Website Accessibility Audit Checklist for UK Businesses

This checklist walks you through the most important accessibility checks you can run on your website right now. Most can be done with free tools and don’t require expert knowledge. It’s not a complete audit (that requires manual testing with assistive technologies), but it covers the 30–50% of issues that automated testing can catch.

Use this checklist to identify what to fix and in what order. Check items are organised by impact and difficulty.

Setup

Before you start, you’ll need:

• Your website (obviously)
• A web browser (Chrome recommended for built-in accessibility tools)
• The WAVE browser extension (free, webaim.org)
• The axe DevTools extension (free, axe-core.org)
• A colour contrast checker (Chrome DevTools has one built in; also webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker)
• A screen reader for testing (NVDA is free on Windows; built-in VoiceOver on Mac)

The checklist applies to your whole site, but start with your homepage and key pages (pricing, contact, product pages).

Perceivable — Can Users See and Understand Content?

Colour Contrast (Quick Win — Start Here)

• Tested all body text against the 4.5:1 contrast ratio for normal text using a contrast checker
• Tested all large text (18pt+ or bold 14pt+) against the 3:1 ratio
• Checked that colour alone isn’t used to convey information (red = error, green = success) — include text or icons too
• Tested links are distinguishable from normal text (not just colour — use underline or bold)
• Checked form placeholders have sufficient contrast

Priority: High — affects 81% of websites

Alt Text for Images (Quick Win — Start Here)

• Every informative image has descriptive alt text that conveys the same info as the image
• Decorative images have empty alt (alt="")
• Logo images that are links have alt text describing the link, not the logo
• Complex images (graphs, infographics) have both alt text and a longer description in page content
• All image alt text avoids “image of” or “picture of” (redundant — screen readers already know it’s an image)

Priority: High — affects 54% of websites

Images and Colour Information

• Text alternatives exist for all images that convey meaning
• Graphs and charts have accessible data tables or descriptions
• If information is conveyed by colour, there’s also a text or icon alternative

Text Sizing and Zoom

• Page remains readable at 200% zoom
• Text can be resized without breaking layout
• Body text is at least 14–16px by default
• Line spacing is at least 1.5x of font size

Operable — Can Users Navigate and Interact?

Keyboard Navigation (Moderate Effort)

• Every interactive element can be reached using the Tab key
• Tab order is logical (moves left-to-right, top-to-bottom through the page)
• No keyboard traps (places where Tab moves into an element but can’t move out)
• Custom JavaScript menus, sliders, and modals can be navigated with keyboard
• Modal dialogs trap focus inside them (Tab stays within the modal)
• Can close dialogs and exit custom widgets using Escape key

Priority: High for sites with interactive features

How to test: Tab through your entire site with the keyboard. Can you reach everything? Can you use it without a mouse?

Focus Visibility (Quick Win)

• All interactive elements have a visible focus indicator (border, outline, or background change)
• Focus indicators have high contrast (4.5:1 against background)
• Focus indicators aren’t removed without a replacement indicator
• Focus is never hidden by overlays or tooltips

Links and Buttons

• All <a> tags are actual links, not divs styled as links
• All <button> tags are actual buttons, not divs styled as buttons
• Buttons have clear, descriptive text or aria-label
• Links have clear, descriptive text (not “click here” or “learn more”)

Forms (Quick Win)

• Every form field has an associated <label> with matching for attribute
• Required fields have a visible indicator (e.g., red asterisk)
• Error messages appear next to the relevant field
• Success/confirmation messages are announced to screen reader users
• Help text and hints are associated with fields using aria-describedby

Understandable — Can Users Comprehend Content and Navigation?

Heading Structure (Quick Win)

• One H1 per page (usually the page title)
• Headings follow a logical order (H1 → H2 → H3, no skipped levels)
• Headings describe the section they introduce
• Headings are used for structure, not for styling (if you want styled text, use CSS on a <p> or <div>)
• No heading levels are skipped (no H1 → H3 jump with no H2)

Priority: High for navigation

How to test: Use Chrome DevTools (Inspect > Elements > look for H1, H2, H3 tags) or the WAVE extension to view heading structure.

Page Language

• The opening <html> tag has a lang attribute (e.g., lang="en")
• Content in other languages has a language attribute (e.g., <span lang="fr">)

Navigation and Layout

• Site navigation is in the same location on every page
• Navigation items are in a logical order
• A “skip to main content” link is present (allows keyboard users to skip navigation)
• Breadcrumb navigation is present (if applicable)

Content Clarity

• Text is clear and straightforward
• Sentences are reasonably short
• Jargon is explained or avoided
• Lists are formatted with <ul>, <ol>, <li> tags, not just line breaks

Robust — Does It Work With Assistive Technology?

HTML Structure and Semantics

• Semantic HTML is used (<nav>, <main>, <header>, <footer>, <article>, not just <div>)
• Landmarks are used to structure the page (one <main>, <nav> for navigation, <header> and <footer>)
• Lists are structured with <ul> or <ol>, not paragraphs or <br> tags
• Tables have <th> for headers and <caption> for table titles
• Form inputs have proper <label> and <fieldset>/<legend> for grouping

Interactive Widgets and Custom Components

• Custom dropdowns, modals, sliders, and tabs have proper ARIA roles and attributes
• Buttons in custom widgets respond to Enter and Space keys
• Menu items in custom dropdowns respond to Arrow keys
• Screen reader users can understand what each custom widget does

Images and Media

• PDFs and documents are accessible (not just scanned images)
• Videos have captions (Perceivable for deaf users)
• Videos have audio descriptions (Perceivable for blind users)
• Audio-only content has a transcript

Note: Video captions and audio descriptions are beyond automated testing — they require manual assessment.

Links and Navigation Anchors

• All links have meaningful text or aria-label
• Links don’t open new windows without warning
• Anchor links (hash links like #section) have a visible target

Priority Indicators

Quick Wins (Fix First — 2–4 hours):

• Colour contrast issues
• Missing alt text
• Missing form labels
• Broken heading structure
• No focus indicators

Medium Effort (Fix Next — 4–8 hours):

• Keyboard navigation issues
• Custom widgets needing ARIA
• Missing language declarations
• Heading hierarchy violations

Longer Effort (Plan Next — 8+ hours):

• Video captioning and transcripts
• PDF accessibility remediation
• Complete screen reader testing
• Comprehensive manual audit

Going Deeper

This checklist covers automated testing. For a complete assessment, you also need:

• Screen reader testing: Use NVDA (Windows) or VoiceOver (Mac) to navigate your site. Listen to heading structure, link text, form labels, and navigation cues.
• Mobile accessibility: Test touch targets (minimum 44×44 pixels), gesture alternatives, and landscape/portrait orientation.
• Cognitive accessibility: Is navigation predictable? Is language clear? Are forms simple and logical?
• Assistive technology compatibility: Test with different screen readers and browsers.

These require manual expert testing and aren’t covered by automated tools.

Next Steps

If you find few issues: Your site is in good shape for basic compliance. Keep these standards in mind for future updates.

If you find many issues: Prioritise the quick wins first. Most sites can address 70% of issues in a few hours. Plan the longer fixes in phases.

If you want expert guidance: Bartram Web runs a full automated screening and delivers a prioritised action plan with professional review built in. It tells you what’s automated and what requires manual testing.

If you need to understand your legal obligations: See Equality Act Website Obligations and WCAG 2.2 Explained.

The point of this checklist isn’t perfection — it’s progress. Every issue you fix makes your site better for disabled users and all users. Start where you are. Fix what you can. Keep moving forward.