What is involved with a website accessibility audit? (Part 3)
You can plug a car into a diagnostics machine but it will not tell you if you have a nail in your tyre!
My last two articles in this series have been about automated checking. With the correct software, you can undertake a comprehensive audit of a website’s accessibility.
30% of the way there!
Well, 30% of it anyway.
Yup, that’s right. 30%. So, you can be presented with a glowing bill of health for your website’s accessibility whilst it actually could still be inaccessible! You only find this out when someone cannot actually use your website and turns around and sues you because you have stated to the world that your website actually is fully accessible!
Let me give you an example, last year I did an audit for a Government Agency and, on the face of it, the website ticked most of the boxes. I never expect a website to tick every box (ie. pass all the automatic checks) but these days I do not expect to see more than around 5 errors or so. In this case, initial impressions were that it was clean and well-coded.
Not actually being able to get into a website can be an issue
There was a minor problem with the Cookie Banner though. If you tabbed past it (do you accept or reject our use of cookies in your browser?), it then took you to the Cookie Policy itself and kept you there in a permanent loop!
Oops.
Yes, the website was so inaccessible that you could not even get as far as reading the accessibility statement that might tell you that there are accessibility issues with it! That was before you even got onto the website, which then revealed a whole bunch of other issues that could never be picked up by automated software.
Navigation can be a challenge!
For example, there was split navigation. This meant that you could not navigate elsewhere on the website from one central point. Inconsistent navigation is a major accessibility issue, especially for many neurodivergent people and those using dictation software but this was not picked up by the automated checks.
The problem is that, if you do not understand accessible website design, you cannot possibly be expected to know what to look for when you are assessing a website. Just relying on a bunch of automated tests just doesn’t cut it and does no one any favours.
Would you like to find out more about this?
If you would like to see my TEDxTalk on website accessibility, please follow this link:
https://accessbydesign.uk/my-tedx-talk-on-website-accessibility-for-disabled-people-is-now-online/
If you would like to find out more about website accessibility, why now view our website dedicated specifically to the subject? Please follow this link to visit it: https://accessibilityaudit.co.uk/
If you are interested in a free initial review of the accessibility of your website, why not book yourself in for a consultation? Please follow this link to do so:
https://calendly.com/cliveloseby/accessibility-audit-free-initial-consultation
Clive Loseby
Access by Design. Beautiful, accessible web design, Chichester
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