Compliance

Web Accessibility Testing: A Guide for Compliance & SEO (2026)

Alexander Hambley

December 31, 2025

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5 min read

Web Accessibility Testing: The Essential 2026 Guide

Quick Summary: 1 in 4 people in the UK have a disability. If your site isn't accessible, you're losing 25% of your market. This guide covers how to conduct an accessibility audit, the best tools to use, and how it boosts your SEO.

Introduction

Ensuring your website is accessible is a necessity. Web accessibility testing is the process of checking whether your site can be used by people of all abilities. This matters because an estimated one in four people in the UK has a disability and many popular sites still have barriers that exclude these users. In fact, nearly 95% of website homepages have detectable accessibility failures according to a 2025 analysis. Accessibility testing identifies such issues so that no potential customer or service user is left behind. In this post, we'll explain what accessibility testing involves, why it's so important for your organisation, and how to do it effectively. By the end, you'll see how accessibility testing helps make your site welcoming to everyone, and why that's great for users and for business.

Why Accessibility Testing Matters

Accessibility testing is crucial because it ensures everyone can use your website, including people with visual, hearing, motor, or cognitive disabilities. This isn't a small group; globally, over a billion people live with some form of disability, and in the UK about 25% of the population does. Failing to accommodate these users means potentially alienating a huge audience. It also poses legal and reputational risks.

Web accessibility is mandated by laws and guidelines: for example, public sector websites in the UK must meet WCAG 2.2 AA standards under the 2018 accessibility regulations, and the Equality Act 2010 broadly requires businesses to avoid discriminating against disabled users. In the U.S., lack of accessibility has led to thousands of ADA-related website lawsuits—over 3,800 cases in 2023 alone, with settlements often reaching $25,000 or more.

Beyond compliance, there's a positive business case: accessible websites tend to perform better. They offer a smoother user experience for everyone (for instance, clear navigation and captions benefit all users, not just those with disabilities). Search engines also favour accessible sites. Key SEO practices like using proper headings, alt text, and fast, clean code overlap with accessibility best practices. One study found that websites with strong accessibility saw a 23% increase in organic traffic and 27% more keyword rankings compared to less accessible sites. In short, accessibility testing helps you avoid legal pitfalls, expand your audience, and even improve SEO. It's important for both inclusivity and your bottom line.

Automated Tools vs. Manual Testing

When it comes to conducting accessibility tests, you'll use a mix of automated tools and manual methods. Accessibility testing tools can quickly scan your site and flag common issues. For example, free scanners like WAVE or Axe can detect missing image alt text, low colour contrast, or form field problems in seconds. These tools are fantastic for catching obvious errors and saving time. In fact, your team can automate tests to run regularly.

However, automation has its limits. Studies show that automated checkers can only reliably catch about 20%–50% of accessibility issues. Critical aspects, such as whether link text makes sense out of context or if the site is truly usable via a screen reader, require human judgment. As one accessibility guide puts it, automated tests should be just one step in a larger testing process, not a magical solution.

That's why manual testing is essential. Manual methods include using the site with a keyboard only (to ensure all interactive elements can be reached without a mouse) and trying it with assistive technologies like screen readers. It also means reviewing the content visually to catch things a tool might miss, like whether link descriptions are meaningful. Whilst this takes more effort, it uncovers real-world usability issues that automated scans might overlook.

A good approach is combining both: run automated checks to quickly find and fix the low-hanging fruit, then perform manual testing (or hire accessibility experts) for an in-depth audit. By using accessibility testing tools together with human insight, you'll get the most comprehensive results. Remember, an automated report can tell you a button has no label, but only a human can tell you if that label is understandable and helpful.

Accessibility Testing Checklist

To get started with a website accessibility audit, it helps to follow a clear checklist. Below are key areas you should review when testing your site's accessibility:

Text Equivalents for Images (Alt Text)

Ensure every meaningful image has descriptive alt text. This text is read aloud by screen readers, conveying the image's information to blind or visually impaired users. For example, if you have a photo of your team on the About page, an alt text such as "Our agency team standing in front of our office" allows a blind user to understand the image's content. Without alt text, they'd only hear "image" with no context.

Tip: Decorative images that don't convey information can have empty alt attributes (so they're skipped), but anything informative or functional (like an image link) needs a good description.

Keyboard Navigation

Unplug your mouse and navigate your website using only the keyboard (try using the Tab key to move through links and form fields, and Enter to activate them). All functionality should be accessible via keyboard. This is vital for users who cannot use a mouse, such as those with motor disabilities.

As you test, check that the focus indicator (the outline or highlight on the active element) is visible, and that you can open menus, fill forms, and trigger buttons without a mouse. If any interactive element can't be reached or operated with keyboard alone, that's a problem to fix.

Colour Contrast

Many users have low vision or colour blindness, so text needs sufficient contrast against its background. As a rule of thumb, body text should have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against the background (and 3:1 for larger or bold text) to meet WCAG guidelines.

For instance, light grey text on a white background is likely too low-contrast. There are free contrast-checker tools where you input text and background colours to see if they pass the ratio standards. Adjust your colour scheme or font weight if any text fails—this not only helps disabled users but improves readability for everyone.

Form Labels and Controls

Check all forms on your site (contact forms, sign-ups, checkout, etc.). Every form field should have a clear label that a screen reader can associate with the input. Often, visually the label is present, but in the code it might not be properly tied to the field—which can confuse someone using a screen reader.

Try clicking on a label—does it focus the cursor in the appropriate field? If not, it may need a correct for attribute in HTML. Also verify that any instructions or error messages are accessible. For example, an error shown in red text should also be indicated with an icon or text that a screen reader will announce (colour alone shouldn't convey information).

Headings and Structure

Browse your pages and see if the content structure (headings H1, H2, H3...) is logical. Headings should be used in order to outline your content—this not only aids SEO but allows screen reader users to navigate the page easily.

Every page should have one main heading (H1), and subtopics as H2, sub-points as H3, etc. If you style text to look big and bold for a section title but don't use a heading tag, screen reader users may miss the structure. Conversely, avoid skipping levels (e.g., jumping from H1 to H4). A quick test in your browser's developer tools or using an accessibility bookmarklet can list all headings on a page so you can check their hierarchy.

This accessibility testing checklist is not exhaustive, but it covers some of the most common problem areas. By systematically reviewing each item above, you'll catch many of the typical accessibility issues. For a deeper audit, you might consider using the W3C's Easy Checks guide or consulting an expert, but even these basic steps will significantly improve your site's accessibility.

Overcoming Common Challenges & Next Steps

After seeing a checklist like the above, you might feel a bit overwhelmed, especially if you're a small business or charity with limited resources. Don't worry. Improving accessibility is a journey, not a one-time project, and you can tackle it step by step. Let's address a few common questions and concerns:

"We don't have a big budget or team for this. Can we still do accessibility testing?"

Yes! Start small using free resources. Many excellent free accessibility testing tools (like the WAVE browser extension or Google's Lighthouse audits) can automatically flag basic issues on your site at no cost. You don't need to be a developer to use them—they provide visual feedback on what to fix.

Additionally, include people with disabilities in your testing if possible. For example, you could ask a volunteer with low vision to review your homepage and give feedback. Often, local disability advocacy groups or online communities are happy to help test if you invite them. This kind of user testing can be low-cost and incredibly insightful.

"Will fixing accessibility ruin my site's design or be technically difficult?"

Making your site accessible does not mean making it ugly or boring—usually it's about adding or adjusting behind-the-scenes code (like ARIA labels or proper tags) and mindful design tweaks. Many fixes are straightforward: adding alt text, increasing colour contrast, ensuring buttons have discernible text, etc.

In some cases you might need a developer's help (for instance, to ensure a custom widget is keyboard-friendly), but there are lots of guides and examples out there. Modern web frameworks and content management systems often have accessibility plugins or settings to help. Remember, an accessible website can still look modern and appealing; you're just building it to work for more people.

"How do we keep our site accessible over time?"

Accessibility is an ongoing effort. As you update your website or add new features, include accessibility checks in your regular process. For instance, if you're adding a new page or blog post, follow the same checklist each time: add alt tags to images, use headings correctly, etc. It's easier to build it right from the start than to fix it later.

Consider scheduling a periodic accessibility audit—say, every 6–12 months—especially if you frequently change your site. This could be an internal review using tools and the checklist, or hiring an expert auditor for a thorough check. By making accessibility testing a routine part of site maintenance (just like security updates or content updates), you'll ensure you maintain that inclusive experience you worked hard to achieve.

You may also want to publish an accessibility statement to demonstrate your commitment to inclusivity and provide users with a way to report issues.

Finally, don't hesitate to seek expert help for tricky issues. There are specialists and agencies (like ours) that focus on accessible web design and auditing. Investing in a professional accessibility audit or training for your team can pay off by preventing costly mistakes. The key is to not lose momentum—each improvement you make brings you closer to a fully accessible website that truly welcomes everyone. And that is something to be proud of!

Conclusion

Accessibility testing may sound technical, but at its heart it's about empathy and smart business. By now, we've seen that web accessibility testing is the key to unlocking a better experience for all your visitors. It helps you find and fix barriers that could be excluding one-quarter of your potential audience, ensures you meet legal requirements and avoid penalties, and even boosts your SEO and overall site quality. In summary, prioritising accessibility isn't just a nice gesture—it's a strategic move that improves your website's reach and effectiveness.

As a small business or public sector organisation, you have much to gain by making your site accessible. No action is too small—whether it's adding missing alt text to images or scheduling a full audit, each step brings you closer to an inclusive web presence.

We encourage you to take that next step today: run a quick accessibility scan, try navigating your site as a keyboard-only user, or read up on the WCAG basics. You'll likely discover a few areas to improve, and you can address them one by one.

Every improvement means more people can engage with your content or services. By embracing accessibility now, you're not only doing the right thing ethically—you're also future-proofing your site and widening your reach.

If you're unsure where to start or need guidance, we're here to help. Let's work together to ensure your website truly welcomes everyone. In the end, an accessible website is good for users and good for business—and that's a victory for everyone.

Contact us to learn how we can support your accessibility journey, or dive into the resources linked throughout this post to keep learning. Either way, the important thing is to begin.