WCAG audit: all you need to know about the assessment of the accessibility of your website

Without a destination, you’ll never get there.

Photo by Tabea Schimpf on Unsplash

If your destination is a more accessible website, then you need a very clear roadmap to get there. A WCAG audit and the report it brings you are such a roadmap. It gives you the path to an accessible website.

You read in this article what you should consider before, during, and after the study.

Before the assessment

A good start is half the work.

If you have an assessment conducted by an agency, then an intake will take place first. The agency needs information in order to conduct the investigation. It is good to consider the following things:

• Planning of the research: Let the research be carried out in a period where no major changes take place on the website. This can ensure that the findings of the report are no longer true.
• Agreement with your web builder: Notify your website builder of the accessibility survey. Make sure they are familiar with your wish that the website should be accessible. It is also useful for planning purposes to coordinate this with them. An audit consists of two parts: a zero measurement (the first test) and a control test. Between these tests, there is a maximum of 12 weeks. Therefore, use this period as much as possible to correct the findings from the initial investigation. This is often done in collaboration with your web builder. Good alignment is important.
• Access to the website: Access to the domain to be investigated is required for the research. This should not be another version. No development environment or screenshots. A system test (more on this later) can be carried out in a demo environment. The condition is that all functionalities are active and present to be tested.
• Domains to be researched: Determine which domains and what exactly are to be investigated. Based on this, the scope and sample of the study will be determined.

Now you are well prepared for the intake.

Different types of assessments

One assessment might be more suitable than the other.

Every type of assessment is useful in a particular context or situation. The decision for a particular assessment is made in cooperation with your research agency. There are the following types of assessments:

• Full audit: If you haven’t conducted an audit before and your web developer isn’t on the system, then this is the default choice. Unless you have a very inaccessible website, you should first do a self-test, combined with a quick scan. This way, you can first find and fix the biggest issues.
• System audit: This assessment is for web developers who have a web system that is used on many websites. It is a strong selling argument to be able to demonstrate that your web system is accessible from the base. This will greatly benefit your customers.
• Content audit: This assessment is for content editors when there has already been a system audit by the web developer. The research and the evaluation report of the partial audit you will then use together with your research on the content. Together, this is a complete audit and sufficient support for your accessibility statement.
• Control audit: Following the first audit, a control audit is often performed. This is to check whether the deficiencies found have been corrected properly. Between the initial examination and the control examination, there is a maximum of 12 weeks. This period is determined so that the status of the website has not changed too much.
• Quickscan: A quickscan is a small audit in which the auditor finds as many accessibility problems as possible within a predetermined number of hours. This is especially useful if you have the impression that your website is very inaccessible. It is then a cost savings to have a quickscan run first. To solve the biggest accessibility problems. Then carry out a full audit. This will save the auditor a lot of time and money.
• Self-scan: To obtain an indication of accessibility in a number of areas, you can perform a self-scan. This scan automatically checks your website for a number of accessibility guidelines. It is good to know that not everything can be automatically tested, nor is it complete.

If it is not clear which research is most suitable for you, the agency will help you along the way. Or send us a message, and we will be happy to tell you.

Price of the assessment

The price depends largely on the size and complexity of the assessment.

The larger and more complex the assessment, the more hours a researcher needs. The size, complexity, functionality, media usage, and CMS all affect the number of hours needed. And therefore the price.

The cost of assessments varies roughly from €2,000 to €5,000 (excluding VAT), but can also be higher on very large websites.

After each assessment, you have a period of time to resolve any accessibility problems. Then a re-examination will take place. A re-examination costs about €500. This is a much smaller study where only the previous findings are checked for correct recovery. No new findings are made.

The accessibility assessment or audit

The audit is performed according to the WCAG-EM research method for WCAG audits.

This research method has been developed by the W3C and is considered the standard method. For governments, it is a legal obligation to have investigations carried out according to this method or similar.

The research requires specialized knowledge of WCAG, WCAG-EM, accessible web design, supporting technologies, and how people with various disabilities use the web. Therefore, you always want the research to be carried out by a specialized agency and researcher.

The research consists of the following 5 steps:

1. Determine the scope of the research: The purpose is determined first. Here is the information from the interview: same as accessibility standards. Often, this will be WCAG 2.1 AA. This is the current standard and a statutory mandate for governments.
2. Explore website: Now that the scope and accessibility standard have been determined, the website is being looked at. What are the main pages? What are the main functionalities? What types of web content does the website contain? What Web Technologies Are Required? By answering such questions, the researcher gets an idea of what the website contains. This is the condition for the next step.
3. Select a sample: Often, it is not possible to investigate the entire website due to its size or complexity. This would simply take too much time. Therefore, a sample is taken. The pages and documents are selected in a structured and random manner. This selection is intended to represent the entire website as fully as possible.
4. Sample testing: After the preparatory steps, it is time to perform the actual check. The website is tested to the accessibility standard set out in step 1. The researcher notes all deviations from the norm as findings for the report.
5. Report: The last step is to summarize and report the findings. The report also contains explanations of the findings. And often even actions you can take. The total scores are calculated: indicating how many of the 50 WCAG success criteria the website meets.

After the assessment

Now you can work on improving the possible accessibility problems.

The review report with all findings will be received after the assessment. This report shows how things stand with the accessibility of your website. The findings indicate where action should be taken to improve accessibility.

In consultation with your web developer, make an action plan to adjust all findings.

Up to 12 weeks after the first examination, there is a possibility for a control assessment. In it, all findings are checked to see whether they have been fixed correctly. This is useful to know if your actions have been done correctly.

How about PDFs and other documents?

These also count.

If you have PDFs on your website, they are part of the website and therefore fall under accessibility. In a full survey, two documents are often included. This is also the case with partial content assessment.

PDFs and other documents can also be assessed separately.

Ask us about the possibilities.