Website Accessibility Checks to Run Before Launch

Website accessibility Website accessibility helps more people read, move through and use each important page.

Leave accessibility until launch week and it competes with every other emergency. The most useful review combines standards, automated tools and people completing real tasks. A green score from one scanner is evidence about the rules it tested. it is not proof that every visitor can use the website.

W3C organises WCAG 2.2 around four principles: content should be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. recommends using the latest WCAG version. The checks below turn those broad principles into a practical pre-launch session. They do not represent a complete conformance audit.

Choose five journeys, not five convenient pages

Test the actions that matter: finding a service, understanding a price, submitting a form, completing a purchase, opening a menu or downloading an important document. Include an error path, such as submitting a required form without one field.

Write the expected outcome for each journey. This prevents the review becoming a tour of attractive pages while checkout or contact remains difficult.

Use the whole site with a keyboard

Put the mouse aside. Use Tab and Shift+Tab to move, Enter or Space to activate controls, arrow keys where the component expects them. Escape to close a dialog or menu.

Check that focus is visible, moves in a sensible order and never becomes trapped. A visually hidden skip link should become available when focused and move directly to the main content. Menus, cookie choices, accordions, carousels and form controls need the same attention as ordinary links.

Review headings and page landmarks

Read only the page title and headings. They should describe the content in a sensible hierarchy rather than being chosen for font size. Check that the main navigation, main content and footer can be identified in the page structure.

Link text should make sense out of context. Repeated “click here” links force a visitor to inspect surrounding text to understand the destination.

Zoom and reflow the page

Increase browser zoom to 200% and inspect narrow mobile widths. Essential text and controls should remain available without overlapping or requiring a visitor to zoom back out. Watch fixed headers, consent banners, chat buttons and sticky calls to action. several individually reasonable elements can cover the same part of a small screen.

Inspect colour without relying on colour alone

Use a contrast checker for text, controls and meaningful interface states. Then inspect the page in grayscale or with a colour-vision simulation. An error should not be communicated only by changing a border from green to red. include text or another clear indicator.

Test forms carefully

• Every input has a persistent, programmatically associated label.
• Required fields are explained before submission.
• Instructions do not disappear when a person starts typing.
• Errors identify the field and explain how to correct it.
• Focus moves to an error summary or the first useful correction point.
• Success messages are available to assistive technology.
• Timeouts, CAPTCHA and file-upload requirements have usable alternatives where needed.

Test with realistic long names, international phone formats and autofill. Accessibility problems often appear when the data is less tidy than a design mock-up.

Check images, media and motion

Informative images need alternative text that serves the same purpose. Decorative images should not add noise to the reading experience. Captions or transcripts may be needed for media depending on its content.

Respect reduced-motion preferences and avoid movement that blocks reading or interaction. Give people control over carousels or media that starts automatically.

Run an automated scan, then verify manually

Automated tools are useful for finding missing labels, invalid relationships and some contrast failures across many pages. Review every result rather than treating the count as a grade. Follow with keyboard testing, zoom, screen-reader sampling and task-based review because many issues require judgement.

Record issues in a form developers can act on

For each issue, capture the page, component, steps, expected behaviour, observed behaviour, affected journey and relevant success criterion where known. Assign an owner and retest the actual fix. Avoid closing an issue because the visual appearance changed if the keyboard or assistive-technology behaviour did not.

Testing five journeys

A community theatre picks five journeys: find a show, book a seat, read access information, contact the box office. join the mailing list.

The keyboard pass alone finds three blockers. The seat map can only be operated by mouse, so a keyboard user cannot book at all. The cookie banner traps focus, meaning a screen reader user who dismisses it lands nowhere. The date filter opens a calendar that closes on blur before a selection can be made.

Zooming to 200% finds a fourth: the booking summary, including the total price, moves off-screen horizontally. Automated scanning had flagged none of these. It had flagged 34 colour-contrast warnings on a decorative footer that nobody needs to read. Five journeys tested by hand were worth more than the whole scan.

Sources and further reading

• W3C WCAG overview — the standards source for the four principles, guidelines and testable success criteria.
• W3C Easy Checks — a practical W3C introduction to preliminary accessibility review.

For help reviewing a priority journey or addressing confirmed issues, contact us about website design and development. A formal legal or conformance opinion requires appropriately scoped specialist assessment.

Quick website accessibility action plan

1. Use one clear page heading. Write down the result. Name one owner.
2. Keep text contrast easy to read. Test this step. Keep proof of the test.
3. Add useful labels to forms. Use real data. Check each fact.
4. Use links that name the next step. Ask one user. Note what feels hard.
5. Reach all controls with a keyboard. Fix each fault. Run the check again.
6. Keep focus easy to see. Set a due date. Review the result.
7. Write useful image alt text. Write down the result. Name one owner.
8. Test zoom and error messages. Test this step. Keep proof of the test.
9. Choose one clear goal. Use real data. Check each fact.
10. Name the owner for each task. Ask one user. Note what feels hard.
11. Test the full path before launch. Fix each fault. Run the check again.
12. Set the next review date. Set a due date. Review the result.
13. Keep the plan where staff can find it. Write down the result. Name one owner.
14. Use plain words in each note. Test this step. Keep proof of the test.
15. Save proof for each key check. Use real data. Check each fact.
16. Fix one issue at a time. Ask one user. Note what feels hard.
17. Check the result with a real user. Fix each fault. Run the check again.
18. Remove work that does not help the goal. Set a due date. Review the result.
19. Share each major change with the team. Write down the result. Name one owner.
20. Run the same checks after each update. Test this step. Keep proof of the test.
21. Check the source of every key fact. Use real data. Check each fact.
22. Keep private data out of public notes. Ask one user. Note what feels hard.
23. Plan what to do when a check fails. Fix each fault. Run the check again.
24. Give each choice a clear reason. Set a due date. Review the result.
25. Keep old files until new work is proven. Write down the result. Name one owner.
26. Ask for help when the risk is high. Test this step. Keep proof of the test.
27. Check phone and desktop views. Use real data. Check each fact.
28. Make the next step easy to find. Ask one user. Note what feels hard.
29. Track the result that matters most. Fix each fault. Run the check again.
30. Close each task when proof is saved. Set a due date. Review the result.

Use this website accessibility plan as a live check. Keep the notes short. Review the work after each major change.