HalfAccessible delivers IS 17802 and RPwD Act accessibility audits for websites, apps, and platforms operating in India, combining automated scanning with manual testing by CPWA-, CPACC-, and WAS-certified specialists benchmarked against WCAG 2.2 Level AA.
India's Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act) requires accessible information and communication technology, and the Bureau of Indian Standards has published the technical rulebook: IS 17802 (Part 1): 2021, which sets the accessibility requirements for ICT products and services such as websites and mobile apps, and IS 17802 (Part 2): 2022, which sets out how conformance with those requirements is determined. In April 2025, India's Supreme Court ruled that the right to digital access is part of the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution, and within three months SEBI mandated accessibility compliance across India's regulated financial industry, with accessibility audits and remediation now due by October 31, 2026 under a July 2026 SEBI extension. Draft RPwD (Amendment) Rules published in 2026 add turnover-based compliance deadlines and a mandatory, publicly available Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) for every covered organization. An India website accessibility audit tests your website, app, or platform against IS 17802 and maps every finding back to the RPwD Act, so you know exactly where you stand and what your ACR needs to say.
Think of this audit as a legal and technical health check for your website or product against India's own accessibility standard, IS 17802, not a generic international checklist. We test against the exact rulebook Indian regulators reference and show you precisely where you stand, including what your Accessibility Conformance Report should say.
Meeting the right legal standard protects your organization from enforcement risk and makes your product usable by more people.
Sections 40-46 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 require websites, web applications, and digital content to follow accessibility guidelines — courts have treated this as non-negotiable following Supreme Court directions.
India's own ICT accessibility standard, IS 17802, formalizes what 'accessible' means for Indian digital products and services, closely aligned with WCAG.
Government bodies, public-sector enterprises, private companies, trusts, societies, and institutions offering services or public access all fall within scope.
Under Section 89 of the RPwD Act, a first contravention can draw a fine of up to ₹10,000, and any subsequent contravention a fine of ₹50,000 to ₹5,00,000.
We audit public websites, authenticated applications, SaaS platforms, mobile apps, documents, and design systems.
Corporate websites, marketing sites, government websites, university websites, healthcare websites, ecommerce journeys, landing pages, blogs, resource libraries, and multilingual content experiences.
Customer portals, admin dashboards, CRMs, internal software, enterprise workflows, complex forms, authenticated user journeys, data tables, reports, notifications, and role-based interfaces.
B2B platforms, cloud software, analytics dashboards, AI applications, product onboarding flows, account settings, billing workflows, and feature-rich application screens.
Native iOS, native Android, hybrid applications, progressive web apps, orientation changes, touch targets, gestures, screen reader flows, zoom behavior, and mobile form interactions.
PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint files, forms, reports, policy documents, financial statements, healthcare documents, education resources, and procurement documentation.
Reusable components, UI libraries, pattern libraries, design tokens, Figma components, interaction patterns, and documentation that affects many pages or product screens.
Marketing, ecommerce, healthcare, government, education, nonprofit, and service organizations use accessibility audits to make essential public content available to more people.
Product teams use audits to validate complex workflows, reduce accessibility debt, improve component libraries, and prepare for enterprise accessibility reviews.
Legal, compliance, procurement, and sales teams use audit evidence to answer buyer questions, support VPAT work, and document remediation commitments.
Evaluate public websites against WCAG 2.2 AA using manual testing, automated scanning, keyboard-only navigation, and assistive technologies.
Review authenticated user journeys, dashboards, complex forms, data tables, notifications, custom widgets, and enterprise workflows.
Test native and hybrid applications using VoiceOver, TalkBack, keyboard alternatives, zoom, orientation changes, touch target review, and gesture accessibility checks.
Assess PDFs and office documents for tagging, reading order, alternative text, bookmarks, form fields, headings, tables, and screen reader compatibility.
Identify accessibility issues in Figma files, design systems, and component specs before development begins, reducing rework and improving handoff quality.
Evaluate products and prepare accessibility documentation that supports enterprise and government procurement conversations.
Each issue is mapped to user impact, the relevant standard, severity, affected users, and practical remediation guidance.
Missing or inaccurate alternative text prevents screen reader users from understanding meaningful images, icons, charts, infographics, product photos, and linked graphics. We identify images that need concise alternatives, images that should be marked decorative, and complex visuals that need longer explanations.
Many users navigate with a keyboard, switch device, voice control, or assistive technology that relies on keyboard behavior. We test focus order, skip links, menus, modals, tabs, accordions, custom widgets, and form flows without a mouse.
Low contrast can make text, buttons, icons, form controls, and charts difficult or impossible to perceive. We evaluate contrast for normal text, large text, UI components, focus indicators, disabled states, links, and error messages.
Forms often block users when labels, instructions, required indicators, validation messages, and error handling are not accessible. We test forms with keyboard navigation and screen readers to confirm users can complete and submit successfully.
Headings, lists, landmarks, tables, and reading order help assistive technology users understand a page quickly. We identify skipped heading levels, missing landmarks, and reading-order mismatches.
Modern applications often update content without refreshing the page. We test status messages, ARIA live regions, notifications, and single-page app transitions to confirm important changes are announced correctly.
| Feature | Automated Testing | Manual Testing |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Fast (minutes) | Slower (days) |
| Cost | Low | Higher, but more accurate |
| Manual WCAG Review | No | Yes |
| Keyboard Navigation | Limited | Complete |
| Screen Reader Compatibility | No | Yes |
| Logical Reading Order | No | Yes |
| Meaningful Alternative Text | No | Yes |
| Form Usability | Partial | Yes |
| Overall User Experience | No | Yes |
A structured process gives your team clear findings, clear priorities, and a practical path to compliance.
We review your platform, page count, workflows, and applicable framework, RPwD Act 2016, IS 17802 (Part 1 & 2), and SEBI's circular where relevant, to define audit scope, your turnover-based deadline, and ACR requirements.
We run automated tools across the defined scope to catch code-level issues quickly, giving us a baseline before manual review begins.
Certified specialists manually test keyboard navigation, focus order, forms, headings, and interactive components against WCAG success criteria.
We test with screen readers (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver, TalkBack), voice control, and switch access to confirm real-world usability, not just code compliance.
Findings are documented with severity, standard references, screenshots, and reproduction steps, then organized into a prioritized remediation roadmap.
After your team implements fixes, we retest affected pages or flows to confirm issues are resolved and no new barriers were introduced.
A clear summary of audit scope, key risks, priority themes, and recommended next steps for stakeholders.
A practical status snapshot that helps teams understand current accessibility maturity and remediation priorities.
Issue-by-issue findings with screenshots, affected URLs or screens, severity ratings, standard references, and reproduction steps.
Practical remediation guidance, code-level notes, component recommendations, and examples your developers can act on.
Findings organized to support accessibility statements, VPAT and ACR documentation, and procurement or legal review.
Validation evidence after remediation, showing which issues were fixed and what remains open.
HalfAccessible brings CPWA, CPACC, and WAS accessibility expertise to audits, remediation support, documentation, and product guidance.
Reports are written for action. Developers receive clear reproduction steps, expected behavior, affected users, standard mapping, and remediation guidance.
We support businesses operating across multiple regulatory regions with a single audit benchmarked to the highest applicable standard.
Audit scope is tailored to your product and priorities so your team receives useful findings without unnecessary reporting overhead.
Whether you're preparing for the Draft RPwD Amendment Rules' turnover-based deadlines, responding to SEBI's accessibility circular, or building your first Accessibility Conformance Report, our IAAP-certified specialists will identify every real accessibility barrier and hand your team a prioritized, developer-ready roadmap. Quick audits start at $500, complete audits at $2,000.
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Answers to common questions about India Website Accessibility Audit Services (RPwD Act & IS 17802).
The RPwD Act 2016 applies broadly to establishments, which includes private companies, not just government bodies. Combined with the Draft RPwD (Amendment) Rules 2026’s turnover-based deadlines and the Supreme Court’s April 2025 ruling that digital access is part of the right to life under Article 21, private businesses operating in India should treat accessibility compliance as a legal requirement, not an optional best practice. That includes edtech and education platforms and banking apps as well as ecommerce. Public-sector buyers should also check their sites against GIGW 3.0.
IS 17802 is India’s own technical accessibility standard, published by the Bureau of Indian Standards: Part 1 (2021) sets the requirements for ICT products and services such as websites and mobile apps, and Part 2 (2022) sets out how conformance with those requirements is determined. It is not the same document as WCAG, but its web requirements align with WCAG 2.1 Level AA, so WCAG 2.1 AA is the baseline for IS 17802 conformance. We test to WCAG 2.2 AA so your site also meets the newer success criteria. Central and state government websites should also follow the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW 3.0).
The draft rules set turnover-based deadlines: organizations with Rs 500 crore or more in annual turnover get 1 year from publication, smaller organizations get 18 months, and every covered organization must reach full compliance within 2 years. Platforms with user-generated content that lack accessibility capability at commencement get 6 months to implement it.
An ACR is a document showing how your website or app conforms to India’s accessibility standard. Under the draft rules, every covered establishment must publish an ACR that is freely available on its website or app, provided in both human-readable (accessible HTML or PDF) and machine-readable (JSON or XML) format, and prepared by a qualified accessibility evaluator.
Yes. Within three months of the Supreme Court’s April 2025 ruling, SEBI issued a circular mandating accessibility compliance across SEBI-regulated financial industry platforms, covering brokers, asset managers, and other regulated entities operating in India. On July 31, 2026, SEBI extended the deadline for regulated entities to conduct their accessibility audit and remediate its findings to October 31, 2026.
Under Section 89 of the RPwD Act, a first contravention can draw a fine of up to ₹10,000, and any subsequent contravention a fine of ₹50,000 to ₹5,00,000. The draft 2026 rules, which are not yet final, would add enhanced fines if issues aren’t remedied within 90 days, plus potential suspension or cancellation of registration, certification, or regulatory approval for continued non-compliance.