UCD - Web Accessibility Audit

Our expert web accessibility evaluation will:

• Offers specific recommendations for increasing the accessibility of your website
• Provide a thorough analysis of your website's accessibility strengths and weaknesses

Deliverables from web accessibility audit

Written report

The web accessibility audit report is very much recommendation-led. For each highlighted problem, clear recommendations are provided for how to remedy it and improve the site's accessibility.

It also tells you which problems are critical, which are important, and which are nice-to-haves. We supply sample HTML and CSS code where necessary, to help you repair any problem. Aside from the sample codes, the report assumes no prior technical knowledge.

The report also highlights the positive accessibility aspects of the site, in order to ensure you don't remove these! It's written in layman's terms and is presented with a number of screenshots from the site and HTML code extracts. You can download a brief extract from a sample report³.

Presentation of accessibility audit findings

Once the web accessibility audit report is completed, Abstract Technology will make a short presentation of the main findings to you. This executive summary is an ideal opportunity for the web development team and any website stakeholders to ask questions and learn more about the site and its accessibility.

Methodology for the web accessibility audit

The expert accessibility audit is carried out by Abstract Technology's highly skilled in-house accessibility specialists. In addition to the large number of human checks, a number of programs are utilised during the audit:

• JAWS screen reader
• IBM Homepage Reader
• MAGic screen magnifier
• Lynx text-only browser
• Colour blind analyser
• CSS and JavaScript analysers
• HTML validator

Please note, we do not use automated testing tools. Automated testing tools are unable to check for most accessibility guidelines, and the checks they do perform are generally inadequate (see The problem with automated accessibility testing tools⁵ for more on the disadvantages of automated accessibility testing tools).

The websites are tested against best practice guidelines as set down by the Internet governing body, the W3C, and our own unique in-house research. The tests we carry out cover all special needs groups, such as blind, partially sighted, deaf, learning difficulties, the elderly, dyslexic and mobility impaired users.

Although we do refer to the W3C guidelines in the accessibility audit, we will not be performing a 'box-ticking' exercise. Indeed, some guidelines are no longer relevant and some may not need to be implemented under certain circumstances - in either case, Abstract Technology will not recommend these guidelines be implemented. Abstract Technology will also refer to version 2 of the W3C guidelines, where appropriate.

Additionally, the accessibility audit adheres to specialist advice and recommendations as outlined by the EU, DDA, RNIB, BSI PAS 78 and DRC.

What's covered in the web accessibility audit?

The web accessibility audit is a page-by-page analysis of the site and specifically addresses the following five questions:

Can the website be accessed using all browsing technologies?

We'll thoroughly evaluate your website across a broad range of browsing technologies, many of which have limited support for images, tables, CSS, Flash and JavaScript.

Are forms accessible to all web users?

Our web accessibility audit includes a complete analysis of your forms' accessibility.

Is it easy for all users to efficiently process the content on each page?

Our accessibility audit will show how easy or difficult it is for all your site visitors to work through your website - regardless of what browsing technology they're using - and offer recommendations on how to improve the user experience.

Are structure and presentation separated?

By separating structure and presentation your website can gain huge accessibility (and usability) benefits.

Do users have complete control over pages?

Web users have unique requirements, depending on the kind of disability they may have. Our accessibility audit will show how you may be preventing users from being in control of their browsing experience.

As such, both coding and content issues are thoroughly evaluated.

Ongoing accessibility audit health check

After you (or we) have implemented the changes from the web accessibility audit, we'll run an accessibility health check on your website. This is to ensure that our recommendations have been properly implemented and usually takes place three to six months after the initial web accessibility audit.

Abstract Technology will then continue to provide an accessibility health check of your website every six months, as part of an ongoing accessibility audit. Accessibility is an iterative process so it's crucial that your site continues to maintain high standards of accessibility over time as it changes and grows.

The health check is an ideal way for you to make sure that your website offers outstanding accessibility both now and in the future. (If you require more regular accessibility feedback it may be worth taking out of our CSS & accessibility support packages⁶.)

Interested in how it can work for you? Please contact [email protected] for more information.