The disabled economy in the UK now exceeds £212 billion annually. Most businesses completely miss this accessibility audit chance.
Smart private businesses recognise the benefits of accessibility, while the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 already mandate compliance for government websites. Your website’s accessibility evaluation starts by checking its alignment with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard.
Our agency’s complete accessibility audit checklist helps UK businesses identify and fix accessibility issues before they get pricey. We’ll guide you through our proven four-step process in this piece, whether you need a simple accessibility audit template or a full-scale accessibility audit report.
You’ll learn about our accessibility audit services, including proper testing with assistive technologies and clear documentation creation. Let’s make your website available to everyone and help you tap into that substantial market chance simultaneously.
Step 1: Define What to Audit
Our accessibility audit starts with a clear plan to assess the website. We need to set boundaries at the start since checking every page against 50 WCAG criteria isn’t realistic.
Identify key user journeys and page types
The best way to use resources wisely is to focus on your website’s most important parts. Our priorities include:
- Your homepage and high-traffic landing pages
- Content pages that mainly have text information
- Core user flows like checkout processes or appointment bookings
- Different template types across your site
- Navigation elements and search functionality
- Legal information and settings pages
We pick pages that show your website’s overall structure and functionality because testing every page isn’t practical.
Include interactive elements and media
Interactive components create the biggest accessibility challenges. Our audit looks at:
Form fields and their labels to make sure screen readers can link them properly. The team checks keyboard navigation through all interactive elements and tests error messages.
We make sure images have proper alt text, videos come with captions, and audio files include transcripts. These features need hands-on testing with assistive technologies to work right.
Use a representative sample of your website
Your website’s size and complexity determine how many sample pages we need. Small websites usually need 10-15 pages, while bigger sites with multiple templates might need 25-50 pages.
Traffic analytics help us choose the most visited sections. On top of that, we look at automated test results to find trouble spots that need deeper checking.
Consider accessibility of documents and PDFs
PDFs and other documents need extra attention in accessibility audits. Many organisations find PDF accessibility challenging, even though these formats often contain vital information.
The team checks PDFs for proper structure, tagged content, searchable text, and keyboard navigation. While we can’t check every document, we pick key samples based on how important and frequently used they are.
Keep in mind that accessibility means more than putting content online—everyone should be able to access your information, whatever their abilities.
Step 2: Perform the Accessibility Audit
The accessibility audit begins after defining what needs to be reviewed. A methodical process combines testing approaches to ensure your website meets the required standards.
Use WCAG 2.2 as your standard
WCAG 2.2 guidelines are the foundations of accessibility testing. This latest version builds upon previous iterations and adds six new success criteria to help users with cognitive, learning, and motor disabilities. The guidelines organise accessibility into three conformance levels (A, AA, AAA). Most UK regulations require AA compliance at minimum. The Cabinet Office uses this standard to monitor public sector websites and apps.
Test with assistive technologies
Your website must work with common assistive technologies. The essential testing should include:
- Screen readers like JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver
- Screen magnifiers such as Windows Magnifier or Apple Zoom
- Speech recognition software like Dragon
Testing should cover the most common combinations of assistive technologies and browsers. This approach helps you spot barriers that automated testing might miss.
Include both automated and manual checks
Automated tools alone can give you a false sense of security. Research shows that even the best automated tools catch only 40% of accessibility barriers. Automated scanning tools like Axe quickly flag technical issues, while human testers can review usability aspects that need judgement.
Check for keyboard and screen reader compatibility
Keyboard accessibility matters because many users with motor disabilities don’t use a mouse. You should tab through each page to check that all interactive elements are available. Focus indicators should be visible without keyboard traps. Screen reader testing verifies that content structure, headings, and alternative text work correctly.
Assess mobile and zoom responsiveness
The site’s performance needs testing when magnified or viewed on mobile devices. Pages should work at 200% and 400% zoom to keep text readable and functionality intact. The pinch-to-zoom feature must stay enabled to meet WCAG 1.4.4 requirements and help users with visual impairments.
Step 3: Create Your Accessibility Audit Report
The audit documentation becomes your key output after you complete the audit. A well-laid-out accessibility audit report turns technical findings into useful insights for your organisation.
Summarise key issues and their severity
You should categorise every accessibility issue by severity to help prioritise fixes. We recommend using a four-level severity scale:
- Critical – Issues that completely prevent users from accessing content or completing tasks with no workaround
- High – Serious problems causing major inconvenience with difficult or non-obvious workarounds
- Medium – Issues causing frustration but having manageable workarounds
- Low – Minor inconveniences that may not require workarounds
The severity classification helps stakeholders understand which problems need immediate attention. Your report should include an executive summary dashboard that shows how issues are distributed by severity.
Include screenshots and examples
Clear visual evidence makes documentation work better. For each issue you find:
- Crop screenshots to show the specific problem area
- Add boxes or arrows on images to point out exact locations
- Include code snippets where needed
- Record short videos for complex interactions
Numbered and annotated screenshots help readers understand issues quickly, even without reading the text.
Use an accessibility audit template for consistency
A standard template will give you thorough documentation and make it easier to compare audits. Key components include:
- Executive summary with overall conformance level
- Testing methodology and environment details
- Detailed findings table with issue IDs, locations, and WCAG references
- Impact assessment for each issue
- Recommendations for remediation
Reports with this structure let you track progress easily over time.
Highlight quick wins and long-term fixes
Your fixes should focus on user impact rather than just technical difficulty. The report should clearly separate:
- Quick wins – Issues you can fix right away with minimal resources
- Tactical fixes – Medium-term solutions needing modest effort
- Strategic improvements – Longer-term structural changes
This practical approach helps organisations make real progress while planning complete improvements.
Step 4: Fix Issues and Plan for Ongoing Compliance
Your accessibility audit report is ready. Now you need to take action. A systematic approach to fixing accessibility problems will make your website more inclusive and compliant with regulations.
Prioritise fixes based on user impact
After spotting accessibility problems, group them by how they affect users rather than technical complexity. Problems that stop people with disabilities from using your site need immediate attention. Start with the most important pages like login forms, sign-up flows, and contact pages.
Team up with key people to understand what needs fixing:
- Developers to handle code changes
- Content editors to improve text and documents
- Suppliers to modify technology platforms
This team effort helps set realistic deadlines and allocate resources for each fix.
Schedule a follow-up audit
Book another accessibility audit to check if your fixes worked. This second check usually takes half as long as the first one. Many specialists provide this service. The extra cost is worth it if needed.
Book your follow-up audit when you schedule the first assessment. This way you’ll know your improvements worked.
Train your team on accessibility best practises
Design, product and engineering teams share responsibility for accessibility. Everyone who adds content should know how to keep things accessible:
- Content editors should create accessible documents
- Designers need to understand inclusive design
- Developers must know accessible coding
Regular training keeps the team up to date with new standards. This makes accessibility part of your company’s DNA instead of a quick fix.
Update your accessibility statement
Update your accessibility statement as you fix issues. This document should say if your website fully complies with standards, partially complies, or doesn’t comply. For partial compliance, list which parts don’t meet standards and explain why.
The statement must have:
- Current compliance level
- Details of non-compliant sections
- Ways to request alternative formats
- Contact info to report issues
- Timeline for your improvement plan
Write this statement in simple English without technical terms. This shows you’re committed to getting better and being open about accessibility.
Conclusion
Website accessibility audits mean much more than just ticking a compliance box for UK businesses. This piece outlines a proven four-step process that turns technical challenges into strategic advantages. The disabled economy’s £212 billion value offers a compelling reason to look beyond just meeting regulations.
A well-defined audit scope lets you evaluate your site effectively instead of getting overwhelmed by testing every single page. Using WCAG 2.2 standards during testing will give your site the edge it needs to serve users better. Real-life testing with assistive technologies spots problems that automated tools can’t catch. A detailed documentation helps you fix issues based on how they affect actual users.
It’s worth mentioning that accessibility needs steadfast dedication rather than quick fixes. Your team’s training, regular follow-up audits, and current accessibility statements show how serious you are about inclusion. Your business then benefits from reaching more customers while reducing legal risks.
Starting an accessibility audit might look overwhelming at first. Breaking it into smaller steps makes it doable for any business size. Our audit checklist helps you spot issues, fix them, and stay compliant.
Your website’s accessibility helps real people with different needs. Every fixed barrier means you gain a potential customer, serve another user, and create a positive brand image. The question isn’t if your business can afford to make things accessible—it’s if you can afford not to.
Key Takeaways
Here are the essential insights from our comprehensive accessibility audit process that every UK business should implement:
• The disabled economy in the UK is worth over £212 billion annually, representing a massive untapped market opportunity for accessible businesses.
• Follow a systematic four-step audit process: define scope, perform WCAG 2.2 testing, create detailed reports, and implement ongoing compliance measures.
• Combine automated tools with manual testing using assistive technologies—automated tools only catch 40% of accessibility barriers that real users face.
• Prioritise fixes based on user impact rather than technical difficulty, focusing first on critical barriers that completely prevent access to key functions.
• Accessibility requires ongoing commitment through team training, regular follow-up audits, and updated accessibility statements rather than one-time fixes.
Accessibility audits transform from compliance burdens into strategic advantages when approached systematically. By removing barriers, businesses expand their market reach whilst demonstrating genuine commitment to inclusion—creating positive brand impressions that extend far beyond regulatory requirements.
FAQs
Q1. What is an accessibility audit and why is it important for UK businesses? An accessibility audit is a comprehensive evaluation of a website to ensure it’s usable by people with disabilities. It’s crucial for UK businesses as it helps tap into the £212 billion disabled economy, ensures compliance with regulations, and improves overall user experience.
Q2. How do you determine what to include in an accessibility audit? An accessibility audit should focus on key user journeys, high-traffic pages, interactive elements, and a representative sample of the website. It’s important to include different page types, navigation elements, and even PDFs to get a comprehensive view of the site’s accessibility.
Q3. What standards should be used when conducting an accessibility audit? The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 should be used as the standard for accessibility audits. Most UK regulations require at least AA compliance with these guidelines.
Q4. How long does it take to complete an accessibility audit? The duration of an accessibility audit depends on the size and complexity of the website. However, a follow-up audit to verify fixes typically takes about half the time of the original audit.
Q5. What should be included in an accessibility audit report? An accessibility audit report should include a summary of key issues and their severity, screenshots and examples of problems, recommendations for fixes, and a prioritisation of issues based on user impact. It should also use a standardised template for consistency and easier comparison between audits.
