When is an audit not an audit
When you hear the word audit, what do you think of? What are the words that come to mind? Detailed? Thorough? Comprehensive? You might imagine that an accessibility audit of your website would be any or all of these at once, with a hefty price tag to boot!
One of the reasons we set up this website is to be able to inform and educate website owners so that they will have a better understanding of what a website accessibility audit should consist of. Unfortunately, it is a completely unregulated industry: anyone could put up a website and call themselves an expert on website accessibility and most people would be none the wiser. This is why it is in your own interests to talk to anyone that you might be considering to engage for a website accessibility audit and find out from them exactly what they are going to do and how much they are likely to charge.
If you read through our pages on Metrics (follow this link to go to the Metrics pages) and Manual Testing (follow this link to go to the Manual Testing page), you will have a better idea of what should be involved, if it is done correctly. As with websites, there is little or no correlation between the price of an audit and how comprehensive it is, so here are a few questions for you to consider.
- Has the company any first-hand knowledge of accessible website design?
- Can they provide you with examples of previous audits they have done?
- Will they work alongside your existing website developer in ensuring that you will have a roadmap towards making your existing website as accessible as possible?
- Will they produce an Accessibility Statement for you?
The website Accessibility Statement is the final outcome. Currently, it is a legal requirement if you are publicly funded. I can confidently predict that it will eventually become a legal requirement for every other website as well, just like having a Privacy Policy is now a legal requirement for every website. When was the last time you heard of regulations being made easier? Irrespective of when it does happen, every website in the UK already falls under the Equality Act so it is in your interests to make sure you have your website audited and your Accessibility Statement written, to protect you from possible litigation and to inform visitors so that they know what to expect.
Think of an accessibility audit and statement as your health and safety policy for your website, just like you will have a health and safety policy for your workplace. Get it done properly, and you can focus on the other aspects of your business, safe in the knowledge that you are protected.
If you are concerned that your current website Accessibility Statement may be inadequate or you do not currently have one for your website, please get in touch with us for a free 15-minute consultation by following this link.