Accessibility auditing evaluates whether products work for people with disabilities. This includes vision impairments, hearing loss, motor control limitations, cognitive differences, and temporary impairments like a broken arm. Auditing involves both automated checks and human judgment. Automated tools scan code and flag common errors–missing image labels, insufficient colour contrast, keyboard navigation problems. Human review examines whether the automated fixes actually work in practice. An image properly labelled for screen readers but with a vague description like "photo" fails accessibility despite passing automated tests. Real accessibility requires both technical correctness and practical usability for disabled people.

Automated Scanning

Tools like axe, WAVE, and Lighthouse detect structural problems: missing labels on form fields, images without alt text, colour contrast ratios below WCAG standards, heading hierarchies that skip levels. These tools catch easy wins–obvious oversights that should never reach production. Automated checks catch roughly thirty to forty percent of accessibility issues; the rest require human judgment. False positives occur–the tool flags something that is not actually a problem. False negatives matter more: the tool misses real issues because context matters in ways code scanning cannot detect. Treat automated results as a starting point, not a complete audit.

Manual Testing

Manual review involves testing with assistive technologies and accessibility-focused heuristics. Navigate using a keyboard only–many users cannot use a mouse. Navigate using a screen reader–check whether content structure and labels make sense when visuals are unavailable. Check colour contrast in different lighting conditions. Review video and audio content for captions and transcripts. Testing with actual disabled users provides the most valuable feedback, though formal testing is expensive. Recruiting five to ten participants with diverse disabilities reveals barriers that heuristics alone miss. A person who uses a screen reader can immediately spot confusing label structures or missing link context that designers might not predict.

https://postheaven.net/dillon61munk/accessibility-auditing-fundamentals

Standards and Compliance

https://doc.adminforge.de/s/0hXPJXPkuf

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) defines three conformance levels: A, AA, and AAA. Most organisations target AA, which covers the most common and significant barriers. Conformance to standards matters for legal compliance in many jurisdictions, but standards are a minimum. Products meeting WCAG can still be difficult to use for some disabled people. Accessibility is iterative; build it in from design onwards rather than retrofitting later. Train teams on accessibility principles so future work prevents problems. Documentation of accessibility features–how to enable high-contrast mode, how to navigate menus via keyboard–helps users find features that exist. Accessibility is not a checklist task; it is a continuous commitment to products that work for everyone.