Beyond Compliance: Why Accessibility Testing Should be Part of Every Website’s Routine
Website accessibility testing matters because it makes your site easier to use for everyone, reduces legal and reputational risk, and can even boost performance and search visibility. For most organisations, it is no longer a “nice to have” but a core part of running a responsible, modern website.
What do we mean by website accessibility?
Website accessibility is about making sure people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate and interact with your online content. That includes people who use screen readers, rely on keyboard navigation, need captions, or benefit from clear layouts and simple language.
International standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) set out how to achieve this in practice, covering things like colour contrast, headings, forms, multimedia and error messages. In the UK public sector, the expectation is to meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA, which sets a clear bar for what “accessible enough” means.
Why accessibility testing is so important
Accessibility testing checks how well your site actually works for disabled people, rather than assuming it’s fine because it “looks OK” on your own screen. It turns vague good intentions into concrete evidence of what needs to change.
Some of the key reasons testing matters are:
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- Better user experience for everyone: Accessible pages tend to be clearer, more consistent and easier to navigate, which benefits all users, not just disabled visitors. Features such as proper headings, descriptive links and logical focus order make tasks quicker and less frustrating.
- Legal and regulatory compliance: In the UK, public sector bodies must ensure their websites are accessible and publish an accessibility statement that explains any known issues and how they will be fixed. While many private organisations are not under the same specific regulations, equality and anti‑discrimination laws still apply, and poor accessibility can create legal risk.
- Inclusion and brand reputation: Showing that you have considered accessibility sends a strong signal that your organisation takes inclusion seriously. In contrast, users who encounter barriers may lose trust quickly and share those negative experiences.
- Reaching more customers: Accessible sites can be used by more people, including older users, people with temporary injuries, or those on low bandwidth connections. This widens your potential audience and can support growth.
- Long‑term cost savings: Fixing accessibility problems early is generally far cheaper than retrofitting a website after launch or in response to a complaint. Regular testing helps you catch issues before they become large, expensive rework.
- A practical example is a poorly labelled online form: a screen reader user might be unable to complete it, but so might anyone using the site on a small screen or in a rush. Testing brings these hidden issues to light.
Types of accessibility testing you should know about
Good accessibility testing usually combines several methods, each uncovering different kinds of problems.
- Automated testing: Tools scan your pages for common issues such as missing alt text, low contrast, or incorrect heading structure. These checks are quick, repeatable and ideal for spotting technical patterns across lots of pages.
- Manual expert review: Accessibility specialists step through your site against guidelines like WCAG, checking code, content and interactions in more depth. They can identify issues that automated tools routinely miss, such as confusing focus order or unclear link text.
- User testing with disabled people: Real users with a range of impairments attempt typical tasks on your site using their own assistive technologies, such as screen readers, keyboard‑only navigation or voice control. Their feedback reveals where the user journey breaks down in practice, not just on paper.
UK government guidance even outlines how to carry out a basic accessibility check if you cannot immediately commission a full audit, so organisations of all sizes can start improving. However, for a complete picture, combining automated, expert and user testing is strongly recommended.
The benefits you can expect
Building accessibility testing into your regular website maintenance brings a range of tangible benefits.
- Stronger SEO and site performance: Many accessibility improvements, like better headings, clear link text and efficient code, also support search engines and faster loading pages. This can help your content rank better and keep visitors on the site for longer.
- Fewer support enquiries: When users can easily complete tasks themselves, they are less likely to call or email for help. Over time, this can reduce the burden on customer service teams.
- Clearer roadmap for development: Test results provide a prioritised list of issues and recommendations, giving your designers and developers a concrete plan. This makes it easier to allocate resources and track progress.
- Future‑proofing: As technology and standards evolve, regular testing helps ensure your site remains usable across new devices, browsers and assistive tools. This is especially important for organisations that rely heavily on digital services.
You can also measure progress using indicators like the number of accessibility errors found, changes in compliance scores, user feedback, task completion times and trends in accessibility‑related support requests. These metrics show whether your efforts are genuinely improving people’s experiences.
Getting started: from quick checks to a health check
If you are new to accessibility, it can help to start with simple checks, then build up to more thorough testing.
- Run a quick automated scan of key pages to get an initial view of common issues such as missing labels or poor contrast. This gives you a sense of the scale of work needed.
- Try a basic manual review: navigate your site using only a keyboard, zoom the page to 200%, or use a free screen reader to see where you struggle. These simple exercises often reveal barriers very quickly.
- Prioritise critical journeys such as sign‑up, checkout, booking or contact forms, where accessibility problems can directly block people from using your services. Focus initial effort where it will have the biggest real‑world impact.
To gain a clearer picture of how accessible your site is, you can also use a dedicated website accessibility health check, which provides a concise report on key issues and how they affect users.
From there, you can decide whether to commission a full accessibility audit, schedule regular testing cycles, and embed accessibility into your ongoing content and development processes. The important thing is not to wait for a complaint before you begin.
Making accessibility testing part of how you run your website is one of the most practical ways to ensure your online services are fair, effective and future‑ready. With straightforward tools, expert support and inclusive user insight now widely available, there has never been a better time to start.
