Website Accessibility Audits
7th October 2024
4 min read
What is a website accessibility audit?
> Key point: audits assist people with vision, mobility, hearing & cognitive disabilities.
A website accessibility audit checks if digital content (websites, apps, videos, PDF documents etc) can be “accessed” by people with disabilities, the same as for anyone else.
Audits highlight current levels of accessibility, measured using respected international WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) criteria.
To establish an acceptable way of doing that, we need to combine the following different audit test techniques:
Automated tests - quick, but automated test software typically only catches 30% of actual accessibility problems. Relying on this only will mean serious problems will go undetected.
Manual tests - industry best practice & real user experience have proven that Manual audit tests are essential because they typically detect 70% of accessibility problems that would otherwise go undetected.
Assistive Technology tests - manual testing with with screen reader software, magnifier tools & external tech is essential to detect problems that real world users often experience.
Multiple device tests - iPhones & Android phones, iPads & tablets, Mac’s & PC’s.
Operating System tests - Safari, Windows, Android.
Browser tests - Google, Firefox, MS Edge.
To be successful, digital accessibility audits require 5 different stages:
Stage 1: Initial scoping exercise to get a sense of the complexity of the project before estimating the requirements & costs of any potential audit.
Stage 2: Accessibility audit to produce a detailed report of issues & why they do not meet required WCAG 2.1 (required AA standards). Where possible, this will include best practice code remediation suggestions.
Stage 3: Client / client Developer to implement remediation of issues.
Stage 4: Secondary accessibility audit to verify issues have been resolved.
Stage 5: Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) statement which can be published on your website. Any accessibility statement will only apply to digital content on the date the statement is issued. ACR’s are the industry standard used as a statement of ongoing progress.
The scale of any audit depends on the volume & complexity of unique components within the digital content being tested.
Various audit packages are available, depending on the size & complexity of your website.
Contact me today if you wish to know more about website accessibility & audits.