Website Accessibility
Audits, remediation, and accessible builds to WCAG 2.1 AA, for sites we built and sites we did not.
Accessibility is part of how we build for almost every client now, and it matters most for the colleges, universities, government agencies and healthcare providers we work with. We audit, remediate, build to the standard from the start, and train the people publishing content so it stays that way.
Accessibility work we do
Color and contrast, semantic structure, keyboard operability and focus order are decisions made while a site is designed and built, not patches applied afterwards. Everything we build for you, both code and design, is yours. You paid for it, you own it.
We also take on sites we did not build. Most of what we find lives in templates, components and publishing habits rather than in the overall design, which means it can usually be fixed in place.
Audits & Remediation
A WCAG 2.1 AA audit of what you have now, with findings ordered by how much they actually block people rather than by how easy they are to close. Then we fix them, in your existing site, without insisting on a rebuild.
- WCAG 2.1 AA Audits
- Prioritized Findings
- Remediation in Place
Accessible Design & Build
Accessibility designed in from the first wireframe: color and contrast decisions made early, semantic structure, keyboard-operable navigation and forms, and custom themes built to the standard rather than retrofitted to it.
- Accessible Themes
- Keyboard & Focus Order
- Forms & Components
Training & Ongoing Checks
Most sites regress after launch, because accessibility depends on what editors publish every week. We train your team on headings, alt text, link text and documents, and keep checking so problems are caught while they are still small.
- Editor Training
- Documentation
- Monitoring & Regression Checks
Ongoing Support
Accessibility is not a project you finish. Every new page, image and embedded document is a chance to introduce a problem, and a site that passed an audit last year will have drifted since. We re-test, fix regressions, and keep your editors equipped. We offer retainer and as-needed plans, and we support sites whether or not we built them. Every plan includes dedicated hours beyond the update work, so you can spend them on whatever matters most that month.
- WCAG 2.1 AA audits and re-audits
- Remediation of prioritized findings
- Keyboard and screen reader testing
- Color contrast and focus state review
- Accessible form and component fixes
- Content editor training and guidance
- Regression checks after releases
- Reporting your team can act on
How we approach accessibility
Most accessibility problems are not exotic. They are missing labels, keyboard traps, poor contrast, and alt text written for a search engine rather than a person. The work is unglamorous, and it is entirely doable.
We work with what you already run
We do a great deal of work in Drupal and WordPress, and build on modern frameworks where those fit better. Accessibility work happens inside the platform you already have, not as an argument for replacing it.
Built in, not bolted on
Retrofitting accessibility at the end is slower, more expensive, and produces a worse result than designing for it from the start. On new work we build to the standard by default, for every client.
Automated scans only go so far
A scanner can find a missing alt attribute. It cannot tell you the alt text is useless, that focus order makes no sense, or that a form is unusable with a screen reader. We test by keyboard and screen reader as well.
The same work helps AI read your site
Clear heading structure, meaningful link text, semantic landmarks and real alt text are what assistive technology relies on, and they are also what search engines and AI assistants parse. Accessible sites are easier for machines to understand.
Accessibility questions we get asked
What accessibility standard do you build to?
WCAG 2.1 Level AA, which is the standard referenced by Section 508 for federal agencies and by the ADA Title II rule for state and local government, including public colleges. It is also what most private organizations are measured against in practice.
Can you audit a site your team did not build?
Yes, and we often do. We review the live site, the templates behind it, and the patterns your editors use, then report findings ordered by real-world impact rather than by scanner severity. You get a plan you can act on, whether we do the remediation or your own team does.
What does an accessibility audit actually include?
Automated scanning across representative templates, then manual testing: keyboard-only navigation, screen reader testing, focus order and visible focus, color contrast, form labeling and error handling, headings and landmarks, and the accessibility of any custom interactive components.
Do you only run automated scans?
No. Automated tools are a starting point and catch a minority of real issues. They cannot judge whether alt text is meaningful, whether focus order makes sense, or whether a custom component is operable by keyboard. Those need a person, and that is a large part of what we do.
Can you fix accessibility without a full redesign?
Usually, yes. Most issues live in templates, components and content patterns rather than in the overall design, so they can be fixed in place. Where a problem is genuinely structural we will tell you, along with what it would take to resolve properly.
Can you train our content editors?
Yes. Most sites drift out of compliance through everyday publishing: images without useful alt text, headings used for styling, link text that reads as "click here", and inaccessible PDFs. We train editors on the handful of habits that prevent most of it, and document it for people who join later.
Who do you do accessibility work for?
Most of our clients, and we build to the standard by default. It matters most for the public colleges, universities, government agencies and healthcare providers we work with, where accessibility is an obligation rather than a preference, but every site we build is better for it.
Does accessibility work help SEO and AI search?
Yes, as a side effect. Proper heading structure, meaningful link text, semantic landmarks and genuine alt text are what screen readers depend on, and they are also what search engines and AI assistants use to understand a page. Accessible markup is machine-readable markup.
How do you work with our team?
However suits you. We work in whatever your team already uses, whether that is Slack, Teams, email, or a project tool like Monday, Wrike, Teamwork or Asana. For some clients we are effectively the web team: their editors and staff come to us directly with requests rather than routing everything through one point of contact, and we take in, prioritize and run that work ourselves. For others a single contact is simpler. Either way the developer doing your work is the one managing it, so there is no account layer between you and the person writing your code, and none to pay for. We fit how you already work rather than asking you to adopt our process.