What Is a WCAG Compliance Audit? Process, Cost, and What You Should Get

If someone has told you your website needs a “WCAG audit,” or you’ve been quoted wildly different prices for one, this guide explains what a WCAG audit actually is, how the process works, what a real one should deliver, and what it should cost. It’s educational information, not legal advice, but by the end you’ll know enough to tell a genuine audit from a repackaged scanner report.

What a WCAG audit is

A WCAG audit is a systematic evaluation of your website against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, a set of specific, testable success criteria for making web content usable by people with disabilities. The benchmark used in nearly every US legal context is WCAG 2.1 Level AA. That is the version courts and the Department of Justice reference, so it’s the level a small-business audit should target.

You may also see WCAG 2.2, which the W3C published in October 2023 and which is the current recommendation. It adds a handful of new criteria on top of 2.1. It’s worth being aware of, but 2.1 AA remains the benchmark cited in almost all US legal contexts today, so that’s what most audits report against. A good auditor can note 2.2 items where they’re relevant without letting them distract from the standard that actually matters legally.

Automated vs. manual: why the method matters

This is the single most important thing to understand before you buy an audit. Automated scanners catch roughly 30% of WCAG issues. Tools like WAVE reliably flag color contrast, missing alt text, and empty links. Tools like Lighthouse add basic ARIA labels and some keyboard checks. Both are useful, and both are only the beginning.

The other ~70% requires a human. A manual auditor navigates your site with a keyboard only, uses a screen reader to move through your actual flows, tests interactive elements like modals and multi-step forms, checks PDF accessibility, and evaluates cognitive-load and mobile-specific barriers. Those are the issues that get cited in demand letters, and no scanner finds them. A “WCAG audit” that’s really just a scanner export is not the same product, no matter what it’s called.

What a real audit includes

A genuine manual WCAG audit should hand you a report you can act on. At minimum, expect:

• A defined page sample: your most important pages, tested in full (for our audit, up to 10 pages).
• A criterion-by-criterion pass/fail checklist against WCAG 2.1 AA for each tested element.
• Screenshot documentation of every violation found, so nothing is abstract.
• Severity ratings (Critical / Major / Minor) so you know what to fix first.
• Developer-ready remediation notes that say exactly what to change and how.
• A signed letter documenting that a good-faith audit was conducted on a specific date.

That last item is easy to overlook and genuinely useful. A dated, signed record of a manual audit is the kind of documentation that supports a good-faith-effort story if a claim is ever filed. A scanner printout doesn’t carry the same weight.

The process, step by step

A typical manual audit runs like this: you provide the site and the pages that matter most (homepage, contact or booking flow, product and checkout pages). The auditor reviews each page against WCAG 2.1 AA using both automated tooling and hands-on keyboard and screen-reader testing. Every issue is captured with a screenshot, a criterion reference, and a severity rating. The findings are written up with remediation notes a developer can follow, and the whole thing is delivered as a report plus a signed audit letter. For our audit, that turnaround is 3–5 business days.

What a WCAG audit costs

Pricing varies widely, and it’s worth knowing why. At the top end, enterprise audits from large accessibility consultancies commonly run into the thousands of dollars. They cover large sites, complex web apps, and detailed VPAT documentation, and they’re priced accordingly. That’s the right tool for a big organization; it’s overkill for a five-page local business site.

Scoped small-business audits are the other end of the market. Ours starts at $249 for up to 10 pages: a manual review against WCAG 2.1 AA with the full deliverables above, delivered in 3–5 business days. The right price for you depends on your site’s size and complexity; the point is that a real manual audit doesn’t have to mean an enterprise budget. Be wary of quotes at either extreme without a clear explanation of scope.

How to choose an auditor

A few red flags to watch for:

• “Instant compliance” promises. Accessibility is remediation work; nobody can make you compliant instantly, and no one can guarantee you won’t be sued.
• Overlay upsells. If the pitch is a pop-up accessibility widget instead of finding and fixing real issues, walk away. Overlays haven’t stopped businesses from being sued.
• Scanner-report-only “audits.” If there’s no manual keyboard and screen-reader testing, you’re buying the 30% and missing the 70% that matters.

FAQ

How long does an audit take? For our manual audit, 3–5 business days from order to delivered report.

Is an audit legally required? No. There’s no law requiring you to get an audit. But WCAG 2.1 AA is the standard cited in litigation and in the DOJ’s Title II rule, and an audit is the most reliable way to find out where your site stands against it.

Does an audit make me compliant? No. Remediation makes you more accessible. The audit tells you exactly what to fix. It’s the map, not the destination. Pair it with our compliance checklist to self-check the basics first, and see what a manual audit covers in detail. If you’ve already received a letter, start with what to do if you get an ADA demand letter. Ready to move? Here’s the audit and pricing.