Business websites are required by law to be accessible, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act. And the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an extensive set of requirements a website must meet in order to be considered “accessible” according to the ADA. For anyone unfamiliar with the WCAG, it can be overwhelming to ingest every requirement. And it can be similarly overwhelming to understand how each requirement may or may not pertain to your website.

That’s where we come in. We will evaluate your website for accessibility issues and provide you with an easy to understand report that will help guide you through your website needs and next steps. We can also communicate directly with your web developer about any issues that might require adjustments to your website’s code. Finally, because achieving accessibility is an ongoing process, you can come to us with any questions at any time.

Our Web Accessibility Audit Process

The WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) contains an extensive list of requirements that websites must adhere to in order to meet accessibility standards. Level AA (the WCAG has three levels – A, AA, and AAA) is the accepted standard for accessibility. So websites must meet both level A and level AA requirements. Our audits first start with a full-site automated accessibility scan. This scan is a great way to identify many common WCAG violations. But automated scans can’t catch everything. So we follow up the automated scan with a manual review of 5 key pages of your website. Typically, this would be the home page, top landing pages, and an article page. But you are free to choose the pages you’d like us to review.

Once the reviews are complete, we will provide you with a detailed report that includes a description of the issue that needs to be fixed, screenshots of the issue, and the changes you will need to make to achieve WCAG compliance. And with the included unlimited consulting, we are always here to answer any questions you might have.

Issues covered in a Web Accessibility Audit

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are extensive and are divided into four key categories, commonly referred to as POUR (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust). Below is a general breakdown of the issues within each category.

1. Perceivable Issues

Users must be able to perceive the content on the site.

• Text alternatives for non-text content (e.g., missing or inadequate alt text on images)
• Captions or transcripts for audio/video content
• Color contrast between text and background
• Use of color alone to convey meaning (e.g., red for errors without text explanation)
• Content structure: proper use of headings (H1–H6), lists, landmarks
• Text resizing and zoom compatibility

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2. Operable Issues

Users must be able to navigate and interact with the site.

• Keyboard navigation (site should be fully usable with keyboard only)
• Focus indicators (visual cues for which element is currently active)
• Logical tab order and navigation flow
• Skip navigation links (allow users to bypass repetitive content)
• Time limits (e.g., form timeouts that aren’t adjustable)
• Avoidance of flashing or blinking content (which could cause seizures)

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3. Understandable Issues

Content and interface must be easy to understand.

• Readable language and use of clear instructions
• Consistent navigation and interface elements
• Input errors clearly identified with suggestions for correction
• Form labels and instructions (especially for screen readers)

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4. Robust Issues

The site must work well with assistive technologies.

• Proper HTML semantics (e.g., ARIA roles used correctly)
• No broken ARIA attributes
• Form fields with associated labels
• Accessible dynamic content (modals, accordions, AJAX updates)
• Compatibility with screen readers and other assistive tools

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If you are interested in making your website accessible to all users, you will want to make sure that each of the issues mentioned above are reviewed, and that your development team understands the necessary remediation steps they must take.

We are always happy to answer questions about our audit process or accessibility questions, in general. So, please contact us if we can be of service. We’d love to hear from you!

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