What is a digital accessibility maturity assessment?
A digital accessibility maturity assessment evaluates how well your organization delivers accessible digital experiences. Unlike an accessibility audit, which tests your websites or apps against technical standards, a maturity assessment evaluates the people, processes, and governance structures that support accessibility across the organization—helping determine how sustainable and scalable your accessibility practices are over time.
Take the first step toward understanding your accessibility maturity with our quick check.
What is the Digital Accessibility Maturity Model (DAMM)?
At Level Access, we provide assessments based on the Digital Accessibility Maturity Model (DAMM), a trademarked framework for understanding and benchmarking accessibility maturity. Backed by more than 25 years of expertise, it helps organizations of all sizes, across industries, learn how their current approaches measure up to best practices and how to improve.
DAMM provides the foundation for the Digital Accessibility Maturity Quick Check, as well as Level Access’s comprehensive DAMM Program Builder.
Why digital accessibility maturity matters
Meeting a standard once is not the same as sustaining accessibility as your organization grows. A mature program helps you deliver accessible experiences consistently, so you protect the progress you've already made.
By understanding your maturity, you can:
Who should take this assessment?
The Digital Accessibility Maturity Quick Check provides valuable insight for anyone involved in digital accessibility who is curious about their current practices. It’s especially useful for:
Accessibility leaders
Establish a baseline, prioritize where to focus next, and show progress to stakeholders.
Digital compliance leaders
Understand how well-positioned your program is to support ongoing conformance with standards like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and compliance with laws like the ADA, EAA, and Section 508.
Product and engineering teams
Learn how effectively accessibility is built into your design, development, and release processes for operational efficiency.
Government and public sector organizations
Assess readiness to meet public-sector compliance obligations and serve every constituent equitably.
What the Quick Check measures
This brief digital accessibility maturity assessment evaluates your program across the seven core dimensions of DAMM.
Together, these dimensions give you a holistic understanding of your accessibility maturity.
Governance and policy
The commitments, accountability, risk planning, investment strategy, and management of digital accessibility.
Communications
Internal and external communication about digital accessibility, including accessible communication channels.
Development life cycle
Integration of digital accessibility into design, development, testing, and release processes to support inclusive experiences.
Support
Accessible support channels and guidance for users.
Procurement
Evaluation of digital accessibility in vendor selection, procurement, and contracts.
Knowledge and skills
Digital accessibility training and skill development managed across the organization.
Culture
Everyday practices and decision-making that reflect accessibility and disability inclusion as a shared value.
How this assessment works
The Digital Accessibility Maturity Quick Check takes about five minutes to complete and requires no technical knowledge. Here’s what to expect:
Step 1:
Answer a short series of questions about your organization’s accessibility practices.
Step 2:
Receive an instant assessment of your current maturity.
Step 3:
Benchmark your results against the Digital Accessibility Maturity Model (DAMM).
For deeper insight, Level Access’s DAMM Program Builder provides personalized recommendations to improve your accessibility program.
Ready to learn where you stand?
Start the free five-minute Digital Accessibility Maturity Quick Check and get your personalized maturity score with recommended next steps.
Frequently asked questions
What are the levels of digital accessibility maturity?
DAMM defines five levels of maturity:
- Level 1, Initial: Reactive response, ad-hoc efforts, and uncontrolled
- Level 2, Repeatable: Need is recognized, established ownership, emerging processes improving consistency, not yet organization-wide
- Level 3, Defined: Processes formalized, progress tracked, distributed ownership, proactive planning, expanding knowledge
- Level 4, Managed: Processes embedded, actively measured, clear accountability, sustainable program, organizational priority
- Level 5, Optimizing: Innovative, continuously improving, inclusive culture, driving activism, industry leadership
Organizations often score differently across dimensions.
How is DAMM different from the W3C Accessibility Maturity Model?
Both are frameworks for assessing accessibility maturity, and they are complementary. The W3C Accessibility Maturity Model is an open framework maintained as a W3C resource. DAMM draws on Level Access’s more than 25 years of experience directly supporting organizations with digital accessibility. DAMM also pairs the framework with a scored digital accessibility maturity assessment and tailored recommendations for improvement.
How long does the Quick Check take?
The Digital Accessibility Maturity Quick Check takes about five minutes for most users to complete. It consists of 20 questions about your organization’s accessibility practices, and it requires no technical knowledge.
What do I get when I finish?
After completing the accessibility maturity assessment, you’ll receive a personalized maturity score based on the DAMM framework along with recommended next steps to improve your accessibility program and relevant resources for further learning.
Is the Quick Check really free?
Yes, the Quick Check is completely free. You share a few details so we can send your personalized results and recommendations, and there is no cost or obligation to complete it.
How often should we reassess our accessibility maturity?
We recommend reassessing your accessibility maturity at least once a year. An annual benchmark lets you track year-over-year improvement, validate progress at key milestones, and recalibrate after significant organizational change.
How does accessibility maturity relate to WCAG conformance and ADA or EAA compliance?
Accessibility maturity is what helps you sustain WCAG conformance and compliance with laws such as the ADA and EAA over time. A single audit shows conformance at one moment. A mature program builds the governance and processes that maintain that conformance as your products change, which reduces long-term risk.