An ADA audit of a website is a WCAG audit with the priorities rearranged: the findings that matter first are the ones on the paths a customer complains about, because that is what a demand letter cites and what a regulator would ask about. This page is the order to work in and the arithmetic behind it. On the worked example the whole fix is 401 issues, 167 hours and $15,872, and the first quarter of that spend covers the paths every complaint has ever named.
Start where the complaints start
Home, search, the main product or service page, the form or checkout, and the contact page. Every demand letter this field has produced names a path like that, not a blog post from 2019. Auditing and fixing those first means the site is defensible long before the last issue is closed.
Then the templates, because they multiply
126 of the 401 issues on the worked example live in nine templates rather than in page content, and each template fix reaches 26 pages. Fixing templates before content is the single largest saving available in a remediation programme, and it is invisible if the audit lists findings page by page.
Then the long tail, on a schedule
Content issues, old PDFs and archived posts are worth doing steadily rather than in one sprint. Put them on the review cycle the statement promises: on the statement sheet, closing four issues a month against 34 open means the next six-month review still has ten outstanding, which is a number to publish rather than hide.
Questions people ask about ada audit
Does ADA compliance testing certify anything?
No. There is no ADA certification for a website, and any supplier offering one is selling a badge rather than a standard.
How often should we re-audit?
Annually for most sites, and after any redesign. A redesign resets the templates, which is where most of the issues live.
What if we cannot fix everything?
Publish what is outstanding and when it will be fixed. A dated statement with known issues is stronger than silence, and it is what the statement sheet is for.