How to Tell If Your Website Needs an Accessibility Audit
If your website has never been evaluated against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), it almost certainly needs an accessibility audit. Most websites carry accessibility issues that automated scans cannot detect, and the only way to identify the full scope is through a structured, human-led evaluation.
| Indicator | What It Means |
|---|---|
| No prior evaluation | Without a formal audit, there is no baseline for WCAG conformance |
| Scan results show issues | Scans only flag approximately 25% of issues, so flagged problems indicate many more exist |
| User complaints | Reports from people with disabilities signal real accessibility problems |
| Legal exposure | Organizations covered under ADA Title II or Title III face risk without documented conformance |
Your Website Has Never Been Evaluated
This is the clearest signal. A website built without accessibility as part of the design and development process will carry issues across navigation, content structure, forms, and interactive elements. An audit establishes a conformance baseline against a specific WCAG version and level, typically WCAG 2.1 AA.
Without that baseline, there is no way to measure progress or prioritize remediation work.
Automated Scans Have Flagged Issues
If you have conducted an automated scan and it returned issues, those results represent only a fraction of what exists. Scans evaluate HTML, CSS, and ARIA attributes against a subset of WCAG criteria, but they only flag approximately 25% of issues. The remaining 75% requires human evaluation, including screen reader testing, keyboard testing, and visual inspection.
A clean scan result does not mean a website is conformant. It means the 25% that scans can check did not return flags.
You Have Received User Complaints
When someone reports difficulty using your website with assistive technology, that report reflects a real experience. A single complaint often points to systemic issues across similar components or page templates.
An audit conducted after receiving complaints identifies the full set of issues rather than addressing individual reports one at a time.
Your Organization Faces Legal Risk Under the ADA
Organizations covered under ADA Title II have a direct obligation to conform to WCAG 2.1 AA. Under ADA Title III, the general obligation to provide accessible services applies to websites, though no specific technical standard is codified. In both cases, having a documented audit and remediation plan reduces legal risk significantly.
If your organization has no documentation of an accessibility evaluation, that absence itself is a risk factor.
Your Website Was Redesigned or Updated Recently
Major redesigns, platform migrations, and feature additions frequently introduce new accessibility issues. Code that worked on a previous version may not carry over cleanly. New templates, navigation patterns, and interactive components all need evaluation against WCAG criteria.
A post-launch audit identifies issues introduced during the update before they affect users or attract legal attention.
How Often Should Audits Be Conducted?
There is no universal schedule. A reasonable approach is to conduct an audit after any significant website change, at least once per year, and whenever a new WCAG version becomes the referenced standard. Between audits, periodic scans provide limited ongoing monitoring but do not replace the depth of a full evaluation.
If any of these indicators apply, the question is not whether your website needs an audit but how soon one should be scheduled.