A website accessibility audit is an in-depth technical evaluation conducted by an accessibility professional. If you are trying to make your website compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an audit is extremely helpful in that it will, optimally, reveal all of the issues that exist on your website, within the scope of the audit.
Audit Details
Before anything else, it’s important to define the standards and environments to be used.
Typically, the standards are WCAG 2.0 AA or WCAG 2.1 AA.
The environments usually involve a Windows or Mac desktop computer, Chrome browser, and NVDA screen reader.
Audit Scope
The process begins by defining the scope. The scope is basically which pages of your website you want to be audited.
You can provide a list of URLs or your service provider can recommend a set of URLs for unique page templates. For websites with a large number of pages, like e-commerce sites, it’s not practical or necessary to audit each one.
The issues on global templates can be be applied sitewide. For instance, on a Shopify website, only one product page would be audited and then the common issues (outside of individual content specific to the page) would apply globally.
Audit Process
The audit process is a lengthy one.
The auditor(s) will test and inspect your website in multiple ways, including:
- Visual inspection
- Code inspection
- Automated scans
- Keyboard testing
- Screen reader testing
All instances of nonconformance with the WCAG standards will be included in the report delivered to the client.
Report
The results of the audit are presented in a clean, concise, easy-to-understand Excel or PDF report. The best audits are easy to follow, actionable, and avoid overly technical jargon.
Cost
The cost for an audit typically ranges from $3,500 to $7,500. The exact price can vary based on factors like the current general state of the site’s accessibility, the number of pages, and the complexity of the pages. Delivery usually takes between 2-5 weeks. The timeline depends on multiple factors including:
- State of accessibility
- Complexity of website
- Provider workload
Post-Audit
After the initial issues have been remediated, a re-audit is often recommended. These audits are generally more straightforward and should cost significantly less, especially if performed by the same company.
Clients may also be interested in user testing. With user testing, one or more professionals with a disability will test a website, typically while using assistive technology.
Note that user testing is entirely separate and different from the testing used during the course of the audit.
Services
Do you need help with an audit?
Feel free to contact us.
Our experts can help you right away with an audit and remediation.