What is an Accessibility Audit?
An accessibility audit is a comprehensive evaluation of your digital platforms and documents to identify barriers that prevent people with disabilities from accessing and using them effectively. Those barriers can include improper color contrast, lack of ALT text for images, no keyboard navigation available, and improperly tagged PDFs.
Why Are Accessibility Audits Important?
Accessibility audits provide valuable data that aids in understanding how users, especially those with disabilities, engage with websites, apps, and digital documents. That data can drive future product developments, improvements, and ongoing accessibility compliance, leading to "expanding your reach and strengthening your brand reputation."
In essence, accessibility audits are a strategic investment in your business.
Components of an Effective Accessibility Audit Report
- General Information
- Website, app, or document title and URL
- Date of the audit
- Target audience - who will be reading / using this report (stakeholders, developers, product owners, etc.)
- Auditor(s) name, qualifications, and contact information
- Scope of the audit - for example
- Did you audit selected pages or the entire website or app?
- Did you audit a specific WCAG criteria or conformance level?
- Is this a regularly scheduled audit to track remediation progress? Which "fixes" did you audit?
- Executive Summary
- The executive summary provides an overview of the audit, highlighting critical issues, ranking them by severity and impact, and delivering practical recommendations to improve overall accessibility. See "Template for Accessibility Evaluation Reports" from the W3C for an example.
- The executive summary provides an overview of the audit, highlighting critical issues, ranking them by severity and impact, and delivering practical recommendations to improve overall accessibility. See "Template for Accessibility Evaluation Reports" from the W3C for an example.
- Audit Methodology
- Define the audit methods used. For example, did you use an automated tool like DubBot or browser extensions like Chrome Lighthouse or WAVE from WebAIM?
And what manual audit methods did you use - keyboard-only navigation, mouth-stick, or visual evaluations for issues like flashing or strobing? - List any assistive technologies used for the audit, like screen readers, screen magnification, text-to-talk, etc.
- Define the audit methods used. For example, did you use an automated tool like DubBot or browser extensions like Chrome Lighthouse or WAVE from WebAIM?
- Reporting the Findings
- Define how issues are categorized in severity: critical, high, medium, and low.
- Breakdown each issue individually, one issue per section:
- Issue description - Keep error descriptions brief and clear, and avoid technical jargon whenever possible.
- WCAG reference - Site the specific success criterion that failed.
- Impact on users - Give examples of how the issue creates a barrier for specific users.
For example, if the issue is insufficient color contrast, explain how having insufficient contrast between text and its background can prevent people with moderately low vision (who do not use contrast-enhancing assistive technology) from being able to read the text. See SC 1.4.3: Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA), Intent. - Provide a screenshot or code snippet for visual reference.
- Recommendations
- Provide clear and actionable steps for remediating each issue. Consider referencing the "Techniques" section of the corresponding success criteria. The Technique sections in the explanation pages for each WCAG criteria offer "techniques that the WCAG Working Group deems sufficient for meeting this Success Criterion." For example, if the issue is missing ALT text from images, provide a link to SC 1.1.1: Non-text Content (Level A), Techniques.
- Suggest a timeline for remediating the most critical and high-severity issues.
A well-structured accessibility audit report can be an essential tool in fostering inclusive digital experiences. By prioritizing clarity, actionable recommendations, and collaboration, you can effectively communicate findings and help drive improvements that benefit all users.
