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WCAG 2.1 AA · Manual audit

The manual audit that holds up.

Automated scans miss roughly 60% of real accessibility issues (per Deque and WebAIM research). We do the rest by hand — a developer walks every template, runs the screen readers, tests the keyboard, and hands you a findings report with specific fixes and screenshots. Flat fee. Most audits back in 48 hours.

Request a quote What we test
  • 48hTurnaround
  • ManualWalkthrough
  • WCAG 2.1AA default
  • FlatPricing
WCAG 2.1 coverage

Every criterion, walked by hand.

The four WCAG principles, 50 success criteria at AA, every template on your site.

1

Perceivable

  • Color contrast (4.5:1 and 3:1)
  • Image alt text semantics
  • Audio/video captions
  • Resizable text to 200%
  • Adaptable layouts
2

Operable

  • Full keyboard navigation
  • Focus visible + focus order
  • Skip links + landmarks
  • No keyboard traps
  • Target sizes 44×44px
3

Understandable

  • Form labels + error messages
  • Language identification
  • Consistent navigation
  • Input assistance
  • Predictable behavior
4

Robust

  • Valid HTML/ARIA
  • Name/role/value exposed
  • Status messages
  • Parser compatibility
  • Screen reader validation
Methodology

Four layers. One report.

Automated tools on their own miss most of what matters. Here's what we stack on top.

01
axe-core + Lighthouse
Automated baseline
~30% of issues
02
Manual code review
Semantic + ARIA audit
~40% of issues
03
Keyboard-only walkthrough
Operability testing
~15% of issues
04
Screen reader (NVDA, VO, JAWS)
Real-user simulation
~15% of issues
Deliverables

What lands in your inbox.

Full findings report

Every violation, every template, ranked by severity. We suppress duplicates across templates so you see each real issue once, not once per page.

Screenshot evidence

Each finding gets a screenshot with the violation highlighted. When you hand this to a developer, they know exactly where to look.

Specific fix recommendations

Not 'add ARIA' — we tell you which ARIA attribute, on which element, with which value. Copy-pasteable in most cases.

VPAT-ready summary

A Voluntary Product Accessibility Template draft your legal or procurement team can use in RFP responses. Included in the audit, not priced separately.

Priority roadmap

Not every finding needs to ship week one. We sort them into critical / major / minor with rough effort estimates — so you know where to spend the next sprint.

Fixed-price remediation quote

If you want us to do the fixes, the quote is in the report. No hourly billing, no 'it depends'. The number in the PDF is the number you pay.

Questions

Asked before every audit.

How long does an audit take?

48 hours for most small-to-mid sites (up to 10 unique templates). Enterprise sites with 25+ templates run 5–7 business days. We scope timeline upfront in a 15-minute call — no 'it depends' answers after.

Why not just use an automated tool?

Automated scans catch roughly 30–40% of real WCAG violations — that's a widely-cited figure from Deque and WebAIM research. The rest require human judgment: is the alt text semantically right, does the focus order make sense, does the button actually behave like a button. A manual pass catches issues that axe-core, Lighthouse, and WAVE don't flag.

How is this different from installing an accessibility overlay?

Overlays like AccessiBe and UserWay are currently defendants in their own lawsuits — they don't fix the underlying code, they paint over it, and plaintiff firms have caught on. Real audits find real violations and trigger real fixes. Overlays are marketing.

Do you offer WCAG 2.2 or AAA audits?

Yes. WCAG 2.2 is the current standard as of October 2023 and we default to it for any audit where the client's risk profile or legal environment demands the newer criteria (especially California and New York businesses). AAA we reserve for healthcare, legal, and gov-adjacent work where the bar is higher.

What does it actually cost?

Small marketing sites (under 10 templates): $4,500–$7,500 flat. Mid-sized: $8,000–$15,000. Enterprise: scoped individually, usually $18K–$45K. Every quote is fixed-price — we don't surprise-bill, ever.

Ready to know exactly where you stand?

One 15-minute scoping call. A flat-fee quote the same day. A full report in your hands within 48 hours of kickoff.

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