Can I check my website’s accessibility myself?
Yes! Even though you will likely need an experienced accessibility tester to test for some issues, there are many tests that can be performed by site owners / content editors themselves.
You can use these five tips to quickly find the issues that may cause problems on your site:
- Use only your keyboard to navigate – no mousing! Use the tab key to move forward, shift+tab to move backward, and the enter key or spacebar to 'click' on things. Make sure that anything you can do with a mouse can also be done using only the keyboard.
- Check your site with a screen reader such as VoiceOver or NVDA. (Basic Screen Reader Keystrokes PDF)
- Test color contrast with the WebAIM Contrast Checker. Make sure all regular-sized text has a 4.5:1 contrast ratio against the background and non-text things like form input fields have a 3:1 contrast ratio. View 'Using the WebAIM Color Contrast Checker' (2:35) on Vimeo to get started quickly!
- Use axe DevTools by Deque Systems, which is an automated accessibility testing tool. Don't forget that automated testing, alone, cannot determine the accessibility of your content. Manual testing such as keyboarding and color contrast checking must also be performed. Anytime you have the option, include people with disabilities as part of your testing process, too! Their lived experience with inaccessible content will find challenges that you may not even think to check.
- Use ANDI to test accessibility. ANDI is an open source project created by the Accessible Solutions Branch of the Social Security Administration. View 'Installing ANDI Accessibility Testing Tool' (2:22) on Vimeo to learn how to install ANDI in your browser toolbar and use some of the tools it offers.
Visit our 'Test your content page' to learn how to conduct more basic tests of your site.