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Website Accessibility Audit Checklist

Hard 16 items · 2 hours
testuser's avatar
testuser Published 2 weeks ago
Technical

This checklist guides designers and developers through a practical WCAG 2.1 AA audit of a website. It helps teams identify, test, and prioritize accessibility fixes across color, keyboard, screen reader, forms, and multimedia.

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  1. Run an automated WCAG 2.1 AA scan — Use tools like axe, WAVE, or Lighthouse to catch common, high-impact issues quickly.
  2. Verify color contrast ratios — Ensure normal text ≥4.5:1 and large text ≥3:1; check UI states like focus and hover.
  3. Test keyboard navigation across the site — Tab through interactive elements in a logical order and confirm all controls are reachable.
  4. Confirm visible focus indicators — Make sure focus outlines are distinct and meet contrast requirements for all interactive elements.
  5. Check and use semantic HTML landmarks — Use header, nav, main, footer and correct heading levels instead of generic divs.
  6. Validate form labels and error messages — Associate <label> with inputs, provide clear instructions, and expose errors to assistive tech.
  7. Ensure descriptive alt text for images — Provide meaningful alt text or empty alt (alt="") for decorative images.
  8. Add and test a skip navigation link — Provide a keyboard-accessible skip link to jump to main content and ensure it's visible on focus.
  9. Test with screen readers — Manually verify important pages with common screen readers on major platforms.
  10. Test with NVDA on Windows — Check navigation, announcements, forms, and ARIA with NVDA and a keyboard.
  11. Test with VoiceOver on macOS and iOS — Verify touch and rotor behavior on iOS and VoiceOver reading order on macOS.
  12. Check heading structure and document outline — Use a single H1, logical H2–H6 order, and headings that describe content sections.
  13. Verify link text clearly communicates purpose — Ensure links make sense out of context; avoid vague text like 'click here'.
  14. Confirm multimedia accessibility (captions/transcripts) — Provide captions for video and transcripts for audio; ensure player controls are keyboard-accessible.
  15. Review dynamic content and focus management — Ensure focus moves to updated content and use ARIA live regions for announcements.
  16. Document issues, severity, and remediation steps — Create a prioritized report with screenshots, affected URLs, and suggested code fixes.
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