Accessibility Audits and Testing

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the internationally recognised web accessibility standards. The WCAG version 2.2 has 13 guidelines organised under 4 principles and for each guideline there are testable success criterion at three levels. An audit will help you determine conformance to WCAG.

Accessibility is a legal, ethical and moral responsibility, but it also makes good business sense. By making your digital services accessible more people in more locations can access and understand them. You will also win more customers, drive innovation and boost brand reputation.

For further information and explanations visit our What is digital accessibility? web page.

Many factors influence how much an accessibility audit costs, including size of website and whether web pages are publicly available or not. The work required often also significantly varies, from testing a specific user journey or web component to auditing a whole website or app. For these and other reasons there is no fixed price for an accessibility audit and work often needs to be scoped first.

Where you are in your accessibility journey and level of resource available are also factors. A Headline Review is an effective way to identify and resolve high priority issues where resource is constrained. A Full Audit is more appropriate if you are wanting to comprehensively review your website and evidence your commitment to accessibility, investing in a long-term approach to embedding best practices.

Many factors influence how long an accessibility audit takes, including size of website and whether web pages are publicly available or not. The work required often also significantly varies, from testing a specific user journey to auditing a whole website. For these and other reasons there is no fixed period for an accessibility audit and testing to be completed in and work often needs to be scoped first.

It should be noted that the scoping process also varies by the type of audit or testing required. With ad-hoc testing and advice the lead time could be as short as 1 week, with our Headline Review and similar services 2 weeks, and with our Full Audit and other services sometimes as much as 4 weeks to make sure all necessary planning and preparation has been completed before work commences.

While an accessibility audit is not a legal requirement, ensuring your website is accessible is covered by the Equality Act 2010 in the UK, which protects all individuals from unfair treatment and promotes a fair and more equal society.

There are equivalent laws in other countries, which encompass web accessibility law and legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.

The Public Sector Bodies (Website and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations (PSBAR 2018) apply to the public sector specifically and require public sector organisations to make their websites and mobile apps accessible.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) seeks to ensure equal access to digital products and services throughout Europe and becomes law in all EU member states in June 2025.

We encourage and work with our clients to enable them to have a strategic approach to accessibility. Accessibility should be considered throughout each part of a project and not just in the review or maintenance stage. You may establish a regular audit and testing routine, but it can save time and money if different access needs are considered throughout research, design, development and testing phases, reducing the need for regular auditing.

Due to the specialist nature of the review required and the technical detail of the WCAG and their success criterion, many organisations will work with consultants to conduct an audit, like our team of qualified experts at AbilityNet. You can however gain relevant skills via training courses such as our Accessibility and inclusive design training with specific courses on Accessibility testing training including our How to begin your own accessibility testing training.

To deliver our accessibility audits and testing for clients we use industry-leading testing solutions and methods, managed by a team of specialist consultants; Certified Professionals in Web Accessibility (CPWA) with the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP).

A report from the audit and testing is created and supplied in a variety of formats to aid with easy dissemination to key people within your organisation, and to help with onward action. You will typically receive a summary which will include data about the number of high, medium and low priority issues. The detail of the report will highlight for any issues what was observed, where on your website or app, steps to reproduce and a recommendation. Where possible our experts will also highlight good examples of web accessibility.