Web Accessibility Frequently Asked Questions

Digital accessibility refers to the practice of creating and maintaining digital experiences—like websites, mobile apps, documents, and software products—that are barrier-free for people with disabilities. Accessible digital experiences are usable for people with a wide range of access needs, including those who rely on assistive technologies such as screen readers, keyboard navigation, voice navigation, and screen magnification.

Digital accessibility ensures that all users, regardless of disability, have equal access to digital experiences. It also has numerous business benefits, including expanding audience reach, demonstrating social responsibility, and helping organizations comply with legal requirements.

The legal requirements for digital accessibility vary by country and region. Major U.S. accessibility laws include the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In the European Union (EU), many consumer businesses must comply with the European Accessibility Act (EAA). The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) in Canada also mandates digital accessibility. Most U.S. and international regulations reference the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as the technical standard to follow.

Developed by the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C), the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide a set of technical recommendations for making web content more accessible. The most recent version of WCAG is WCAG 2.2; however, the previous version, WCAG 2.1, is the standard currently adopted by most U.S. and international laws. The W3C recommends conformance with the most recent version of WCAG.

AI can help organizations more efficiently address many aspects of digital accessibility. For example, AI tools can automate the identification of accessibility issues through intelligent scanning, suggest fixes for common problems, draft alternative text for images and captions for videos, and help teams monitor ongoing compliance. Our AI-powered platform combines the efficiency of automation with human expertise to provide a comprehensive accessibility solution.

The timeline for making a website accessible depends on the size and complexity of the website, the site’s current state of accessibility, and your organization’s resources. For a simple website, it might take a few weeks to address major barriers. However, several months may be needed to fix issues in a complex web application. Our platform accelerates this process by automating many aspects of testing and remediation.

Yes, accessibility should be integrated into your development life cycle. Our platform provides tools for developers to check for WCAG violations during the build process, for designers to validate the accessibility of designs, and for content creators to ensure new content is barrier-free. Taking a proactive approach to accessibility reduces costs and improves outcomes compared to addressing issues after development.

Automated testing can quickly identify many common technical accessibility issues, like missing alt text or insufficient color contrast. However, manual testing by accessibility experts is essential for evaluating aspects of accessibility that require human judgment, such as logical reading order or meaningful link text. Our solution combines both approaches for comprehensive results.

The fastest way to determine if your website is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is by performing an accessibility scan using free online tools like WebAccessibility.com. These web accessibility tools can’t find all accessibility barriers, but will give you a good first indication as to whether your website conforms with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the standard used by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to enforce ADA compliance.

To audit your website for accessibility issues, it’s best practice to enlist the help of a third-party web accessibility expert. They’ll perform a manual evaluation of key user flows—the specific paths users take to complete core tasks, like completing a purchase—and provide you with actionable guidance for fixing accessibility barriers. For the most authentic, impactful results, this evaluation should include testing by people with disabilities.

To fix the issues identified in a web accessibility audit, you”ll want to start by prioritizing the audit’s findings. Most organizations prioritize issues based on two factors: severity and complexity. Severity refers to how significant of a barrier the issue creates for users, and complexity refers to how resource-intensive it will be to implement a fix. By tackling high-severity, low-complexity issues first, you can make the greatest impact with the fewest resources. A third-party expert like Level Access can help you prioritize your audit’s results strategically, and provide the technical expertise required to fix more complex issues. We”ll also validate that the fixes you implement are successful.

Level access means that all people, including people with disabilities, have barrier-free, equal access to essential services, products, and offerings. It means that everyone should be able to enjoy and benefit from the experiences that make up a full life, including digital and online experiences. Learn more about the Level Access story.

The Level Access solution combines the market’s most robust digital accessibility platform and deepest bench of web accessibility expertise to help organizations create accessible and legally compliant websites, mobile apps, software, and other technology. Learn more about our software and expert managed services.

The Level Access accessibility score, which we call the accessibility health score, is an indicator that our customers use to understand the accessibility of a webpage based on scans they have performed in the Level Access platform. It shows the degree to which a webpage meets or violates the accessibility rules which have been tested against, on a scale of 0—100, or weak to strong. The accessibility health score can be a measure of relative change to understand accessibility progress over time. The idea is to pay attention to whether your organization’s scores are improving as you fix accessibility issues on your digital properties and take action if they start to drop. Visit our help center to learn more about the accessibility health score.