About Website Accessibility Under the ADA and WCAG Guidelines
What exactly is web accessibility?
It means building and auditing your site so that everyone can actually use it — people navigating with a screen reader, people using a keyboard instead of a mouse, and anyone with a motor, cognitive, or low-vision condition that affects how they interact with a page.
What is WCAG, and why does it matter?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the internationally recognized benchmark for digital accessibility, maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). WCAG 2.1/2.2 Level AA is the specific baseline referenced by the U.S. Department of Justice, federal courts, and state procurement standards.
Is my website required to be accessible?
Yes. Federal courts and regulatory agencies consistently treat public-facing websites — small-business sites, e-commerce sites, nonprofits, municipal programs — as places of public accommodation under Title III of the ADA. That means equal, barrier-free access isn't optional.
My website is small — do I still need to worry about this?
Site size doesn't change the requirement. A five-page business site can carry just as many accessibility issues as a large e-commerce store. The good news is that issues on smaller sites are usually straightforward to fix, so the cost and effort of an audit scales down right along with the site.
About the Audit
What does an accessibility audit actually look for?
We check your site's source code and interactive elements against the full set of WCAG Level A and AA success criteria — things like keyboard navigation breaks, missing alt text, unlabeled form fields, and hidden elements that trip up assistive technology.
Why isn't a free automated scan or widget enough?
Automated tools are useful, but they only catch a portion of real accessibility issues. They can't test whether your site is actually navigable by keyboard, whether a promotional graphic has hidden text behind it, or what a screen reader experience is actually like for someone using one. A clean automated score means the machine-detectable bugs are gone — it doesn't mean the site is usable.
How many pages do you test? (Our scoping model)
We evaluate your site by unique page templates — homepage, standard content page, contact flow, and so on — rather than by raw page count. Since most accessibility barriers reside in a shared layout or component, testing the template surfaces the issue wherever it appears, without requiring you to re-test duplicate content pages.
Do you install an overlay toolbar or "widget" to achieve compliance?
No. Overlay tools and quick-fix widgets don't touch your underlying code, don't satisfy legal requirements, and can actually create new barriers for screen reader users. We work exclusively at the code level — diagnosing and fixing issues at the source.
How long does a technical review take?
Our standard reviews are completed within 7 to 10 business days after we finalize the scope.
About Remediation
What's the difference between an Audit Only and Audit + Remediation?
An audit is the diagnosis: a full roadmap of what's failing and exactly where it lives. To keep our findings objective, we separate auditing from remediation — we handle code remediation directly only for sites built or maintained by our parent company, 54 Design Group, LLC. If your site belongs to another agency, we hand you a clear, plain-English roadmap your developer can act on directly.
Can I fix some of these myself, without a developer?
Yes. Our roadmaps sort findings into "Editor-Fixable" and "Developer Required." A lot of content-level issues — adding missing alt text, rewriting a text-heavy graphic — are things you can handle yourself right in your CMS, including Squarespace or Duda.
Does a passing audit mean permanent compliance?
No — accessibility is an ongoing practice, not a one-time achievement. New content, media uploads, or platform updates can introduce new issues over time. Our roadmap validates your site at the time of testing; we recommend a scheduled annual review to catch anything that creeps in as your site grows.
About Working Together
Do you work with organizations outside Missouri?
Yes. We're based in Central Missouri, but our testing and validation process is fully remote, so we work with businesses, nonprofits, and public entities nationwide.
I already have a web designer. Can you still do the audit?
Yes — this is one of our most common engagements. We step in as an independent, objective third party: we conduct technical testing, write your Accessibility Statement, and provide your existing designer or developer with a roadmap they can act on without guesswork.
What do I actually receive at the end of the audit?
Every client gets a clear Technical Audit Report prioritized by severity, a remediation roadmap, and a publication-ready Accessibility Statement built for your site's footer. Developer-Ready tier clients also get a companion spreadsheet with exact CSS selectors and HTML fix snippets.
What if I just have a question about my specific site first?
That's a good place to start. Contact us, and we'll walk through your site's footprint, any platform-specific constraints, and what a right-sized plan would look like for you.
