Our comprehensive, fully manual accessibility audits grade your website or other digital asset against all success criteria or requirements for conformance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA (or 2.0 AA or 2.2 AA).
Our manual evaluation includes screen reader testing, keyboard testing, visual inspection, and code inspection.
Every audit we conduct is 100% manual. We never copy and paste scan results as your audit. A technical accessibility expert thoroughly evaluates your digital asset against the technical standard using a diverse set of evaluation methodologies. We only use automated scans as a secondary check to ensure any issues correctly identified by a scan are included in our audit.
After we complete the audit, we will provide you with a detailed accounting of all accessibility issues in plain, easy-to-understand language. As you implement our recommendations, you’ll improve your digital asset’s accessibility, move closer to full WCAG conformance, and reduce legal risk.
See what our audit report looks like: download our sample accessibility audit report.
Our audit reports include all practical information you need to take action:
- what the issue is
- where the issue is located
- WCAG success criterion
- recommended fix
- screenshot or screen recording of the issue
- users affected
| Step | Action | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | Identify Technical Standard | Default standard is WCAG 2.1 AA. Some clients opt for WCAG 2.2 AA. |
| Step 2 | Identify Page/Screen Layouts | Determine essential pages, layouts, and templates for maximum coverage without unnecessary expense. |
| Step 3 | Set Testing Environments | Desktop: Windows, Chrome, NVDA. Mobile: iOS, Safari, VoiceOver. Mac and Android available as add-ons. |
| Step 4 | Evaluate Against WCAG | Test all 50 AA success criteria using keyboard, screen readers, visual inspection, and code review. |
| Step 5 | Automated Scan Review | AXE scan as final review to ensure all issues correctly flagged by automated scan are included in report. |
| Step 6 | Recommended Fixes | Precise recommendations with code examples for developers, designers, and content editors. |
| Step 7 | Deliver Audit Report | Clear, actionable Excel spreadsheet that tells you exact issues, where to find them, and more important details. |
Table of Contents
Process
Our web accessibility audit process includes:
1. Identify Technical Standard
Our default standard is WCAG 2.1 AA. Some clients opt for WCAG 2.2 AA.
2. Identifying primary page/screen layouts
We can recommend an audit scope or work with you to determine your website’s essential pages or screens, page layouts, and templates, ensuring maximum coverage without unnecessary expense.
3. Set testing environments
We evaluate in desktop environments with Windows, Chrome, and NVDA screen reader. For mobile evaluation, we use iOS, Safari, and VoiceOver. We can also add Mac desktop and Android mobile enviornment. All environments are at the clients option.
4. Evaluating against WCAG 2.1 AA (or another WCAG version)
Our experts meticulously evaluate your website against all 50 AA success criteria in the 2.1 version of WCAG. As a part of our assessment, we will test your website using keyboard and screen readers. We will also visually inspect each page/screen and, where needed, the code.
5. Automated scan review
We use the AXE automated scan tool as a final review to complement our manual WCAG audit process, reducing the possibility of human error and ensuring that all issues that can be correctly flagged by automation – and are actual issues – are contained in your report. We only use the AXE scan as a review, and never copy and paste scan results.
6. Recommended Fixes
Our team offers precise recommendations with code examples to address the identified issues, helping your developers, designers, or content editors fix issues.
7. Clear and concise WCAG audit report in Excel spreadsheet
Our accessibility audit report is designed to be actionable, easy to understand, and free from unnecessary technical jargon. We organize all issues and a clear and straightforward Excel spreadsheet.
Validation
After you receive your audit report, your team will begin fixing the issues identified. Most clients purchase technical support hours from us so we can help them with the validation of the fixes. (Read another provider’s website accessibility audit service page for a comparison.)
Think of issue validation as a kind of re-audit ensures that all accessibility issues have been effectively resolved and verifies that your website is conformant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA. This service means you’ll have certainty that the issues have been resolved and, if all issues are fixed, your digital asset is eligible for certification and/or a conformance statement.
The cost of the validation is however many hours of technical support is needed. Many clients can complete validation with 5 or less hours of technical support.
Confidence
We’ve provided hundreds of clients with accessibility audits. Our audits cover websites, web apps, mobile apps, platforms, learning management systems, and software. Each audit follows the same rigorous process to ensure no accessibility issues are missed.
Investing in a website accessibility audit service is a solid decision for your organization. Accessible.org prices for a WCAG audit typically range from $1,500 to $5,500, depending on factors such as the current state of accessibility, the number of pages/screens audited, and the complexity of your website.
With a typical turnaround time of 1-2 weeks, we’ll have your audit report delivered so you can begin remediation. With remediation and a validation of the fixes, you can quickly and effectively ensure WCAG conformance and ADA website compliance.
We offer excellent quality web accessibility services and are ready to help your team. Send us a message and we’ll write back right away.
Technical Questions
What Is a Web Accessibility Audit?
A web accessibility audit is a comprehensive evaluation of your website or web asset that identifies any technical accessibility issues that exist on your web asset.
What Is a Digital Accessibility Audit?
A digital accessibility audit is a comprehensive evaluation that includes web assets (i.e., websites and web apps), but also any other non-web assets such as software, native mobile apps, and other non-web technologies.
How Do You Check Website Accessibility?
The only way to conclusively know all accessibility issues that exist is through a formal audit conducted by a technical accessibility expert. Any other type of analysis is incomplete.
We conduct a thorough web accessibility audit, using a diverse set of evaluation methodologies to manually evaluate your asset, including use of screen reader assistive technology (screen reader testing) to meticulously evaluate and check accessibility.
We will also use the AXE automated scan, but only to ensure no issues correctly flagged by a scan are absent from our report.
What’s the Difference Between WCAG 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2?
WCAG 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 are different versions of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Our default standard is WCAG 2.1 AA, though some clients opt for WCAG 2.2 AA. We evaluate against all 50 AA success criteria in your chosen version to ensure comprehensive coverage.
If a client opts for WCAG 2.2 AA, we’ll simply evaluate the six additional success criteria that 2.2 AA adds to 2.1 AA.
What’s the Difference Between Automated and Manual Testing?
Automated scans use specific rule sets to determine issues based on code structure. Audits evaluate assets based on multiple diverse evaluation methodologies. Automated scans can only flag 25% of accessibility issues for review and often produce false negatives. Our audits are 100% manual, conducted by technical accessibility experts using screen readers, keyboard testing, visual inspection, and code inspection.
We only use automated scans like AXE as a secondary check to ensure any issues correctly identified by a scan are included in our audit—never as primary results.
Do You Test with Screen Reader Assistive Technology?
Yes, we use NVDA and VoiceOver screen readers as a default. evaluate in desktop environments with Windows, Chrome, and NVDA screen reader. For mobile evaluation, we use iOS, Safari, and VoiceOver. We can also add Mac desktop and Android mobile environment as add-ons. All environments are at the client’s option to ensure comprehensive testing across your users’ actual devices.
Do You Audit Mobile Applications Differently Than Websites?
Yes, we audit mobile apps on iOS and Android phones and/or tablets. However, we use the same rigorous process to audit mobile apps, web apps, platforms, learning management systems, and software. Each audit follows our comprehensive methodology to ensure no accessibility issues are missed, regardless of the digital asset type.
Can You Audit Password-Protected or Internal Systems?
Yes, we can evaluate secure environments and proprietary platforms. We work with your team to establish secure access protocols that allow us to conduct thorough accessibility audits while maintaining your security requirements.
Process Questions
Why Is a WCAG Audit Important?
A WCAG audit is necessary to know what accessibility issues need to be fixed for WCAG conformance. In turn, this improves the accessibility (and usability) of your website resulting in a better experience for everyone, including people with disabilities.
What Are the Benefits of a WCAG Audit?
A WCAG audit identifies all issues on your digital asset. With an audit report, your team can now fix each accessibility issue identified. This approach incrementally works towards full WCAG conformance and greatly improves accessibility and user experience, expands your potential audience, and reduces the risk of a lawsuit.
How Many Pages/Screens Should Be Included in an Audit?
We can recommend an audit scope or work with you to determine your website’s essential pages or screens, page layouts, and templates, ensuring maximum coverage without unnecessary expense. We identify the primary layouts that will give you the most comprehensive understanding of your accessibility issues.
How Long Does a Typical Audit Take?
With a typical turnaround time of 1-2 weeks, we’ll have your audit report delivered so you can begin remediation. The timeline depends on factors such as the current state of accessibility, the number of pages/screens audited, and the complexity of your website.
What Happens After You Receive the Audit Report?
After you receive your audit report, your team will begin fixing the issues identified. Most clients purchase technical support hours from us so we can help them with the validation of the fixes. Think of issue validation as a kind of re-audit that ensures all fix accessibility issues have been actually been resolved.
It’s one thing for your team to fix an issue, but it’s another to have certainty that the issue has been resolved.
What’s Included in Technical Support Hours?
Our team offers precise recommendations with code examples to address the identified issues, helping your developers, designers, or content editors fix issues. Many clients can complete validation with 5 or less hours of technical support.
How Often Should We Conduct Accessibility Audits?
There’s no requirement that you audit your digital asset on an ongoing basis. If you’d like to audit your asset on a regular basis, we recommend quarterly at the highest pace. Biannual or annual audits are great frequencies.
However, if your digital asset remains static and unchanged, there’s no need for an audit other than for documentation purposes.
What Factors Determine the Cost of an Audit?
Accessible.org prices for a WCAG audit typically range from $1,500 to $5,500, depending on factors such as the current state of accessibility, the number of pages/screens audited, and the complexity of your website.
Is Validation Included in the Audit Cost?
No. Validation requires extra time on our end after the report is delivered. The cost of the validation is depended on however many hours of technical support is needed (most clients only need 2-5 hours). When you validate, it means you’ll have certainty that the issues have been resolved and, if all issues are fixed, your digital asset is eligible for certification and/or a conformance statement.
Note that validation is also essential to receiving a cleaner VPAT / ACR back if you’d like to fix issues before the ACR is issued.
Can You Provide a Conformance Statement or Certification?
After successful remediation and validation, if all issues are fixed, your digital asset is eligible for certification and/or a conformance statement. This verifies that your website is conformant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA.
Does an Audit Guarantee ADA Compliance?
No, you must successfully remediate all of the issues found on the audit. If conducted correctly, a WCAG audit only identifies all technical accessibility issues. To follow best practices for ADA compliance, you must remediate all of the issues and make your digital asset WCAG 2.1 AA or WCAG 2.2 AA conformant.
Service
Would you like an estimate on your accessibility audit?
Our accessibility cost calculator will give you a great idea of pricing.
You can also contact us and we’ll put together a proposal for your audit ASAP.
