Use this checklist to find common website accessibility barriers, then assess the site against the relevant WCAG 2.2 success criteria. A quick review is a useful first step, not proof that a website is fully accessible or legally compliant.
Start with WCAG 2.2 and the official checklist
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an international standard for making web content more accessible. W3C recommends using the latest version in the WCAG 2 family; WCAG 2.2 is the latest version covered in its WCAG overview. It became a W3C Recommendation on 5 October 2023, adding nine success criteria compared with WCAG 2.1 and removing criterion 4.1.1 Parsing. W3C describes later WCAG 2 versions as backward compatible with earlier ones. See What’s New in WCAG 2.2 for the changes.
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For the criteria themselves, use W3C’s How to Meet WCAG (Quick Reference). It is a customizable checklist: filter by role, topic, technology, and conformance level, then open the linked explanations as needed. The success criteria define WCAG conformance; supporting techniques and explanatory material help with implementation but do not create additional requirements. WCAG organizes testable criteria at levels A, AA, and AAA. When reporting a result, state the level and scope assessed rather than making an unqualified claim that a site is “accessible.”
This practical first review is organized around the four WCAG principles. It is not a replacement for checking the criteria that apply to the pages, content, and interactions on your site.
#1 Best Overall
First-review checklist for a website
Review representative pages and key tasks, such as finding information, submitting a form, or completing a purchase. Record the page, the barrier, the steps to reproduce it, and what a user needs in order to proceed.
1. Perceivable: Can people access the information?
- Page titles: Check that each page has a useful title that distinguishes it from other pages.
- Images: Give meaningful images text alternatives that convey their purpose. Decorative images should not add distracting noise for assistive technology.
- Headings and structure: Use headings and page structure to communicate the content hierarchy. Check that sections and controls are organized meaningfully.
- Contrast and resizing: Check that text is distinguishable from its background and remains usable when enlarged.
- Audio and video: Check whether media has appropriate alternatives, such as captions or descriptions where needed.
2. Operable: Can people use controls and navigate?
- Keyboard access: Use the site without a mouse. Make sure interactive controls can be reached and used with a keyboard.
- Visible focus: As you move through links, buttons, and form controls, confirm that it is clear which control currently has focus.
- Moving or flashing content: Look for moving, blinking, or flashing content that may create a barrier or physical risk, and check whether users have appropriate control.
- Time and interaction: Consider whether interactions allow enough time and whether users can complete key tasks using their available input method.
3. Understandable: Can people follow the content and recover from mistakes?
- Readable content: Check that instructions, labels, and page content are understandable for the task.
- Predictable behavior: Check whether navigation and controls behave consistently and whether changes in the interface are understandable.
- Forms and errors: Confirm that controls have understandable labels, errors are identifiable, and users can tell how to correct them.
4. Robust: Does the site work with user tools?
- Assistive technology support: Check that content and controls are implemented so they can work with current and future user tools, including assistive technologies.
- Whole interaction: Consider how content, code, tools, and interaction work together, not just whether a page looks correct on screen.
These prompts reflect W3C’s WCAG 2 at a Glance and Easy Checks. Easy Checks is designed for a quick first review and covers only a few issues; a page that appears to pass can still have significant accessibility barriers.
Turn the first review into a fuller evaluation
A short checklist helps surface common problems. It cannot establish that the whole website meets WCAG or works for everyone. A more thorough assessment should define what is being assessed and use methods suited to that scope. There is no single evaluation method or checklist result that guarantees an outcome.
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- Set scope: Specify whether the review covers one page, representative templates, key user journeys, or the whole site. Include relevant content and interactive states.
- Name the standard and level: Record the WCAG version and conformance level being assessed, along with the criteria in scope.
- Use multiple review methods: Combine automated checks with manual keyboard and visual review, assistive-technology evaluation, and input from users where appropriate. A scan alone cannot settle how all interactions work.
- Plan remediation and retesting: Assign responsibility for fixing findings and verify the affected pages and tasks again after changes.
W3C explains that accessibility depends on multiple components of web content, code, tools, and interaction working together in its Accessibility Principles. For implementation help, its developer resources include resources and tutorials. WCAG2ICT is separate guidance for applying WCAG to non-web documents and software; a website review does not settle accessibility in those contexts. See the WCAG2ICT overview.
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For capturing a page while documenting a visual issue, ScreenshotNeo is a website screenshot API and MCP server. It can help record what appeared in a browser, but a screenshot cannot determine whether a page meets WCAG or replace keyboard, assistive-technology, and other accessibility evaluation. A single GET request returns a screenshot or PDF. See the ScreenshotNeo documentation.
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://example.com -o shot.webpScreenshotNeo accepts consent banners before capture and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets; each step can be turned off. Bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits cost nothing, with response headers indicating the page verdict and billing status. Its MCP server provides screenshot and PDF tools for AI agents. The free plan includes 1,000 screenshots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000.
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