Through years of experience in digital accessibility, we've identified a common challenge across organizations striving to meet WCAG 2.2 and ADA compliance standards: while accessibility audits for websites and mobile applications effectively uncover issues, the journey often stalls when it comes to implementing fixes. After receiving a detailed audit report, it's not unusual for weeks—or even months—to pass before remediation begins. This delay isn't due to a lack of effort or commitment; rather, it reflects how overwhelming the process can feel without clear direction or the right support.
Accessibility remediation is more than just checking items off a list. It's a nuanced process that requires technical expertise, thoughtful planning, and collaboration. Traditional approaches—where testing, fixing, and retesting happen in separate silos—can be time-consuming and costly. In today's post, we'll explore why remediation can feel so daunting, what makes traditional methods inefficient, and how expert guidance can transform the way organizations tackle accessibility.
Understanding the Limitations of Audits
Accessibility audits are invaluable for identifying compliance gaps. They act as a diagnostic tool, highlighting WCAG violations and outlining areas where your digital assets fall short. But as useful as they are, audits don't provide a clear roadmap for fixing the issues. These reports can be hundreds of pages long, dense with technical findings that even experienced developers may struggle to interpret.
For example, an audit might flag a WCAG 2.2 failure related to keyboard navigation or screen reader compatibility. While the issue is clear, the best way to fix it depends on the context—your platform, your codebase, and your user flows. Without expertise to navigate these complexities, remediation can feel like finding your way through a maze without a map.
Consider a website with a complex navigation structure built using custom JavaScript. An audit might identify that keyboard users cannot access certain menu items. Addressing this requires not only fixing the keyboard traps but also ensuring that the JavaScript interactions are accessible, which demands a deep understanding of both accessibility standards and the underlying codebase.
The Developer's Challenge
Developers are skilled problem solvers, but accessibility compliance requires specialized knowledge most developers simply don't have. For instance, WCAG guidelines often allow for multiple ways to address the same defect, and developers may not be familiar with all the available techniques.
Imagine a developer tasked with fixing a failure related to color contrast. They might adjust colors manually but overlook subtler aspects, such as hover states or active elements, leaving gaps in compliance. Worse yet, they may implement a fix that conflicts with your design goals or usability standards—potentially clashing with your brand guidelines.
Beyond color adjustments, ensuring sufficient contrast in dynamic content, such as modal dialogs or interactive charts, requires comprehensive testing across various states and interactions. Without specialized knowledge, these elements might remain inaccessible despite apparent compliance on the surface.
This knowledge gap often leads to inefficiencies, where fixes are either incomplete or need to be reworked after subsequent rounds of testing. Without expert guidance, remediation can become a cycle of trial and error, draining time and resources.
Breaking Down Traditional Approaches
The conventional test > remediate > retest model for addressing accessibility issues is inherently inefficient. Separate teams handle testing and remediation, leading to long delays as fixes are implemented, retested, and then refined. In this fragmented approach, the back-and-forth can stretch timelines and inflate costs, leaving compliance efforts stuck in limbo.
Many organizations rely heavily on monitoring software—which essentially performs the same identify-and-notify tasks without providing actionable solutions. While these tools can help maintain ongoing compliance by flagging new issues as they arise, without a structured remediation strategy, organizations may struggle to address these alerts effectively. This can lead to a perpetual state of partial compliance, where issues are continuously identified but never fully resolved.
The Power of Integrated Teams
The key to efficient remediation lies in collaboration. The best results occur when testing teams and remediation experts work together as a single, cohesive unit. This eliminates the miscommunication and delays that often arise when testing is outsourced while in-house developers attempt to implement fixes.
An integrated approach enables teams to:
- Translate audit findings into precise, actionable fixes
- Prioritize issues based on severity and user impact
- Test fixes immediately to ensure compliance, usability, and design integrity
This unified approach saves time, reduces costs, and ensures that accessibility improvements are both effective and sustainable. The best way to ensure conformance with accessibility standards is to maintain an ongoing corporate commitment to inclusivity and to establish strong partnerships between development teams and accessibility experts.
The Value of Specialized Expertise
Accessibility remediation is more than just code fixes; it's about creating digital experiences that work for everyone. True expertise involves understanding not only the technical requirements of WCAG but also the nuances of usability and assistive technologies.
For example, a WCAG 2.2 guideline might suggest using ARIA roles to enhance screen reader functionality. While this is a valid solution, implementing ARIA incorrectly can cause more harm than good. Experts know when to use ARIA roles—and when native HTML elements are a better choice.
Proper use of ARIA involves understanding the specific roles and properties that assistive technologies rely on. Misusing ARIA can lead to confusing or misleading information being conveyed to users, potentially making navigation more difficult rather than easier. Expert guidance ensures that ARIA is applied judiciously and effectively, enhancing accessibility without introducing new barriers.
The Hidden Costs of DIY Remediation
Many organizations attempt to handle remediation in-house, only to find the process more challenging than expected. Without expertise, teams can waste weeks experimenting with fixes that fail to meet compliance standards. This not only delays progress but also increases liability risks, as unresolved issues continue to impact users.
DIY remediation can lead to inconsistent implementations, where some areas of your digital presence are accessible while others remain inaccessible. This inconsistency can harm your reputation and alienate users who rely on accessible technologies to interact with your content.
Moving Forward with Confidence
Accessibility remediation doesn't have to be overwhelming or drawn out. While audits lay the groundwork by identifying issues, the real work happens during remediation—and success depends on the right strategy and expertise. Traditional methods often fall short, leading to delays, rising costs, and incomplete fixes.
The path forward lies in treating accessibility as an integral part of your development process rather than a separate initiative. This means:
- Embedding accessibility expertise within development teams
- Creating clear workflows for addressing accessibility issues
- Establishing regular communication channels between developers and accessibility experts
- Implementing continuous testing and feedback loops
By taking a more integrated approach to accessibility remediation, organizations can ensure their digital assets remain accessible, compliant, and inclusive for everyone. The key is recognizing that accessibility isn't a one-time fix but an ongoing commitment to creating better digital experiences for all users.
Introducing Accessibility Ops: A Seamless Integration Solution
While understanding these challenges is crucial, organizations often need practical solutions that can be implemented without disrupting their existing workflows. This is where Accessibility Ops comes in – a innovative approach that seamlessly integrates accessibility expertise into your development lifecycle.
Accessibility Ops functions as an on-demand extension of your development team, providing specialized accessibility support precisely when you need it. This model offers several unique advantages:
- Instant Access to Expertise: Rather than building an in-house accessibility team or relying on periodic audits, your developers can tap into expert guidance at any stage of development.
- Streamlined Implementation: The integration with your existing workflows means fixes can be implemented faster, with expert validation happening in real-time rather than through lengthy back-and-forth cycles.
- Continuous Improvement: Instead of treating accessibility as a separate initiative, Accessibility Ops enables your team to build accessibility considerations into every stage of development, from planning to deployment.
- Cost-Effective Scaling: By providing support on-demand, organizations can scale their accessibility efforts up or down based on project needs, ensuring efficient resource allocation.
- Knowledge Transfer: Through ongoing collaboration with accessibility experts, your development team naturally builds their accessibility expertise over time, improving their ability to prevent issues before they arise.
The result is a more efficient, effective approach to accessibility remediation that delivers better outcomes while reducing the burden on your development team. By combining the best practices outlined above with the practical support of Accessibility Ops, organizations can confidently move forward in their accessibility journey, knowing they have the expertise and support needed to create truly inclusive digital experiences.
