusivity.
This blog will explore what an Accessibility Audit is, why it matters, and how our services can help you achieve your accessibility goals.
Key terms in this article:
- WCAG 2.2 AA – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Current version is 2.2 AA. Industry standard compliance guide designed and governed by W3C. It is a basis for many regulations including 508 and European Accessibility Act. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2
- Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federal agencies to ensure that their electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities, including employees and members of the public.
What is an Accessibility Audit?
An Accessibility Audit is a comprehensive evaluation of your website, app, or digital product to ensure compliance with recognized accessibility standards, such as WCAG 2.2 Level AA, Section 508, or other regional regulations.
It identifies barriers that could prevent users with disabilities from fully interacting with your platform. The audit process includes both manual testing and automated tools to uncover accessibility issues. We test for:
- Keyboard-only navigation of your website or app
- Mobile navigation with and without screen reader
- Screen-reader testing (assistive technology for low vision and blind users)
- Explaining Automated testing tool results
- Usability of the site or app
- Checking color contrast
This democratizes design for non-technical users while offering developers a way to extend WordPress functionality and provide more options to their clients.
Reasons to go perform accessibility audit
In an ideal scenario, accessibility is build-in into product development. Product owners are planning for it, designers are educated on creating inclusive and usable interfaces, developers are reviewing their code for accessibility issues and QA are doing comprehensive testing. However, often there are gaps in this process.
Accessibility Audit will help you establish baseline of your product and plan for improvement.
Accessibility Audit higlights
- Compliance with laws and regulations
- Help to improve user experience. Many accessibility features, such as clear navigation, readable text, and robust keyboard functionality, improve usability for all users, regardless of ability.
- Enhance your brand reputation and win more business. By following through with accessibility audit recommendations, you show your commitment to inclusivity. Besides, many procurement professionals are now require to see proof or accessibility of digital products they buy. (see our VPAT article for more)
What Will You Gain From an Accessibility Audit?
When you partner with us for an accessibility audit, we provide a detailed and actionable evaluation of your digital products. Here’s what you can expect:
End-to-End Full Audit
Comprehensive audit of your entire website or app, covering both automated and manual testing as described above in what is accessibility audit section.
Comprehensive Accessibility Report
You’ll receive a detailed report outlining all identified accessibility issues. Each issue will be categorized by:
- WCAG 2.2 criteria it violates.
- Severity level (e.g., critical, moderate, or minor).
- Location of the issue (specific pages, sections, or components) with screenshots.
- Remediation recommendation. Considerations and options to fix this issue with estimated level of complexity.
This report serves as a roadmap to guide your team in addressing accessibility gaps.
Explanation of test results and follow up support
We set aside time with you to go over results and help with prioritizing fixes. Depending where you are in your journey, it can be one meeting or a series of meeting with additional training. We can also open tickets in your project management tool if that helps.
We don’t just identify issues—we work with you to fix them and ensure long-term accessibility.
Supplemental Audits
What we highlight here is a full website audit that is usually done on it’s own or as part of VPAT preparation (see our article about VPAT). There are other types of reviews and audits that can be helpful.
Risk Assessment Audit
For businesses looking for a quick overview, this audit identifies high-impact accessibility issues and evaluates potential risks. It’s ideal for understanding the scope of accessibility challenges before a full audit. It can also give you a high-level legal risk estimate for your product
Design Audits
Collaborating with your design team, we review wireframes, design layouts, and prototypes to identify accessibility concerns early in the development process. This ensures accessible design principles are implemented from the start and will save you time and effort on implementation.
Specialized Testing:
Testing with specific screen readers, devices, or browsers based on your audience’s needs.
Ready for accessibility audit?
To prepare for one, think through the following questions:
- What is a scope of your audit? Specific websites, apps, documents?
- Select a representative pages of screens for us to test. Often, in a site with thousands of pages, there still limited number of templates that are used.
- Determine target standards your product need to conform to. (we can help with that)
- Identify people we need to work with on a regular basis for questions, access, requirements refining
- Work with us to determine timeframe of audit and schedule initial meeting.
Contact us today to schedule your accessibility audit and take the first step toward creating an inclusive digital experience for everyone.
