Axively

Accessibility audit

Accessibility audit for EU websites

An accessibility audit should do more than list automated errors. For EU-facing websites it needs to connect WCAG findings with business risk: what blocks real users, what affects checkout or sign-up, what is required by EN 301 549, and what evidence you can show if a customer, regulator or procurement team asks about compliance.

Axively scans public pages in a real browser, maps violations to WCAG 2.2 AA and EN 301 549, groups repeated template problems, and turns the result into remediation priorities plus a draft accessibility statement.

Audit checklist

  • Crawl the public site and identify templates, not only individual URLs.
  • Test WCAG 2.1/2.2 A and AA rules with a browser-based engine.
  • Separate critical checkout/account blockers from cosmetic issues.
  • Map findings to EN 301 549 clause 9 for EU web content.
  • Document what automated testing can and cannot prove.
  • Create a remediation backlog with owners, deadlines and verification steps.
  • Publish or update an accessibility statement in the right language.

What a serious accessibility audit covers

A useful audit starts with scope. The homepage is rarely enough: navigation, product listings, forms, login flows, checkout, documents, modal dialogs and error states all need attention. If a bug appears in a shared component, it can affect hundreds of URLs; the audit should identify that component-level cause rather than overwhelm the team with duplicate rows.

For EU compliance the audit should also record the standards used. WCAG 2.2 AA is the practical web benchmark; EN 301 549 is the harmonised European ICT standard that references WCAG for web content. The European Accessibility Act points businesses toward these standards, but each member state enforces the rules through its own law and authority.

  • Public pages and key conversion flows
  • Keyboard, focus, forms, names/roles/values, contrast and semantics
  • Reusable components that create repeated violations
  • Evidence: tested URLs, timestamps, rulesets and severity

Prioritise by user impact, not by raw error count

A site with 400 low-impact duplicates may be less risky than one checkout page with an inaccessible payment button. The first remediation pass should target blockers: keyboard traps, unlabeled controls, missing form errors, broken focus order and content that screen readers cannot identify.

After blockers come template fixes. Correcting a navigation component, form input component or button pattern often removes the same violation from many pages. That is why Axively groups findings by rule and cause before showing the page-level occurrences.

Evidence matters for EAA and procurement

Regulators and enterprise buyers do not only ask whether you believe the site is accessible. They ask what you tested, when, against which standard and what you did with the results. Keep a report, remediation notes and verification scans. This evidence is also useful for sales: accessibility is increasingly part of vendor due diligence.

A transparent report should state the limits of automation. Automated tools catch many common issues, but meaningful alt text, understandable content, caption quality and some task-level flows require human review. Claiming full automatic compliance is a red flag; showing a measured process is stronger.

FAQ

Is an automated accessibility audit enough for legal compliance?

No. Automated testing is the fastest way to find many common WCAG failures, but full compliance still needs expert review. A good automated audit is the first evidence-backed step, not a magic certificate.

Which standard should an EU website use?

Use WCAG 2.2 AA as the web testing baseline and map the result to EN 301 549. For EAA exposure, also check the national law that applies in your target EU market.

How often should we re-test?

Test after major releases, after design-system changes and before publishing an accessibility statement. For active e-commerce sites, monthly or release-based checks are safer than a one-off annual audit.