We receive a lot of WCAG 2.1 AA audit requests for web apps. A web app (web application) is software that runs in a web browser and typically requires user authentication or account creation. Unlike traditional websites that primarily display content, web apps are interactive platforms where users perform tasks, manipulate data, or complete workflows.
Here’s what buyers should know specifically about web application accessibility audits.
Table of Contents
Environments
If your web app is only designed for desktop use, then it usually makes sense to get a desktop only audit (vs. a desktop + mobile). This saves about 30% of the cost on your quote because we don’t have to conduct a mobile audit. Desktop audits typically use Windows, Chrome browser, and NVDA screen reader as the primary testing environment.
If you’re unsure whether or not to include a mobile environment or not, one deciding factor is your analytics. Are people using phones and tablets to access your app?
Personas / Roles
One consideration is, if your web app has different experiences for different user roles, then do you want to include one, some, or all personas and roles?
For example, your web app might have three different experiences for:
- students
- teachers
- administrators
In this case, is it only students you’re concerned with or would you like to include teachers and/or administrators.
The same could be said for various potential users of a commercial web app:
- consumers
- wholesalers
- retailers
VPATs / ACRs
If you’re investing in an audit for a product or service, then it makes a lot of since to purchase our VPAT service along with it. It’s not that much additional ($350 for WCAG edition), but this is a valuable standardized document you can use to demonstrate your web app’s accessibility to purchasers. VPATs are required for federal contracts and increasingly requested by enterprise and educational clients.
Note: We fill in the VPAT to create an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR), but many people refer to the ACR as a VPAT.
Pages / Screens
The number of pages and/or screens comprising your web app will directly affect your final quote. However, our quote calculation is not as simple as multiplying 10 pages by $175. Some pages or screens are very simple and easy to audit while others contain more interactive elements and/or dynamic content which increases the amount of time we spend on the audit.
So we’ll scope each individual page or screen (that should be included) and determine a quote based on the total. But we always tell clients they can multiply their pages or screens by $175 and likely have a really good conservative estimate of their audit price.
Evaluation
Our comprehensive evaluation includes keyboard testing, screen reader testing, visual inspection, code inspection, and automated scans. You’ll receive a detailed Excel report showing each issue found, its WCAG success criterion, exact location, relevant code, fix recommendations, and screenshots. We audit against all applicable WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria and evaluate based on dozens of considerations such as keyboard navigation, focus indicators, color contrast, form labels, error messages, and heading structure.
Note: We can also use the WCAG 2.2 AA standard when auditing.
Technical Support
One aspect of our services clients really like is the ability to pause the VPAT process so that they can make fixes after the audit and before we issue the ACR. In effect, they get a cleaner ACR showing less issues.
Whether or not a VPAT is involved, we offer technical support hours for $195/hour and provide as many or as few hours as clients need.
We make our services available à la carte to keep costs low and provide exactly what clients need.
Timeline
From the time we start to when we deliver the audit report, most audits take 5-10 business days. We’re very fast, but sometimes we’ll provide a 2-3 week timeline based on the number of pages / screens in scope and the complexity of the web app.
Complexity increases based on the number of interactive elements and/or whether there is dynamic content.
Cost
The cost of a web app accessibility audit is $1,500 – $5,500 for most clients. However, we’ve had quotes fall lower and others go above this range. It really does come down to how much work is involved.
Do you need help with an audit for your web app? We’d love to help – just send us a message and we’ll reply back soon.
