A customer who cannot read your prices, use your booking form, or tap your phone number cannot become a customer. Accessibility problems often hide in places that also hurt conversion optimisation, such as confusing forms, weak colour contrast, and awkward mobile menus.
This website accessibility checklist supports digital accessibility and inclusive design. It offers practical fixes for disabled visitors, people using mobile devices, older users, and customers dealing with glare, noise, temporary injuries, or limited time. Start with the pages that produce calls, bookings, quote requests, and sales, then keep improving them over time.
Key Takeaways
- Start with the pages and journeys that generate calls, bookings, quote requests, and sales, then test them on both mobile and desktop.
- Use WCAG 2.2 AA as a practical benchmark, with semantic HTML, useful image descriptions, clear link text, sufficient colour contrast, and visible keyboard focus.
- Make forms, menus, widgets, and checkout processes usable with a keyboard, touch input, screen readers, browser zoom, and mobile devices.
- Combine automated scans with manual checks and feedback from disabled users, because a tool score cannot assess every real-world barrier.
- Treat accessibility as part of ongoing website care by retesting key journeys after content, plugin, form, design, and campaign changes.
Start with the pages that affect customers most
You don’t need to rebuild every page before making progress. First, list the routes people take when they need help: your homepage, service pages, contact page, booking tool, quote form, online shop, and payment screens.
Check these pages on a phone as well as a laptop. A website can look polished on a designer’s large monitor and still frustrate a customer trying to book a plumber between school runs.
Prioritise revenue-producing journeys
Work through each important journey as if you were a new visitor. Can you find the service, understand the offer, choose an option, contact the business, and receive confirmation without guessing?
For a local small business, that also includes its Google Business Profile and any relevant local business listings. Keep your opening hours, phone number, service areas, booking details, and website link accurate. These details support Local SEO and give people a quick way to call, email, or request a quote, but they don’t replace an accessible website.
A good starting order is:
- Fix the contact form, booking process, and checkout first.
- Review your highest-traffic service and location pages next.
- Then improve older pages, downloadable documents, and Social Media embeds.
Use WCAG 2.2 AA as your working benchmark
The web content accessibility guidelines, or WCAG, set out practical standards for accessible web content. WCAG has three conformance levels: A, AA, and AAA. For most business websites, WCAG 2.2 AA is the sensible target.
The W3C WCAG 2.2 standard groups requirements under four principles: content must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. GOV.UK also uses WCAG 2.2 AA as its benchmark for public-sector services in its plain-English WCAG overview.
Using WCAG 2.2 AA as a working benchmark supports accessibility improvements, but an automated score or checklist alone doesn’t prove WCAG compliance or legal compliance.
In New Zealand, the Human Rights Act 1993 protects people from disability discrimination in areas including goods and services, but duties can vary by sector and jurisdiction. This article is educational, not legal advice. If you serve customers in the UK or EU, seek professional advice about any additional requirements.
Accessibility is not a badge you add after launch. It is the standard you maintain whenever your website, forms, plugins, or content change.
Build clear pages with semantic HTML
Screen reader users often move around a page by heading, link, button, or form field. Semantic HTML gives assistive technologies a logical structure, so visitors can reach useful content without listening to every sentence.
This is also good web design. A page that is easy to scan usually makes decisions easier for everybody.
Use headings to describe the page
Give every page one clear H1 that states its purpose. Use H2s for main sections, then H3s only beneath the related H2. This heading hierarchy keeps the page organised, while visual styles should be set in your site design instead.
Don’t choose heading tags because you want larger or smaller text. Add a skip link near the start of the page, so visitors can bypass repeated navigation and reach the main content. Use native elements wherever possible, adding ARIA roles only when a custom component needs extra information.
For example, a roofing service page could use:
- H1: Roof repairs in Auckland
- H2: Emergency roof repair
- H2: Common roof problems we fix
- H2: Request a quote
- H3: What to include in your enquiry
Avoid skipping from H1 to H4 or using a bold paragraph as a fake heading. Proper heading structure helps search engines understand a page’s subject, so it also supports sensible SEO. Semantic markup matters, but it doesn’t make a page fully accessible by itself.
Describe images, charts, and links properly
Add alternative text to images that convey useful information. A photo of a completed kitchen might say, “White shaker kitchen installation with oak worktops in Auckland.” That helps someone who cannot see the image understand why it appears on the page.
Leave it empty for decorative flourishes, such as background texture or divider icons. Don’t write “image of” or cram keywords into image descriptions.
Charts and diagrams need text alternatives, including a written explanation of the trend or data. A complex diagram may also need a nearby summary or downloadable table.
Provide video captions for spoken dialogue and meaningful audio. Add an audio description when important visual information isn’t conveyed through the narration.
Link text should make sense out of context and use plain language. “View boiler servicing prices” is clearer than “Read more”. The same rule applies to buttons, so “Book a consultation” tells visitors more than “Submit”.
AI for small business can suggest first drafts of image descriptions, but it may not understand an image’s purpose or context. Review every suggestion before publishing it.
Check colour, text size, and mobile use
Digital Branding often relies on a distinct palette, but brand colours must still work when someone has low vision, colour blindness, glare on their phone screen, or a poor display. Check the colour contrast ratio on the published page, not only in the design file.
Never communicate a message through colour alone. A red form field should also contain text explaining what needs fixing.
Meet the colour contrast ratios
For WCAG AA, normal-sized text needs a 4.5:1 contrast ratio against its background. Large text needs at least 3:1. Text, controls, focus indicators, and meaningful icons need sufficient contrast when they convey information or identify a state.
Common failures include pale grey text, white writing over photography, and yellow call-to-action buttons with white labels. Check your actual published pages, not only the design file.
Contrast tools can identify weak combinations quickly. However, look at the page yourself as well. A technically passing design may still become hard to read when text sits over a busy image.
Make text and controls usable on phones
Mobile accessibility requires more than shrinking desktop content. Test resizing text at 200 per cent zoom, and check that reading order, controls, labels, and functionality remain intact. The layout should reflow content without overlap, disappearing information, or horizontal scrolling.
Tap every interactive element with your thumb. Small close icons, tightly packed menu links, and tiny checkboxes create problems for people with limited dexterity and for anyone using a phone one-handed. Check the target size and spacing, not just the control’s dimensions.
Also check that sticky banners don’t cover the enquiry button. Cookie notices, chat widgets, and discount pop-ups often block the very action your Digital Marketing campaign paid to attract.
For a wider review of layouts across screens, use this guidance on mobile-ready website design.
Test keyboard access and visible focus
Many people use a keyboard instead of a mouse. This includes screen reader users, people with motor impairments, and users with a broken trackpad. Good keyboard accessibility is one of the fastest checks a business owner can make.
Open a key page and press Tab. You should see where focus is at every step.
Make every action reachable by keyboard
Use Tab to move forwards through links, menus, buttons, and form fields. Use Shift + Tab to move backwards. Press Enter or Space to activate controls where appropriate.
Check that the focus order follows the page’s visual and functional order. You should be able to:
- Open and close the navigation menu.
- Use a skip link to bypass a long navigation menu.
- Use dropdowns, date pickers, accordions, filters, and other interactive elements.
- Submit a quote request or complete an online purchase.
- Dismiss cookie banners and pop-ups.
The focus indicator must remain visible. Keep focus visible at every step. Removing the browser’s outline because it doesn’t match your brand is a common mistake. Replace it with a clear, high-contrast focus style if needed.
Watch for custom widgets and keyboard traps
Modern web development often adds interactive elements such as carousels, tab panels, pop-up modals, live chat, maps, and calendar tools. These components can break keyboard use if they’re poorly built.
When a modal opens, keyboard focus should move into it. Test Escape behaviour where appropriate. When the visitor closes it, focus should return to the button that opened it. A visitor must never get trapped inside a widget with no way to reach the rest of the page.
Use native HTML buttons, links, labels, and form inputs where possible. They carry useful behaviour for assistive technologies by default. Aria roles can help with complex custom interfaces, but should supplement, not replace, correct HTML semantics. Incorrect ARIA can mislead users and make a working component worse.
A successful Tab test doesn’t prove full accessibility, but it can reveal keyboard problems early.
Make forms, bookings, and emails easier to complete
A contact form should remove effort, not create it. Form accessibility helps more people complete an enquiry and gives you more accurate reporting.
Clear forms help more clients complete an action. They also give your team better information when the enquiry arrives.
Label every field and explain errors
Give every input a persistent, visible label, with a suitable autocomplete value or input type where relevant. Use plain language in labels, instructions, confirmation messages, and error text. Placeholder text such as “Your email address” disappears once someone starts typing, so it isn’t a replacement for a label.
Keep required fields to a minimum, and don’t add unnecessary marketing fields to a quote form. For clear error identification, state the problem in text beside the relevant input and associate it with that field. Explain how to fix it: “Enter a valid email address, for example name@example.com” is more useful than “Invalid entry”.
Do not rely only on red outlines, sound effects, or a message at the top of the page. Make errors clear in text. After submission, move focus to the error summary or first invalid field without disrupting the user’s understanding.
Test the full follow-up route
Submit a real test enquiry each month. Confirm that the thank-you message appears, the email reaches the right inbox, and your CRM or booking system records it correctly. Test interactive elements such as submit buttons, date controls, consent checkboxes, and validation messages using keyboard and touch input.
Systems & Automation should route leads quickly, yet automated replies must also be readable. Use clear subject lines, logical headings, descriptive links, and a visible unsubscribe option in Email Marketing messages. Avoid image-only emails and tiny text.
If you offer a guide or checklist in exchange for an email address, make the value clear and collect consent properly. Follow-up emails should help a prospect decide, rather than repeat the same sales message.
For professional firms that need accessible forms and dependable lead handling, Discover how we work with professional service providers.
Combine automated scans with manual checks
Automated tools find repeatable code issues quickly. They can’t tell you whether instructions make sense, whether a form error helps people, or whether a booking journey feels confusing.
Use both methods. Together, they provide a more reliable website accessibility checklist than a single score.
Use accessibility testing beyond quick scans
Start with Axe DevTools, WAVE, or Accessibility Insights. These tools can flag missing form labels, empty links, and problems with heading hierarchy. They may also detect some colour contrast failures, missing text alternatives, and invalid aria roles. The WebAIM WCAG 2 checklist helps when you need to check a specific success criterion.
Don’t chase a perfect automated score while ignoring the user journey. A scan may pass a button labelled “Continue”, even when visitors cannot tell what happens next. It won’t reliably assess task clarity, plain-language instructions, meaningful link labels, or whether a real user can complete a booking.
Manual checks should include keyboard navigation, browser zoom and resizing, mobile use, and a real plain-language review. Check the skip link and whether keyboard focus remains visible as you move through the page. Test with screen readers and other assistive technologies to understand what screen reader users experience. VoiceOver comes built into Apple devices, while NVDA is a free screen reader for Windows.
Testing helps identify and prioritise barriers, but it can’t guarantee WCAG conformance or legal compliance. Where feasible, combine automated scans, manual review, and feedback from disabled users.
Put accessibility into website care and maintenance
Add accessibility checks to every website update. New web hosting providers, themes, plugins, payment tools, tracking scripts, and embedded calendars can all introduce barriers. Include document accessibility in the same review for downloadable PDFs and guides, particularly when they contain pricing, forms, or service instructions.
Keep a simple change log with the page checked, issue found, fix made, and date retested. Review the site after a redesign, before a major campaign, and whenever you change a key form.
Website Care & Maintenance should also include updates, backups, security checks, uptime monitoring, and tests of essential contact routes. Check plugins, payment tools, calendars, and tracking scripts after updates or configuration changes. A managed process prevents small errors becoming long-running problems. Ongoing WordPress updates and support can help keep those routine checks from slipping down the list.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I check first on my website?
Start with the customer journeys that lead to calls, bookings, quote requests, and purchases. Review your contact form, booking tool, checkout, highest-traffic service pages, and location pages on both a phone and a laptop.
Is WCAG 2.2 AA a legal requirement in New Zealand?
WCAG 2.2 AA is a sensible working benchmark for most business websites, but legal duties can vary by sector and jurisdiction. The Human Rights Act 1993 protects people from disability discrimination in areas including goods and services, so seek professional advice if you need to assess your specific obligations.
Can an automated accessibility scan prove that my website is accessible?
No. Automated tools can identify issues such as missing labels, weak contrast, and invalid ARIA, but they cannot reliably judge whether instructions are clear or whether someone can complete a booking. Combine automated scans with keyboard, mobile, zoom, screen reader, and plain-language checks.
How often should I check website accessibility?
Include accessibility checks whenever you update content, plugins, themes, payment tools, forms, tracking scripts, or embedded calendars. Retest key journeys after a redesign or major campaign, and keep a simple record of issues, fixes, and retest dates.
Make accessibility part of everyday website decisions
Digital accessibility works best as part of everyday website care, not a one-off task. Start with readable content, accessible forms, visible keyboard focus, sufficient contrast, and mobile controls people can tap without frustration.
These changes support disabled visitors and make your website easier for every potential customer to use. They’re a practical starting routine, not a complete guarantee. Review key customer journeys after content, plugin, form, or campaign changes. Clear access creates clearer paths to enquiry, booking, and trust.
