About accessibility
Is my website legally required to be accessible?
In the US, courts have applied the Americans with Disabilities Act to many business websites, and state and local governments have specific requirements under a 2024 Department of Justice rule that names WCAG 2.1 AA. Federal agencies and their vendors follow Section 508. Other countries have their own laws. We aren’t lawyers. Ask yours about your situation, and we’ll give you the evidence of what’s been done.
What’s WCAG?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, published by the W3C. They’re the technical standard almost every law, court settlement and contract points to. Version 2.2 is current; Level AA is the usual target.
Do overlay widgets work?
Not as a fix. Overlays add a toolbar or script on top of your site without repairing the page underneath, and they often interfere with the assistive technology people already use. We fix the site itself.
About Audsey
Will you change my website?
Only with your approval. During remediation we work on a copy first where we can, and every change to your live site is agreed beforehand. Monitoring scans never change anything.
Do scans slow down my site?
No. A scan loads each page a few times, like a handful of visitors, spread over several minutes.
Can you test pages behind a login?
Yes, with a test account you create for us. Its password is kept out of our configuration files, reports and screenshots, and you can change it whenever you like.
Do you test PDFs and documents?
Documents linked from your site can be added to the scope. Ask us.
What about my social media?
Social platforms control most of their own accessibility. What you control is your content: describe images, caption videos and write links people can understand. We can review your posts as part of an engagement.
Who can see my reports?
Only people on your account, and only reports we’ve published to you. The public summary and badge are off unless you turn them on.
Reports
Why did my index drop when nothing changed?
Usually one of three things: someone added content, a plugin or theme updated, or the testing rules changed. Rule changes are marked on the chart and listed in the report. See Reading changes.
Why are some criteria “needs human verification”?
Some WCAG criteria can’t be judged by software, for example whether link text makes sense. They wait for a person’s review and are left out of the index until then.
Can I send my report to a customer or lawyer?
Yes, it’s yours. Send the whole report, not just the index, so the method and limitations go with it.