Website Accessibility Audit – disability access test of your website(s)

Summary of tasks

1. An accessibility audit of your website(s) and digital documents will be carried out resulting in a clear set of recommendations to resolve any accessibility concerns. The website will be tested against WCAG 2.1. AA guidelines. We will agree a representative sample of pages and features of the website before starting the audit. Normally this is between 3 and 10 pages.
2. If required, I can write the first draft of your website accessibility statement and help you complete it in line with legal requirements. The content of the statement will be based on the findings of the website accessibility audit.
3. I can provide training to motivate and inspire you to become advocates of accessible website design and equip you with skills to create and maintain accessible content. As part of the training, I will provide my 112-page Accessibility Guide and give you digital copies of all of the material used on the training course.

If you decide not to take up the training option I will still provide you with my website accessibility guide and the slides from my training course, at no additional cost.

The Website Accessibility Audit – disability access test

The website will be measured against World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) up to level AA for disability access audit.

The aim of this disability access audit will be to find access issues which make it difficult for disabled people, and other visitors to access the website services and content. For each issue found the report will suggest a solution to ensure compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA.

A manual technical audit using a range of ‘user agents’ (i.e. different browsers and devices) will be carried out by Jim Byrne and John Turley. Automated testing tools will also be used to check the site. For example, colour contrast checker, code validation tools and tools for enabling or disabling features of the site.

An overview of the audit process:

The website will be manually checked against all relevant WCAG 2.1 checkpoints. A range of tools will be used to help test the website, including a screen reader, text-only browser, colour analyser, CSS and HTML validator.

The website will be tested on mobile devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, IOS and Android platforms. Apps on IOS and Android platforms will be used.

Dynamic page elements will be checked for accessibility, including features using Javascript and/or other technologies.

The accessibility of online forms will be checked to ensure that they are accessible to screen reader and keyboard users and that they continue to work when Javascript is disabled or not present.

• A summary table will be created showing which checkpoints pass or fail.
• There will be a short explanatory note in the table next to all failed checkpoints.
• Solutions will be suggested to fix the issues found in order to reach WCAG 2.1 AA compliance.
• A jargon-free report will be provided outlining the findings of the site audit.

For each relevant checkpoint the report will include the following:

• WCAG 2.1 Checkpoint (A & AA).
• Severity of failure (high, low).
• Location of failure (URL).
• Screenshots where necessary.
• Recommendations to resolve the issues.

This will include a short executive summary, a list of issues that should be fixed first (i.e. those that will have the biggest impact) and a longer discussion of the issues found. The report will include screen-shots, code examples and, where necessary, links to video examples of screen reader use illustrating accessibility issues.

The following assistive technologies will be employed:

• VoiceOver on Macbook Pro
• JAWS on the Windows 10
• ZoomText on Windows 10
• Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA), Open Source screen reader Windows 10.
• Talk Back on Samsung Galaxy 8
• VoiceOver on Safari on iPhone
• Browsers IE, Safari, Chrome and Firefox in conjunction with the above assistive technologies.

The website and documents will be checked with a range of impairments in mind, for example, colour blindness, dyslexia, learning disabilities and hearing impairment.

Testing on mobile platforms

My colleague John Turley brings particular expertise in relation to mobile accessibility (as well as being an experienced user of screen readers and other user tools). There are certain challenges faced in ensuring accessibility on mobile devices including screen size, screen resolution and speed. On mobile devices there are different settings to enable speech and punctuation, unlike the default settings on desktop computers.

Approach to website accessibility auditing

Accessibility will not be approached solely in terms of WCAG compliance. It will also be considered within a broader usability context in light of the tools and variety of devices that disabled people use when accessing website content and services.

Ultimately, the accessibility of your website will stand or fall on its ability to provide information and services to the target audience including disabled people who are part of that audience.

Client Feedback

The report was extremely detailed. It explained what the WCAG guidelines mean, how compliance was assessed, what problems were identified and how these could be fixed. We are confident that implementing the recommendations will greatly improve the accessibility of our site. The report was, as far as possible, free from technical jargon, and Jim was always more than happy to have a chat about things we did not understand. This evaluation has been extremely useful.

Brigitte Cosford – Project Support Officer – Health Rights Information Scotland

Who can benefit from these audits?

These packages are suitable for all businesses, voluntary, education and public sector.

Contact us today if you are,

• Concerned with website accessibility compliance.
• Interested in practical suggestions to improve the accessibility of your site.
• Interested in training to help keep your website accessible.

Read more about out website accessibility auditing service.