I was sitting in my workshop last night, cleaning the dust off my old telescope lenses, when I remembered a client from back in the early 2000s. They’d spent a small fortune on a “specialist consultant” just to tell them their font size was too small. It’s the same nonsense I see today: people getting sold expensive, bloated software suites when they really just need to know how to check accessibility with a tool that actually works. The industry loves to make this sound like rocket science because complexity is a great way to pad a monthly subscription fee, but it really isn’t.
I’m not here to sell you a premium enterprise solution or a decade-long contract. My goal is to show you how to grab a decent, free scanner, run a quick check, and fix the obvious bits so your site is usable for everyone. We’re going to skip the jargon and the upselling, and I’ll show you exactly how to get the job done in an afternoon. Once you’ve run the scan and tidied up the errors, you can get back to the actual building—it’s really that simple.
Run Automated Accessibility Testing Tools and Move on
Once you’ve got your site live, don’t let the “experts” convince you that you need a month-long consultancy to fix it. You can start by running some automated accessibility testing tools right in your browser. Extensions like Axe or WAVE are decent; they’ll crawl your pages and flag the obvious stuff—missing alt text, poor color contrast, or buttons that don’t have labels. It’s a quick way of identifying accessibility barriers without spending a penny or losing your entire weekend to a spreadsheet.
Now, a word of caution: these tools aren’t magic. They’re great for catching the low-hanging fruit, but they won’t tell you if your site actually makes sense to a human being. There is a massive difference between manual vs automated accessibility testing, and if you rely solely on a plugin, you’re only getting half the story. Use the tools to clear the easy hurdles, then move on to the next task. Don’t get sucked into a rabbit hole of perfectionism; get it functional, get it clean, and get back to building.
The Real Web Accessibility Audit Process Is Simpler Than They Say
The problem with most agencies is that they try to turn a simple check into a six-month consultancy project. They’ll hand you a massive, terrifying WCAG compliance checklist that looks more like a legal contract than a to-do list. In my experience, you don’t need a specialist team to tell you that your buttons are too small or your text is unreadable against the background. You just need to stop overthinking it.
The real magic happens when you look at the gap between manual vs automated accessibility testing. An automated tool is great for catching the low-hanging fruit—the missing alt text or the broken ARIA labels—but it’s blind to logic. It can tell you a link exists, but it can’t tell you if that link actually makes sense in context.
I usually spend about twenty minutes doing a bit of “sanity testing.” I’ll turn on a screen reader, close my eyes, and try to navigate my own site. If I get stuck in a loop or can’t find the menu, I’ve found a barrier. That’s the core of it. Once you’ve cleared the automated errors and done a quick manual walkthrough, you’re better off than 90% of the sites out there.
A few things to keep in mind while you're running your scans
- Don’t treat the tool’s report like the gospel truth. These programs are good at spotting missing labels or low contrast, but they’re blind to whether your site actually makes sense to a human being.
- Look for the “low-hanging fruit” first. If the tool tells you that your images lack alt text or your buttons don’t have names, fix those immediately. It’s the easiest way to get a quick win without spending a fortune on a consultant.
- Check your color contrast manually if you can. Tools get it right most of the time, but I’ve seen plenty of them miss subtle shades that make text nearly impossible to read on a sunny afternoon.
- Test your site with just a keyboard. Put the mouse aside, hit the Tab key, and see if you can actually navigate your pages. A tool might say you’re “compliant,” but if you can’t reach the contact form without a mouse, you’ve failed.
- Keep your testing light and frequent. You don’t need a massive, expensive audit every week; just run a quick scan whenever you push a change or update your content to make sure you haven’t accidentally broken something.
The bottom line
Automated tools are a good starting point to catch the obvious errors, but don’t treat them as a final stamp of approval.
Don’t get sucked into expensive “compliance audits” when a bit of common sense and a manual check will get you 90% of the way there.
Accessibility isn’t about ticking every single box in a massive manual; it’s about making sure a real person can actually use your site without getting stuck.
Don't overthink it
Look, we’ve covered the essentials. You run your automated scan to catch the obvious blunders, you do a quick manual check to ensure a human can actually navigate the thing, and then you move on. You don’t need a six-figure consultancy or a suite of expensive, enterprise-grade software to make sure your site isn’t a brick wall for someone using a screen reader. The goal isn’t to achieve some mythical state of perfect compliance that satisfies every lawyer on the planet; the goal is to make sure your site is functional and respectful. If you’ve checked the contrast, fixed the alt text, and ensured the keyboard navigation doesn’t get stuck in a loop, you’ve done more than most.
At the end of the day, a website is just a tool for communication. If you spend all your time chasing every single automated error flag, you’ll never actually finish the project. I’ve spent decades watching people get paralyzed by the “technicalities” of the web, while the people who actually get things done just focus on the core experience. Grab your tool, run your checks, and get back to building. Your website is a living thing, not a static monument—keep it simple, keep it accessible, and don’t let the upsells win.
