Digital Accessibility (WCAG)

Digital accessibility means your website or app works for everyone — regardless of whether someone can see, hear, use a mouse, or is 25 or 75 years old. Sounds abstract? Here are concrete examples: **A blind person** uses a screen reader — software that reads the page aloud. If your "Buy Now" button is just an image without a description, the screen reader says "button" or "graphic 1". The user has no idea what that button does. **A person with low vision** zooms the page to 200%. If your text is hardcoded in pixels, it breaks or disappears off the edge of the screen. **A person with tremors** can't precisely click small elements. If your link is one word in the middle of a paragraph — they'll miss it. **A senior** may have all of the above issues at once, plus slower reaction time. If your site requires a quick click before the session expires — they lose their cart. **Someone with a broken arm** temporarily can't use a mouse. If your site doesn't work with just a keyboard — they can't buy. These aren't edge cases. In the US alone, over 70 million adults live with a disability — that's 28.7% of the adult population. The EU has 107 million people with disabilities. The UK has 16.8 million. Combined, that's nearly 200 million potential customers.

Digital accessibility laws differ dramatically between the US, EU, and UK. You need to know which rules apply to your business. **United States: Lawsuits, not regulations** The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was written in 1990 — before websites existed. Courts have interpreted it to apply to websites, but there's no explicit federal law requiring WCAG compliance for private businesses. What this means in practice: **anyone can sue you without warning**. In 2024, over 4,000 web accessibility lawsuits were filed. 77% targeted e-commerce sites. 67% of defendants had under $25 million in annual revenue. Typical costs if you get sued: • Settlement: **$3,000–$25,000** • Legal fees: **$10,000–$50,000** • Remediation: **$5,000–$30,000** • Total exposure: **$25,000–$100,000+** The famous Domino's Pizza case took 6 years and cost millions in legal fees — when fixing the original website issue would have cost perhaps $30,000. **European Union: Clear rules, administrative fines** The **European Accessibility Act (EAA)** came into force on **June 28, 2025**. It applies to: • E-commerce (all B2C online sales) • Banking and payment services • Telecommunications • Transport (ticketing, websites, apps) • Streaming services **Microenterprises are exempt** — defined as fewer than 10 employees AND either annual turnover below €2 million or balance sheet below €2 million. Penalties vary by country: • Netherlands: up to **€900,000 or 10% of revenue** • Germany: **€100,000–€500,000** • France: **€50,000–€250,000** (can be renewed) • Italy: **5% of annual turnover** **Important:** If you're a non-EU company selling to EU customers, you still must comply. The law applies to anyone serving EU consumers. **United Kingdom: "Reasonable adjustments"** Post-Brexit, the UK has its own framework. The **Equality Act 2010** requires all service providers — including websites — to make "reasonable adjustments" for disabled people. What's "reasonable" depends on your company size, costs, and the nature of your services. There's no explicit WCAG requirement for private businesses, but failing to make adjustments can lead to complaints and legal action. For public sector: UK government bodies must meet **WCAG 2.2 Level AA** — the only jurisdiction currently requiring the latest WCAG version. **Key point:** UK companies serving EU customers still need to comply with the EAA.

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is the international standard describing what an accessible website looks like. It's developed by W3C — the same organization that creates HTML and CSS standards. The standard has three levels: **Level A** — absolute minimum. Without this, your site may be completely inaccessible to some users. **Level AA** — the legally required standard in most jurisdictions. Includes proper color contrast, text resizing, video captions. **Level AAA** — highest standard, difficult to fully implement. Not legally required. In practice: if someone says "WCAG compliant" — they should specify "WCAG 2.1 Level AA". That's the standard required by law. **What does WCAG actually check?** The standard contains 78 criteria grouped into four principles. You don't need to memorize them, but understanding the logic helps: **Perceivable** — can users perceive the content. Example: images have alt text that screen readers can read. **Operable** — can users operate the site without a mouse. Example: all functions work with keyboard (Tab, Enter, arrows). **Understandable** — is the content clear. Example: error messages explain what went wrong and how to fix it. **Robust** — does the site work with different technologies. Example: code is valid and screen readers understand it.

Prices across US, UK, and EU markets (2024-2025): **Accessibility audit pricing** • Small site (5-15 pages): USA $1,250–$2,750 | UK £3,000–£5,000 | EU €2,500–€5,000 • Mid-size (20-50 pages): USA $3,000–$10,000 | UK £5,000–£15,000 | EU €5,000–€15,000 • Large portal / enterprise: USA $15,000–$50,000+ | UK £15,000–£50,000+ | EU €15,000–€50,000+ • E-commerce with checkout: USA $5,000–$20,000 | UK £5,000–£20,000 | EU €5,000–€20,000 • Mobile app: USA $3,000–$15,000 | UK £3,000–£15,000 | EU €3,000–€15,000 **Important:** Automated-only audits (tools like WAVE, Lighthouse) detect only 30% of real issues. The tool can check if an image has alt text — but not whether that alt text makes sense. Legal compliance requires manual testing. **Remediation costs** • Simple business website: $5,000–$15,000 • Content-heavy site / blog: $10,000–$30,000 • E-commerce store: $15,000–$50,000 • Large portal / application: $30,000–$100,000+ Cost depends on how far your site is from the standard. A site built on a good template may need minor fixes. A site with custom code and dozens of non-standard components may need rebuilding. **Other costs** • Re-audit after fixes: 50% of first audit • Ongoing monitoring: $200–$1,000/month • Team training (1 day): $500–$2,000/person • Developer training (2 days): $1,500–$4,000/person

**"We guarantee 100% WCAG compliance"** There's no such thing as a "WCAG certificate". No organization issues official compliance certificates. If someone offers "certification" — they either don't know what they're talking about or are deliberately misleading you. You can have a "conformance statement" or "audit report" — but not a certificate. **"Install our widget and you're done"** Accessibility overlays (widgets) are JavaScript tools added to websites that supposedly "fix" accessibility problems. You'll recognize them by the wheelchair icon in the corner of the screen. **They don't work.** The European Commission officially stated overlays are not an appropriate solution. Over 800 accessibility experts signed the Overlay Fact Sheet criticizing these tools. The FTC fined accessiBe $1 million in January 2025 for deceptive advertising. Why they don't work: • They detect only 20-30% of issues • They can interfere with screen readers • They don't fix code problems — they mask them superficially • Blind users often disable them because they get in the way In 2024, **25% of all ADA lawsuits** (over 1,000 cases) explicitly mentioned accessibility widgets as creating barriers, not solving them. One company dropped their overlay after being sued and hired real accessibility consultants instead. An overlay is like putting a plastic sticker over a cracked windshield. It looks OK from a distance, but it doesn't keep out the rain. **"We'll do an audit for $500"** For $500, you get an automated scan — a report from a tool anyone can run for free (WAVE, Lighthouse, axe). That report shows maybe 30% of problems. A real manual audit requires an expert who navigates your site with a keyboard, tests with a screen reader, checks the logic of error messages. That takes time — and costs accordingly. **"We'll fix everything in a week"** Possible for a simple site with a few issues. Unrealistic for an e-commerce store with hundreds of products, forms, and a checkout process. If someone promises miracles in a week without seeing your site — they don't understand the topic or plan to "fix" it with an overlay.

1. **What's your testing methodology?** Look for a combination: automated tests + manual testing + testing with actual users with disabilities. Automation alone isn't enough. 2. **How many audits have you done in the past 2 years?** Look for at least 10-20 completed projects. 3. **Which pages and processes will be tested?** Auditing an "entire site" is a myth — there's always a sample. Make sure it covers critical processes (purchase, registration, contact forms). 4. **What does the report look like?** A good report includes: list of issues with severity ratings (critical/serious/minor), issue location, fix recommendations, reference to specific WCAG criteria. 5. **Is re-testing after fixes included?** You want to know if the fixes actually worked. 6. **Who implements the fixes?** Some companies offer audit and implementation as a package. Others only audit — then you need your own developer. 7. **Do people with disabilities participate in your testing?** The best audits include testing by actual screen reader users, people with motor disabilities, etc.

The WebAIM Million 2025 report analyzed the top 1 million websites. Results: **94.8% had detectable WCAG failures** — and that's only what automated tools can find. The average homepage has **51 accessibility errors**. Users encounter a barrier approximately every 24 elements. Six error types account for 96% of all failures: • Low contrast text — 79.1% of sites • Missing image alt text — 55.5% • Missing form labels — 48.2% • Empty links — 45.4% • Empty buttons — 29.6% • Missing document language — 15.8% A troubling finding: pages using ARIA (a technology meant to improve accessibility) had **twice as many errors** on average as pages without ARIA — suggesting improper implementation creates problems rather than solving them.

**Legal risk** **In the US:** You can be sued at any time with no warning. 41% of 2024 defendants were sued for the second time or more. **In the EU:** From June 2025, fines up to €900,000 or 10% of revenue. Plus product recalls, service suspensions, and public disclosure of violations. **In the UK:** Complaints can lead to enforcement action. The Equality and Human Rights Commission monitors compliance. **Business opportunity** 200 million people with disabilities in the US, EU, and UK combined. Combined spending power over **$3 trillion annually**. The Click-Away Pound study found UK businesses lose **£17.1 billion annually** from customers who abandon inaccessible websites. 69% of disabled users leave sites they find difficult to use. Case studies: • **Tesco:** £35,000 accessibility investment generated **£13 million in annual revenue** — 37,000% ROI • **Legal & General:** Doubled online sales within 3 months of accessibility improvements • Average conversion increase after WCAG implementation: **15-30%** **SEO benefits** Accessibility and SEO overlap significantly: • Semantic HTML helps Google analyze content • Image alt text affects image search indexing • Page speed and responsiveness are shared ranking factors • Proper heading structure helps both screen readers and crawlers Sites with high Lighthouse accessibility scores typically have better Core Web Vitals.

**Legal basis** • United States: ADA (court interpretation) • European Union: European Accessibility Act • United Kingdom: Equality Act 2010 **Private sector requirement** • United States: No explicit WCAG mandate • European Union: Yes (WCAG 2.1 AA via EAA) • United Kingdom: "Reasonable adjustments" **Enforcement** • United States: Private lawsuits • European Union: Administrative fines • United Kingdom: Complaint-driven **Typical cost if non-compliant** • United States: $25,000–$100,000+ per lawsuit • European Union: €5,000–€900,000 fines • United Kingdom: Compensation (varies) **Can you be sued without warning?** • United States: Yes • European Union: No (authorities give remediation period) • United Kingdom: Rare **Microenterprise exemption** • United States: No • European Union: Yes (<10 employees, <€2M) • United Kingdom: No explicit exemption

1. **Run a quick test yourself** — open Chrome DevTools (F12 → Lighthouse tab → check Accessibility → Analyze). You'll get a preliminary score and list of issues. This doesn't replace an audit, but shows the scale of the problem. 2. **Order a professional audit** — choose a company with experience that does manual testing (not just automated). 3. **Prioritize fixes** — start with critical issues (keyboard navigation broken, forms unusable), then serious, then minor. 4. **Train your team** — everyone adding content to your site should know how to add image descriptions, format headings properly, write clear link text. 5. **Monitor continuously** — your site changes, new content can introduce new issues. Annual audits at minimum.