ADA Compliance Audit Scope
An ADA compliance audit scope covers a defined set of website pages and user flows evaluated against WCAG 2.1 AA, the technical standard referenced by ADA Title II and treated as the working benchmark in Title III matters. The evaluation is human-led and includes screen reader testing, keyboard testing, visual inspection, code inspection, and an automated scan as a review component. Coverage spans desktop and mobile environments, authenticated and public pages, and any third-party content the organization controls or integrates. Scope is documented before the evaluation begins so that findings map back to specific URLs, screens, and success criteria.
| Element | What It Covers |
|---|---|
| Standard | WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria, with WCAG 2.2 AA used when requested. |
| Pages and Screens | Representative templates, key user flows, and high-traffic or transactional pages. |
| Environments | Desktop and mobile, across Chrome and Safari, with NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver. |
| Methods | Screen reader testing, keyboard testing, visual inspection, code inspection, automated scan review. |
| Deliverable | Audit report identifying issues by location, success criterion, severity, and remediation guidance. |
Pages and User Flows Included in Scope
Audit scope is defined by a page and screen count agreed on before work begins. Most accessibility audits start at 1,000 dollars and range to 3,000 dollars, with per-page pricing typically falling between 100 dollars and 250 dollars depending on complexity.
The pages selected usually include the homepage, primary templates (product, article, category), account flows, checkout or conversion flows, search, contact forms, and any page that carries legal or transactional weight. Authenticated pages are evaluated through a browser session, since scans and evaluations conducted inside the logged-in state require credentials.
Standards the Audit Evaluates Against
WCAG 2.1 AA is the default reference standard. ADA Title II of the federal regulation published in 2024 cites WCAG 2.1 AA directly for state and local government web content and mobile apps. Title III of the ADA does not name a technical standard, but courts and settlements have consistently referenced WCAG, which is why organizations evaluating Title III risk use the same benchmark.
Some organizations request WCAG 2.2 AA when procurement or partner agreements call for it. The version is confirmed during scoping so that the audit report aligns with what the organization needs to document.
Evaluation Methods Used During the Audit
An audit is a human-led evaluation. The methods used inside scope include:
- Screen reader testing with NVDA and JAWS on Windows and VoiceOver on macOS and iOS to confirm content is announced correctly and interactive elements are operable.
- Keyboard testing to confirm focus order, visible focus indication, and the absence of keyboard traps.
- Visual inspection at standard zoom and at 200% and 400% browser zoom to confirm reflow and content visibility.
- Code inspection of HTML, CSS, and ARIA to confirm semantic structure, name, role, and value for components.
- Automated scan as a review component, recognizing that scans only flag approximately 25% of issues and the remaining 75% requires human evaluation.
What the Audit Report Documents
The audit report identifies each issue by page or screen, the WCAG success criterion involved, the conformance level, a severity or priority indicator, and remediation guidance. Issues are organized so development teams can work through them in order of user impact and risk. The report becomes the working document for remediation, validation, and any conformance reporting that follows.
What Falls Outside Typical Audit Scope
Documents (PDFs, Word files), native mobile apps, third-party widgets the organization does not control, and video captioning production are commonly treated as separate engagements. Document remediation, for example, is priced separately and typically starts around 7 dollars per page. Defining these boundaries during scoping prevents confusion when the report is delivered and remediation begins.
Scope is the document that determines whether an audit produces meaningful conformance evidence or a partial snapshot. Confirming pages, standard, environments, and methods before the evaluation starts is what makes the resulting report useful for both remediation work and ADA risk reduction.