By:
Grace Williamson 
Website Accessibility has now become the talk of the digital world. With new laws like ADA and Section 508, organizations are now legally bound to make their websites accessible to the people with disabilities. And the first step in this process is Website Accessibility Audit! But before going to any web accessibility audit service provider, it is important to know about the process in detail. It will help you understand how accessibility audits actually work.
In today?s blog, we will talk about:
In the end, we will also give you some tips to understand whether your audit report is complete or not. So, let?s begin!?
To begin with, let?s understand what web accessibility audit service actually means. In most simple words, it is a study to find out whether your website is accessible or not. The experts conduct a thorough testing of all the features of your website, to find out whether your website includes the necessary accessibility features or not.
In accessibility audit, both automated and manual testing is done on the website. That is why it is always better than the normal automated accessibility testing. The accessibility testing provider tests the website at each and every stage, and prepares a detailed audit report. Even if some accessibility features are already present on your website, they note them down, and test if they are fully functional or not.
As a business owner, you might sometimes question the need for accessibility audits of your website. Well, we will explain why you need it.
According to the recently conducted survey, over 26% of the US population suffers from some kind of disability. So, if your website is not accessible, you are actually catering to only 74% of the US populations. As a result, non-accessibility significantly reduces your consumer base.
And it is not the only reason. As discussed in the very beginning, organizations are now legally bound to make their websites accessible to the people with disabilities. Hence, if you do not follow the accessibility guidelines, your business might face financial and legal penalties.
In order to avoid such consequences, you must conduct regular accessibility audits of your website. The audit report will help you prove the accessibility features of your website.?
There are many types of website accessibility audit. You should check which one suits you the most, depending on your business requirements.
In this audit, the experts check each and every page of the website. They note down the deficiencies in a page-wise manner. It helps the clients to calculate the time and resources required to incorporate the accessibility features into the website.
It is done to access the blockers only. In short, the experts access the potential blockers that prevent the users from accessing the accessibility features of the website. Hence, the clients can modify the present website features only. They cannot get remediation solutions.
Experts conduct a detailed accessibility audit according to the preferred accessibility guidelines of the clients. They match all the features mentioned in the guideline, and provide accessibility remediation services accordingly.
As per the requirements, this audit can be of different types. For example, if the clients need WCAG Compliance Solutions, then the experts will conduct a detailed audit based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Similarly, there are Section 508 audit, AODA Audit, and other types of audits.
It is one of the most significant audits as far as the documentation is concerned. In this audit, the experts verify and validate the accessibility features of the website. Hence, the clients can decide whether their website is accessible or not, based on this report.
Design plays a crucial role in making the website accessible. In design audit, the experts audit the design features, and recommend remediations if necessary. It often includes the color contrast, addition of usable keyboards, and some more features.?
Many people think that the accessibility audit will only include webpages. But, even the media elements added to the webpages, like videos, audio clips, and graphics should be made accessible. Not only the media elements, but the files, documents, forms, and any form of information present in the website falls under scope of accessibility audit.
Hence, whenever the experts conduct accessibility audits on the website, they conduct audits on these attachments too. Until and unless all the attachments and forms are also accessible, we cannot say that the website is accessible.
Now arises an important question. Which accessibility guideline should you follow while conducting the audit?
Well, there are different accessibility guidelines globally, and you should follow one which is applicable for your business, depending on the place and type of your operations. We will explain some of the guidelines here to make it easy for you.?
These guidelines are published by the W3 council. It is applicable for all types of websites operating across the world. As it is one of the first and most significant web accessibility guidelines, most of the other guidelines mostly follow its template.
So, if you are not sure, you should follow this guideline. Following WCAG guidelines upto the AA level will suffice most of your accessibility requirements.
Section 508 is a part of the American Rehabilitation Act. It includes all the organizations that receive federal funding. But, even if you are a private entity, it does not mean that you should not follow it. If you want to trade with any federal organization, or indulge in any kind of business partnership with any organization that receives federal funding, then you are also under the radar of ADA authorities. You should better comply with section 508 to avoid any form of legal complications in future for which you should use 508 remediation services.
Also Read: What Is Section 508 Remediation and Why Do Businesses Need It??
AODA was formulated by the government of Ontario. It aims to provide a better lifestyle to all the disabled citizens of Ontario. If your company operates or provides business in Canada, then you must comply with the AODA law of accessibility.?
The qualities of a website accessibility audit report depends on multiple parameters. It includes delivery, format, relevance, and accuracy. Let us now look at these characteristics in detail.
Accessibility compliance is a time-taking process. If the companies want to complete it within the deadline, they must plan the time limits for each step in advance.
That is why, the audit service providers must complete the audit process within time. Usually, smaller accessibility audits take around one week, and larger accessibility audits take around two to three weeks time.
Though there is no any formal and universal template for audit reports, still a standard web accessibility audit report should contain the following things:
Apart from this information, many other details can also be mentioned. But if these are missing, then it means that your audit report is not complete.
For guideline-based audits, it is important to stay true to the guidelines. Often, the auditors add feature recommendations which are not included in the guideline. Though these features are also important, but, they might not be in the priority list of clients. So, a good web accessibility audit service provider always sticks to the guidelines, until and unless instructed otherwise.
If your audit report includes all the points mentioned above, and is relevant to your preferred guideline, then you can definitely follow it to make your website accessible!
For any business, following the accessibility guidelines is now a mandate. And, it has its own benefits too! By making your business website accessible, you actually expand your consumer base by 26%. Also, you can avoid legal and financial penalties. That is why, most of the companies across the world are now looking to make their websites accessible.
And web accessibility audit services initialize this process. If they are not accurate, then the entire process gets derailed. If your business also needs expert web accessibility audit solutions, connect with Acadecraft! We deliver the best accessibility solutions at the most affordable rates!
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