How to Audit Digital Accessibility Without Knowing How to Code
Want to improve your website’s digital accessibility profile, but feel fully intimidated by the prospect of where to begin?
Feel overwhelmed by the belief that only a tech bro well-versed in the language of coding can drive real accessibility results?
You can breathe easy now!
At AllyADA, we don’t just hear from programmers and web designers who want to have intricate conversations about the coding mechanisms involved in making websites accessible. We hear from professionals like you- at all levels and in all sectors across business. From project managers, marketers, and client relations specialists to business owners, CEOs, and financial analysts.
You don’t need to be a coding wizard to run some meaningful checks and get a basic sense of your website’s accessibility. In fact, you just need to follow five simple steps!
Five Simple Tests & Tools YOU Can Use Right Now
Here are five quick, no-tech digital accessibility checks anyone can run in 15 minutes or less. Yes- even YOU!
- Keyboard Navigation Check. Navigate to your own website using only the Tab, Shift+Tab, and Enter keys on your keyboard. Respectively, these keys move the cursor forward to the next element on the page (Tab), backwards to the previous element (Shift+Tab), and select the current element (Enter). This test will give you immediate feedback about the challenges of navigating your website without a mouse, which is how users who are blind, low-vision, or have limited mobility or hand dexterity must navigate.
- Color Contrast Check. Do a visual check of your own website, specifically looking for areas where the color contrast is not sharp or distinct. Is it easy to read all of the text without squinting? Try printing a page in grayscale…is the contrast between the text and background sufficient? This test highlights how difficult low-contrast visuals are for users with low vision.
- Alt Text Check. Hover your mouse over images on your website. Does alt-text pop up? Alt-text is a textual description of the image. Screen readers (a type of assistive technology used by blind and low-vision users) rely on alt-text to read aloud a description of the image, conveying the overall essence of it to readers who can’t see it.
- Zoom Check. Zoom in on your browser by 200%. Does your website’s layout still appear to work and make sense? It may not seem like a reasonable test since most users don’t need to zoom in this close. But a responsive layout is absolutely critical to low-vision users who have to zoom in significantly in order to read and engage with the text, elements, and content on your company or organization’s website.
- Run a Free Accessibility Scan. There are two popular options that allow anyone to run a pain-free and cost-free accessibility scan on your own website.
- Wave: Provided for free by Utah State University, WAVE stands for Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools. You can find it here: WAVE
- Lighthouse: Slightly more involved, Lighthouse is an accessibility tool provided for free by MIcrosoft. You can find instructions for using it here: Lighthouse
Why Running a Basic Accessibility Audit Matters
We get it- you aren’t the coding champ at your business. You aren’t a web designer, UX specialist, or even necessarily a high-level decision maker. But your accessibility insights can still be complete game-changers.
The first step is the hardest- overcoming your fear of running a basic accessibility check on your company’s website. With the help of the five step test we’ve provided, the rest is a breeze. In fact, it just requires having a simple conversation!
The Accessibility Conversation Every Business Needs
Digital accessibility frequently falls through the cracks because designers and developers are hyperfocused on the overall product (understandably so) and either underestimate, or don’t understand the importance of, building digital accessibility into the website.
This is why even running a very simple audit- like the five step test we suggest- can catch VERY BIG accessibility issues early. Using the valuable insights that you gain to start an important conversation with your company is an enormously rewarding, proactive step that can have outsized payoffs.
The Pitfalls of Avoiding the Accessibility Conversation
Most businesses find out about the need for website accessibility improvements AFTER they’ve been hit with an ADA lawsuit or a whopping regulatory fine, or after they start getting a large volume of complaints and negative feedback online.
Unfortunately, the failure of online businesses and organizations to get out ahead of accessibility has created a legal vulnerability that consumer lawyers are far too happy to exploit.
In fact, ADA digital accessibility lawsuits are an entire practice area for some law firms. These law firms sometimes use the tactic of scouring the internet, using targeted tests to identify problematic websites. Or they may advertise to consumers with disabilities- highlighting the use of ADA lawsuits to force change and get payouts any time consumers bump against accessibility hurdle after accessibility hurdle online.
Be The One to Start the Conversation
When you identity accessibility barriers on your website and put it on your company or organization’s radar, it positions your company or organization to reap two equally significant rewards:
- Legal Protection and Risk Mitigation: When you prioritize accessibility, your business is no longer a sitting duck for lawsuits and fines.
- Business Benefits: When you prioritize accessibility, your business gains access to a host of unexpected business benefits that pave the way for greater success. These benefits include generous tax breaks, improved SEO and search rankings, access to a broader reach of consumers, greater brand loyalty, and more.
Being the smart, savvy accessibility warrior at your business is a great way to prevent the worst outcomes, while ushering in unexpected business benefits worth getting everyone excited about.
The Role of a Professional Web Accessibility Audit
Is the five step test and resulting conversation a wonderful start? Absolutely!
But is it an end point in itself? Definitely not.
Once you begin the conversation, the focus shifts to the natural follow-up question: “Now that we know about these ADA barriers on our website, what do we do about it?”
As you consider solutions, you’ll become increasingly aware of the number of products and services on the market offering a quick-fix solution to every accessibility problem your website has. Widgets and overlays will promise near-magic results for little investment. The problem? Cheap, easy fixes aren’t fixes at all.
What does work is an affordable, professional web accessibility audit by a company stocked with CPACC-certified web accessibility specialists and manual auditors, like AllyADA.
We run a comprehensive audit of your company or organization’s website, identifying barriers at every step. Just as users navigate your website in search of products, information, sales, and services, we run a complete examination of every detail of the web accessibility framework. We then provide an optimized report for your web designers and developers, allowing them to easily implement every upgrade to ensure accessibility.
After an AllyADA audit, your website will be fully compliant with the standards set forth under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the current standards set forth under the global Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2). This level of compliance means low risk and high reward going forward.
We take the business of accessibility seriously because we know that accessibility is seriously good for your business. So run this check yourself, then call today for a free consultation!