Accessibility Services: from WCAG Audit to BFSG Monitoring

Every accessibility project is different: an online shop with a complex checkout poses different requirements than a corporate website with a contact form or a customer portal with self-service functions. Our service spectrum is divided into six core areas that can be flexibly combined and build upon each other. Beneath them sit the productized individual services — from the WCAG audit through accessible PDFs to easy language — broken down further below by service group and with fixed prices.

The WCAG 2.2 accessibility audit is the starting point of every accessibility initiative. Without a solid baseline assessment, neither efforts can be realistically estimated nor measures meaningfully prioritized. Our audit process follows the methodology of EN 301 549 and systematically tests all 78 success criteria of WCAG 2.2 at conformance level AA. We combine three testing levels: automated tests quickly and reliably identify technical barriers, manual expert evaluation checks context and understandability, and assistive technology testing ensures actual usability. The fixed price for an SME website up to 30 pages starts at €2,480.

The audit begins with joint scope definition: which pages and processes will be tested? For online shops, the typical audit scope covers the homepage, category overviews, product detail pages, search function, shopping cart, checkout process, login, registration and contact form. For corporate websites, service pages, blog articles, FAQ sections and interactive elements like tabs, accordions and sliders are commonly added. Selection follows the principle of representativeness: we test all page types that map typical usage paths.

The audit report you receive is not a generic automated report but an individually created document. For each identified barrier we document the affected WCAG success criterion, severity (critical, high, medium, low), a description with screenshot, the impact on affected user groups and a concrete solution proposal with code examples. Prioritization considers both severity and estimated remediation effort, so you can immediately start with the most impactful measures.

Automated tools detect only a fraction of all accessibility issues. A WebAIM study shows that automated tests identify at most 30 to 50 percent of actual barriers (Source: WebAIM 2024). Complex issues like inconsistent screen reader output, confusing focus orders in dynamic content or context-dependent understandability problems require manual testing with real assistive technologies. Our test team works with NVDA and JAWS on Windows, VoiceOver on macOS and iOS, and TalkBack on Android. We run through real user scenarios and document every barrier that interrupts the usage flow or impairs information intake.

Particularly critical are interactive areas like forms, checkout processes and dynamic content. A dropdown menu that works perfectly visually can be completely unusable for screen reader users if ARIA attributes are missing or focus management is not correctly implemented. A shopping cart that updates via JavaScript without announcing the change through an ARIA live region leaves screen reader users in the dark. These problems only surface when you actually test the website with the technologies that people with disabilities use daily. That is exactly what we do in every project.

A website is not a static product. Content updates, new features, design changes and plugin updates can introduce new barriers at any time. Our compliance monitoring from €49 per month ensures your website remains conformant permanently. Automated scans run regularly across your key pages and immediately report new issues. Additionally, we conduct manual re-audits during significant changes to your website to catch barriers that automated tools cannot detect.

Monitoring also includes documenting your conformance. We support you in creating and updating your accessibility statement per BFSG Section 14. This statement must be published on your website and contain the current accessibility status, known limitations and a feedback mechanism for users. Our monitoring service ensures this statement is always current and reflects the actual state of your website.

The duration and scope of an accessibility project depend on your website's complexity and current state. Below we describe three typical scenarios that give a realistic impression of workflow and timeline.

Many measures that improve accessibility simultaneously have a positive effect on search engine optimization. Semantic HTML gives search engine crawlers a clear structure: correct heading hierarchies (h1 to h6) help search engines understand a page's topic structure. Meaningful alt texts for images provide additional context for image search. A logical tab order and clear navigation improve session duration and reduce bounce rate, both factors search engines consider in ranking. Fast loading times, important for accessibility (users with older assistive technologies are particularly affected), are simultaneously a direct ranking factor. These synergies make accessibility optimization one of the most cost-efficient measures in digital marketing.

The role tools play in our testing process and where their limits lie is described in the article on accessibility testing tools. How the effort pays off and which items belong in an honest calculation is shown in the article on audit cost and ROI. And anyone planning a relaunch anyway saves most by carrying accessibility along from the start — see accessibility by design.