What Does An Audit Cost?
What drives the price of an accessibility audit, what each package includes and how to compare quotes before you buy.
Read the audit cost guideAccessibility Glossary: 200 Web Accessibility Terms Explained In Plain English
Clear definitions of the WCAG, ARIA, ADA, Section 508 and European Accessibility Act terms you will meet in audits, VPATs and legal letters. Reviewed by our founder, an IAAP CPACC, WAS and CPWA certified specialist with 10+ years of hands-on accessibility testing.
Start Here
Turn These Terms Into A Plan
Looked up a term? These guides answer the questions people ask next. New here and not sure what you need? Book a free 30-minute call: a first conversation to understand where you stand and scope your project. Already have scan results or audit findings to go through with your developer? The $100 one-hour technical consultation is built for that.
Got An ADA Demand Letter?
What to do in the first days after a demand letter or lawsuit, and how an audit and documented fixes support your response.
Read the ADA lawsuit guideHow Remediation Works
How audit findings become code, content and design fixes, and how each fix is retested so you can show it is resolved.
Read the remediation guideAutomated Scans Vs Manual Testing
What automated accessibility testing catches, where it stops, and why a manual review with a screen reader still matters.
Read the testing guideSelling In The EU?
What the European Accessibility Act requires, who it covers and how EN 301 549 and WCAG fit together.
Read the EAA guideDo Overlays Make A Site Compliant?
Why accessibility widgets do not fix the underlying code, and what courts and the FTC have said about them.
Read the overlays guideget in touch
Know where you stand. Know what to work on next.
Tell us what you’re working on and where you need support. Our accessibility specialists can help with audits, remediation, VPAT/ACR, accessible development, and ongoing compliance.
Free 30-minute consultation (opens in new tab)
Free 30-minute call: talk through where you stand, scope a project or get a quote.
Need technical answers now? Book the $100 one-hour consultation to walk through an audit, talk with a developer or review your site live.
Let’s find the barriers before your users do
Indicates a required field.
Your information is kept private and never shared with third parties.
From Definition To Fix
Accessibility Glossary Terms Buyers Ask About Most
This accessibility glossary explains 200 terms in plain English. If you are buying an audit or answering a procurement request, start with accessibility audit, WCAG, success criterion, conformance level, VPAT, ACR, accessibility remediation, tagged PDF and accessibility roadmap. For the laws behind them, see ADA Title II, ADA Title III, Section 508, the European Accessibility Act and EN 301 549. Technical definitions follow the W3C’s WCAG 2.2 text.
Accessibility Audit
A structured review of your site against WCAG 2.2 Level AA using screen readers, the keyboard and automated scans. Our Quick Audit is $500 and a complete audit is $2,000.
Accessibility Audit ServicesVPAT And ACR
A VPAT is the ITI reporting template. Once it is filled in from real testing it becomes an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR), which buyers and Section 508 reviewers ask for.
VPAT And ACR DocumentationAccessibility Remediation
Fixing the issues an audit finds in your code, content or CMS settings, then retesting each fix so you can show it is resolved.
Accessibility RemediationADA Demand Letter
A letter claiming your website breaks the ADA, often sent before a lawsuit. An expert audit and documented fixes are the usual first response.
ADA Lawsuit RemediationTagged PDF
A PDF with a tag tree that gives screen readers its headings, reading order, tables and alt text. PDF/UA (ISO 14289) is the standard for accessible PDFs.
Document Accessibility TestingAccessibility Roadmap
A prioritised plan for fixing issues and keeping them fixed, with owners, dates and scheduled retests after each release.
Accessibility MonitoringAll Accessibility Glossary Terms From A To Z
200 definitions covering WCAG success criteria, ARIA, assistive technology, testing tools and accessibility laws around the world. Select a term to read the full definition.
Timing Adjustable
A WCAG success criterion (2.2.1, Level A) requiring that time limits imposed by content be adjustable, extendable, or removable, with narrow exceptions.
Transcript
A transcript is a full text version of an audio or video's spoken content, and for video, ideally its important visual information too, provided as a separate, readable document alongside the media.
UAE Digital Accessibility Policy
The UAE's digital accessibility requirements come from a layered framework of federal and Dubai-specific laws rather than one single act, anchored by Federal Law No. 29 of 2006 on the rights of people with disabilities.
UK Equality Act 2010
The UK's core anti-discrimination law, which covers disability as a protected characteristic and underpins the legal duty to provide reasonable adjustments, including accessible digital services.
Understandable
Understandable is WCAG's third principle: content and interface operation must be clear enough that users can read it and predict how it will behave.
Universal Design
Universal design is the broader architectural and product-design principle of creating environments and products usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation.
Unruh Civil Rights Act
The Unruh Civil Rights Act is a California state law that, per Civil Code Section 51(f), treats any violation of the federal ADA as also being a violation of Unruh, giving California plaintiffs a state-law path to statutory damages.
Usability Testing with People with Disabilities
Usability testing with people with disabilities means observing real disabled users, including screen reader users and people with motor or cognitive disabilities, attempting real tasks on a site, rather than relying only on standards-based review.
User Acceptance Testing (Accessibility)
A final testing phase where people with disabilities actually use a product before launch, verifying real-world usability in a way that expert review and automated tools cannot fully substitute for.
Vendor Accessibility Questionnaire
A standardized set of questions an organization sends to a software or service vendor during procurement to assess the accessibility of that vendor's product before purchase.
Video Accessibility
Accessibility applied to video content, covering closed captions, audio description, transcripts, and accessible video player controls.
Voice Control / Dictation Software
Voice control and dictation software lets users operate a computer or device and enter text using spoken commands instead of a mouse, keyboard, or touchscreen, used by people with motor disabilities and increasingly for general convenience.
VoiceOver
VoiceOver is Apple's built-in screen reader, included free on every Mac, iPhone, and iPad, making it one of the most widely used screen readers simply because of how many Apple devices are in use.
VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template)
A VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) is a standardized document that describes how well a product or website conforms to accessibility standards like WCAG and Section 508.
WAS (Web Accessibility Specialist)
An IAAP certification focused specifically on the technical skills needed to evaluate and remediate web accessibility, including WCAG success criteria, ARIA, and assistive technology testing.
WAVE
A free web accessibility evaluation tool from WebAIM that overlays visual icons directly on a page to flag errors, alerts, and structural accessibility features.
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is the internationally recognized technical standard published by the W3C that defines what makes web content accessible to people with disabilities.
Web Accessibility
Web accessibility is digital accessibility applied specifically to websites and web applications, meaning they can be used with a keyboard alone, understood by screen readers, and perceived without relying on color or precise vision.
Web Accessibility Lawsuit
A web accessibility lawsuit is litigation filed against a business alleging its website violates the ADA or a related state law, most commonly under Title III, often following an unanswered or unresolved demand letter.
Zoom Testing
Manually testing a page at 200 percent or higher browser zoom, and separately with screen magnification software, to confirm content remains usable without clipping, overlap, or lost functionality.
Put The Terms To Work
Not Sure Which Of These Terms Apply To Your Site?
New here? Start with a free 30-minute call to understand where you stand and scope your project. Already have scan results or audit findings to work through with your developer? Book the $100 one-hour technical consultation. Ready for findings? Start with a $500 Quick Audit or a $2,000 complete audit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an accessibility glossary?
An accessibility glossary is a list of the terms used in digital accessibility, from standards such as WCAG and EN 301 549 to laws, assistive technologies and testing methods, each explained in plain language. Ours has 200 terms, written and reviewed by the web accessibility experts who run our audits.
What is the difference between WCAG, the ADA and Section 508?
WCAG is the W3C’s technical standard for accessible web content. The ADA is a US civil rights law: the Department of Justice’s Title II web rule requires state and local governments to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA by April 26, 2027 (populations of 50,000 or more) or April 26, 2028 (smaller entities and special districts). Section 508 covers US federal agencies, and its standards incorporate WCAG 2.0 Level AA. See ADA Title II, ADA Title III and Section 508 in the glossary.
What is the difference between a VPAT and an ACR?
A VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) is the blank reporting template published by the Information Technology Industry Council. When it is completed from real testing, the result is an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR). We write ACRs from hands-on testing through our VPAT and ACR documentation service.
What does WCAG 2.2 Level AA mean?
WCAG 2.2 became a W3C Recommendation on 5 October 2023. It adds nine success criteria to WCAG 2.1, such as Target Size (Minimum) and Accessible Authentication, and removes 4.1.1 Parsing (W3C: What’s New in WCAG 2.2). Level AA means a page meets every Level A and Level AA success criterion. It is the level most laws and contracts ask for.
How much does an accessibility audit cost?
Our packages are fixed prices: a one-hour technical consultation (audit walkthrough, developer Q&A or live issue review) is $100, a Quick Accessibility Audit is $500, and a complete audit is $2,000, including the Shopify Accessibility Audit. Remediation and VPATs are quoted after we see the findings. See accessibility audit pricing for what each package includes.
Can an automated scanner or overlay make my website compliant?
No. Automated tools cannot check every WCAG requirement, which is why the W3C’s guidance on evaluation tools says to combine them with manual review. An accessibility overlay does not fix the underlying code either; read why in accessibility overlays and ADA lawsuits. Our audits pair scans with manual testing in NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver and the keyboard.
Who writes and reviews these glossary definitions?
Our web accessibility experts. Reviews are led by founder Mohammad Shadab Saifi, who has 10+ years in digital accessibility and holds the IAAP CPACC, WAS and CPWA certifications. If a term on your audit report is unclear, book a $100 consultation and we will walk you through it.
I am new to accessibility. Where should I start?
Read WCAG and accessibility audit first, then the guide that fits your situation: audit cost, an ADA demand letter or the European Accessibility Act. When you want to talk it through, book a free 30-minute call. It is a first conversation to understand where you stand and scope a project. If you already have scan results or audit findings to go through with your developer, the $100 one-hour technical consultation is the better fit.