Score
A directional posture score based on what you assessed. It is useful for prioritization, not certification.
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AI Product Tools / Accessibility Audit Scorecard
Accessibility Audit Scorecard
Estimate your product’s accessibility posture, open issue load, remediation effort, and cost of delay. This is a planning scorecard and risk model, not a legal certification or compliance guarantee.
WCAG 2.2 Conformance Score
Remediation Cost Estimate
Financial Cost of Delay
Before you start
This tool combines three things: a posture score, a remediation estimate, and a business-risk estimate.
Severity
Severity shows how harmful an issue type tends to be for affected users. Higher severity should usually be addressed first.
Cost of delay
This estimates what the organization may keep paying in legal, brand, and user-impact risk if the issues stay unresolved.
The primary product surface being audited. Affects applicable WCAG criteria and legal exposure.
Number of distinct UI platforms or surfaces to audit (e.g., web + iOS + Android = 3).
Monthly active users. Used to estimate brand and user impact of accessibility barriers.
Legal jurisdiction determines applicable standards and litigation exposure. Select the most restrictive if operating globally.
$
Fully loaded average cost per hour (salary + benefits + overhead) across the remediation team. Used in Simple mode. $
$
$
$
WCAG 2.2 Scorecard
Rate each criterion group and count open issues
Status Issues Level
Text Alternatives
Images, icons, non-text content — 1.1.1 A
Images, icons, non-text content — 1.1.1 A
Captions & Transcripts
Audio, video, live media — 1.2.x A
Audio, video, live media — 1.2.x A
Adaptable Content
Structure, orientation, sequence — 1.3.x A
Structure, orientation, sequence — 1.3.x A
Color & Contrast
Contrast ratios, color not sole indicator — 1.4.x AA
Contrast ratios, color not sole indicator — 1.4.x AA
Text Resize & Spacing
Resize without loss, spacing override — 1.4.4, 1.4.12 AA
Resize without loss, spacing override — 1.4.4, 1.4.12 AA
Keyboard Accessibility
All functionality, no keyboard traps — 2.1.x A
All functionality, no keyboard traps — 2.1.x A
Focus Management
Visible focus, focus order, skip links — 2.4.3, 2.4.7, 2.4.11 AA
Visible focus, focus order, skip links — 2.4.3, 2.4.7, 2.4.11 AA
Timing & Motion
Pause/stop, no-flash, animation controls — 2.2.x, 2.3.x A
Pause/stop, no-flash, animation controls — 2.2.x, 2.3.x A
Navigation & Wayfinding
Page titles, headings, link purpose, landmarks — 2.4.x AA
Page titles, headings, link purpose, landmarks — 2.4.x AA
Input Modalities
Pointer gestures, motion actuation, target size — 2.5.x AA
Pointer gestures, motion actuation, target size — 2.5.x AA
Language & Reading
Page language, parts language — 3.1.x A
Page language, parts language — 3.1.x A
Predictable Behavior
Consistent nav, consistent ID, focus/input changes — 3.2.x AA
Consistent nav, consistent ID, focus/input changes — 3.2.x AA
Error Prevention & Recovery
Labels, error ID, suggestions, reversal — 3.3.x AA
Labels, error ID, suggestions, reversal — 3.3.x AA
Parsing & Compatibility
Valid markup, name/role/value, status messages — 4.1.x A
Valid markup, name/role/value, status messages — 4.1.x A
Assistive Technology Support
Screen reader, voice control, switch access — 4.1.2, 4.1.3 AA
Screen reader, voice control, switch access — 4.1.2, 4.1.3 AA
Keyboard traps, missing text alternatives for key content, seizure-inducing content. Default: 8 hrs.
Color contrast failures, keyboard inaccessibility (non-trap), missing form labels, no visible focus indicator. Default: 4 hrs.
Missing captions, inadequate error messages, inconsistent navigation patterns. Default: 2 hrs.
Language attributes, minor contrast issues, advisory techniques. Default: 0.5 hrs.
Total remediation hours your team can deliver per week across all roles. Informed by team size and sprint capacity.
FTE headcount dedicated to accessibility remediation. Used for sprint planning context.
Automatically sets litigation probability. Override manually below. U.S. ADA web suits exceeded 4,600 in 2023.
$
Average ADA web accessibility lawsuit settlement: $25,000–$500,000. Default: $250K. Federal class actions can exceed $2M. Pre-filled by risk level (Low=1%, Medium=5%, High=15%, Very High=30%). Override for your specific context.
Multiplier applied to user impact cost to account for brand risk, lost customers, and press coverage. Range: 1.0–5.0. Default: 1.5.
CDC reports ~26% of U.S. adults have a disability. WebAIM estimates 1 in 6 encounter barriers per visit. Default: 15%.
Results
WCAG 2.2 Conformance & Remediation Plan
Conformance Overview
Accessibility posture score
—
0 / 15 groups assessed · not a certification
Open Issues
0
Across all assessed criterion groups
Remediation Cost
—
— total hours
Monthly Cost of Delay
—
Legal + brand risk per month
Score by Principle
1 — Perceivable
—
2 — Operable
—
3 — Understandable
—
4 — Robust
—
Level Breakdown
A
—
Not assessed
AA
—
Not assessed
AAA
—
Not assessed
Issue Summary
Critical
0
Serious
0
Moderate
0
Minor
0
Total Open Issues
0
Across all criterion groups
Remediation Estimate
Total Remediation Hours
—
Across all severity tiers
Total Remediation Cost
—
At the active remediation labor rate
Weeks to Complete
—
At configured sprint velocity and team size
Risk & Cost of Delay
Annual Legal Risk
—
Litigation cost × probability × jurisdiction / scope multiplier
Annual Brand Risk
—
User impact × brand multiplier
Monthly Cost of Delay
—
Combined risk ÷ 12
3-Year Carry Cost
—
Monthly cost × 36
3-Year Net Benefit of Fixing Now
—
3-year carry − remediation cost
Break-Even
—
Months until remediation pays back
Priority Roadmap
Non-compliant and partially compliant areas ranked by severity and issue count. Address highest-severity, highest-count items first.
- Complete the WCAG Scorecard to see the priority roadmap.
Important: These results are directional estimates based on the inputs you provided.
This tool is a planning aid for business-case preparation, not a legal accessibility audit or legal opinion.
Actual remediation costs and timelines vary based on codebase complexity, team capacity, tooling, and product scope.
Issue counts and severity ratings should be validated by a qualified accessibility specialist or automated audit tool (e.g., axe, WAVE, Deque).
Always consult legal counsel regarding ADA, EAA, or Section 508 compliance obligations.
Methodology
This tool uses a two-model approach: a WCAG 2.2 conformance scoring model and a cost-of-delay financial model. Together they give design leaders both a technical posture snapshot and a business case for accessibility investment.
WCAG 2.2 Overview
WCAG 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, W3C, 2023) is the current international standard for digital accessibility. It is organized into four principles — Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust — with three conformance levels: A (minimum), AA (standard industry target), and AAA (enhanced).
Most legal standards (ADA, Section 508, EAA, AODA) reference WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 AA as the compliance baseline. WCAG 2.2 added new criteria around focus appearance (2.4.11–2.4.12), dragging movements (2.5.7), target size (2.5.8), and authentication (3.3.7–3.3.8).
Conformance Score Calculation
Each criterion group is scored individually:
Non-Compliant = 0 points
Partially Compliant = 50 points
Compliant = 100 points
Not Assessed = excluded from average
The overall conformance score is the unweighted average of all assessed criterion groups. Principle scores are averages within each of the four WCAG principles. Groups marked "Not Assessed" are excluded from the denominator — the score reflects only what has been evaluated. Completing the full scorecard produces the most accurate overall score.
Severity Tier Assignment
Each criterion group has a hardcoded severity tier based on user impact precedent from WebAIM, Deque, and the WAI-ARIA specification:
- Critical — Keyboard traps, missing text alternatives for key content, seizure-inducing content. Completely prevents access for affected user groups.
- Serious — Color contrast failures, keyboard inaccessibility (non-trap), missing form labels, no visible focus indicator. Significantly impairs use.
- Moderate — Missing captions, inadequate error messages, inconsistent navigation. Impairs use but workarounds often exist.
- Minor — Language attributes, advisory techniques. Minimal user impact but still a conformance failure.
Remediation Cost Model
base_remediation_hours = Σ (issues_by_severity × hours_per_severity)
total_remediation_hours = base_remediation_hours × surface_multiplier × product_complexity_multiplier
total_remediation_cost = total_remediation_hours × active_remediation_rate
weeks_to_remediate = total_remediation_hours ÷ (sprint_velocity_hours_per_week × remediation_team_fte)
Default hours per severity are based on Deque Systems' research on remediation cost at different stages of development and publicly available data from accessibility consulting firms: Critical=8hrs, Serious=4hrs, Moderate=2hrs, Minor=0.5hrs. These are averages across issue types — individual issues may be faster or slower depending on the codebase. In Simple mode the model uses the blended hourly rate. In Advanced mode it uses a weighted remediation rate across design, engineering, QA, and PM labor inputs.
Cost of Delay Model
The cost of delay models two risk components:
annual_legal_risk = litigation_cost × probability_of_legal_action × jurisdiction_multiplier × product_risk_multiplier × surface_multiplier
annual_brand_risk = (active_users × impacted_user_pct × 0.0001) × brand_multiplier × 1000 × surface_multiplier
monthly_cost_of_delay = (annual_legal_risk + annual_brand_risk) ÷ 12
months_to_break_even = total_remediation_cost ÷ monthly_cost_of_delay
three_year_carry_cost = monthly_cost_of_delay × 36
three_year_net_benefit = three_year_carry_cost − total_remediation_cost
The brand risk formula scales with user base size and applies the brand impact multiplier to account for the compounding effects of reputation, lost conversions, and press coverage that exceed the direct user experience cost. The 0.0001 scaling factor and 1000 multiplier normalize the estimate to a reasonable dollar range for typical business sizes.
What Is Included
- WCAG 2.2 conformance scoring across all four principles
- Issue severity classification by criterion group
- Remediation cost estimation by severity tier
- Sprint velocity–based timeline modeling
- Legal risk quantification based on litigation cost and probability
- Brand and user impact modeling based on active user base
- 3-year financial case for remediation
What Is Excluded
- Automated scan results (this tool requires manual assessment input)
- Specific WCAG success criterion–level detail (groups by topic for usability)
- Platform-specific native mobile accessibility guidance beyond WCAG scope
- Ongoing maintenance cost of accessibility (post-remediation)
- Revenue uplift from improved accessibility (though research suggests 10–15% conversion improvement for users with disabilities)
- Reputational benefit from proactive accessibility leadership
Planning Aid, Not a Legal Audit
This tool is designed for design and product leaders to build an internal business case, prioritize remediation sprints, and communicate accessibility posture to stakeholders. It is not a legal audit, a certified accessibility evaluation, or a substitute for testing with real assistive technology users. For legal compliance verification, engage a qualified accessibility specialist or VPAT/ACR provider.
Sources & Disclaimer
This tool was built using publicly available research, legal frameworks, and accessibility practitioner data. The defaults and benchmarks used in the model are informed by the following sources:
- W3C — Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 (2023) The authoritative W3C specification for WCAG 2.2, including the four principles, three conformance levels, and all individual success criteria. This tool's criterion groupings, level assignments, and structural organization are directly derived from this specification.
- WebAIM Million Annual Report (2024) WebAIM's automated analysis of the top 1 million home pages. The 2024 report found that 95.9% of home pages had detectable WCAG failures, with an average of 56.8 errors per page. The most common failures (low contrast, missing alt text, missing form labels, empty links) informed the severity tier assignments in this tool.
- Deque Systems — Cost of Accessibility Remediation Research Deque's published research on the cost of accessibility remediation at different stages of development. The "shift left" model demonstrates that fixing issues in design costs 1x, in code costs 10x, and in production costs 100x. The default remediation hours per severity tier in this tool are informed by Deque's published averages for production-stage remediation.
- UsableNet — ADA Web Accessibility Lawsuit Report (2023) UsableNet's annual report on ADA-related web accessibility lawsuits in the United States. The 2023 report documented more than 4,600 lawsuits, with average settlements ranging from $25,000–$500,000. The default litigation cost ($250,000) and legal risk probability presets in this tool are informed by this data.
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) — Title III Digital Application The legal framework for U.S. accessibility requirements for public accommodations, including websites and mobile apps. The DOJ has confirmed that websites are covered under Title III. The ADA enforcement environment informed the U.S. jurisdiction legal risk model in this tool.
- Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Federal law requiring U.S. government agencies and their contractors to make electronic and information technology accessible. Section 508 compliance references WCAG 2.0 Level AA. Organizations serving the federal government face additional compliance obligations beyond standard ADA exposure.
- European Accessibility Act (EAA) — Directive (EU) 2019/882 The EAA entered into force in June 2019 with a compliance deadline of June 28, 2025 for most covered products and services. It applies to a broad range of digital products and services sold in the EU and references EN 301 549 (which references WCAG 2.1 AA). Organizations with EU users should treat this as a significant new compliance driver with cross-border enforcement implications.
- CDC — Disability and Health Data (2023) CDC data indicating approximately 26% of U.S. adults live with a disability, with vision, hearing, cognitive, and mobility impairments among the most common. This data informed the default "% of users directly impacted" (15%) used in the brand/user impact model.
Important Disclaimer. This tool is a directional planning aid for accessibility program planning,
sprint prioritization, and executive business-case conversations. It is not a legal accessibility audit,
a certified evaluation, or a legal opinion. Issue counts, severity ratings, and cost estimates depend entirely on the
inputs you provide and the accuracy of your manual assessment.
WCAG conformance can only be formally verified through a combination of automated testing, manual expert evaluation, and testing with users who rely on assistive technology. This tool does not perform automated scanning and does not produce a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) or Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR).
Remediation cost and timeline estimates are industry averages. Actual costs depend on codebase complexity, team composition, tooling choices, and product scope. Always validate with your engineering and QA leads before committing to timelines in executive conversations.
This tool does not collect, store, or transmit any of your data. All calculations happen locally in your browser. Inputs are saved only in your browser's local storage and are never sent to any server.
Consult qualified accessibility specialists and legal counsel before making compliance claims or representations in contracts, marketing materials, or regulatory filings. This tool is provided free of charge and without warranty, express or implied.
WCAG conformance can only be formally verified through a combination of automated testing, manual expert evaluation, and testing with users who rely on assistive technology. This tool does not perform automated scanning and does not produce a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) or Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR).
Remediation cost and timeline estimates are industry averages. Actual costs depend on codebase complexity, team composition, tooling choices, and product scope. Always validate with your engineering and QA leads before committing to timelines in executive conversations.
This tool does not collect, store, or transmit any of your data. All calculations happen locally in your browser. Inputs are saved only in your browser's local storage and are never sent to any server.
Consult qualified accessibility specialists and legal counsel before making compliance claims or representations in contracts, marketing materials, or regulatory filings. This tool is provided free of charge and without warranty, express or implied.