WCAG 2.2 AA Audit: find every barrier, document every solution

Automated accessibility tools like axe-core, Lighthouse and WAVE are indispensable components of a professional audit. They quickly and reliably detect technical barriers: missing alt texts, insufficient color contrasts, missing form labels and invalid ARIA attributes. However, research shows that automated tests detect only 30 to 50 percent of all actual accessibility issues (Source: WebAIM 2024). The remaining 50 to 70 percent require human expert evaluation and testing with assistive technologies.

A typical example: an automated tool detects that an image has an alt attribute but cannot evaluate whether the alt text meaningfully describes the image content. A tool detects that a form has labels but cannot check whether error messages are comprehensible enough to correct the error. A tool measures text color contrast but does not capture that a focus indicator becomes invisible on certain backgrounds. Exactly these gaps are closed by our manual evaluation.

WCAG 2.2 was published as a W3C Recommendation in October 2023 and supplements WCAG 2.1 with nine new success criteria (Source: W3C WCAG 2.2). Six of these new criteria are relevant for conformance level AA. They address barriers that frequently occur in practice but were not covered by WCAG 2.1.

A WCAG 2.2 audit is not the goal but the starting point. It provides the data foundation on which all further decisions are based: which barriers must be fixed first? Which website areas are critical? Where are the structural causes that go beyond individual findings? A good audit report answers not only which WCAG criteria are violated but also why they are violated and how the underlying patterns can be fixed. For example, if 15 form fields on a page have missing labels, the problem is not 15 missing labels but a template that does not correctly implement labels. Our audit identifies such patterns and provides recommendations that address the root cause.

Additionally, the audit report serves as a planning foundation for budgeting remediation. Based on identified barriers, their severities and estimated remediation effort, you can realistically calculate remediation costs. Many companies experience positive surprises: the majority of barriers can be fixed with comparatively low effort as they stem from recurring patterns (missing alt texts, insufficient contrasts, missing form labels). Only a small portion of barriers requires deep structural changes (project experience).

Before commissioning a professional audit you can get an initial assessment of your website's accessibility status using freely available tools. The axe-core browser extension (available for Chrome and Firefox) identifies technical barriers directly in the browser. Lighthouse in the browser DevTools rates accessibility with a score from 0 to 100. The WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool visually displays barriers on the page. These tools detect at most 30 to 50 percent of all issues (Source: WebAIM 2024) but provide an initial indication.

Additionally you can conduct a simple keyboard test: navigate your website exclusively using the Tab key and Enter. Can you reach all links, buttons and form fields? Is it always apparent which element has focus? Can you operate dropdown menus, modals and accordions without a mouse? Are you prevented from scrolling the background page in modal dialogs? This test takes only a few minutes but frequently reveals the most severe accessibility issues. You can share these self-test results in your initial conversation with us so we can define the audit scope more precisely.

For a complete assessment these pre-tests do not replace a professional audit: they capture neither context-dependent issues (understandability, consistency, screen reader compatibility) nor the new WCAG 2.2 criteria (Focus Not Obscured, Dragging Movements, Target Size Minimum, Accessible Authentication). Our WCAG 2.2 AA audit combines automated tools, manual expert evaluation and assistive technology testing for comprehensive coverage.

The investment in a professional WCAG 2.2 audit pays off multiple times: you receive reliable evidence of your conformance efforts for market surveillance authorities, a prioritized roadmap for efficient use of your remediation budget, concrete technical solution proposals your team can implement directly and a solid foundation for your accessibility statement per BFSG Section 14. Additionally a thorough audit frequently identifies general usability issues and SEO potential beyond pure accessibility requirements. Many of our clients report that the audit report gave them a complete picture of their website's user experience for the first time, including aspects invisible to sighted users without assistive technologies. Contact us for a non-binding initial conversation about your audit needs.