Website Redesign Built for Accessibility

WCAG 2.2 AA is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines standard at the double-A conformance level, published by the W3C and adopted as the benchmark for accessibility compliance in most jurisdictions. It sets requirements for colour contrast, keyboard operability, screen reader compatibility, focus visibility, and other criteria that make websites usable by people with visual, motor, cognitive, or hearing impairments. Meeting WCAG 2.2 AA is the current standard expectation and the benchmark referenced in most ADA and EAA legal contexts.

Post-launch accessibility remediation consistently costs more than building accessibly from the start, because fixes require rework at the design, code, and content level simultaneously rather than once at the design stage. Industry figures for remediation of a non-compliant site range from a few thousand to tens of thousands of pounds or dollars depending on the size and complexity of the site. [verify] Building accessibility in during a redesign adds a fraction of that cost to the project.

No. Automated tools such as axe typically catch around 30 to 40 percent of WCAG issues. The rest require manual testing: checking that keyboard navigation works logically, that screen readers announce interactive elements correctly, that focus order makes sense, and that error messages are clear. We use both automated scans and manual keyboard and screen reader testing on every accessibility project.

Sometimes. If the compliance gaps are isolated to specific components or content issues, targeted fixes may be sufficient. If the problems are structural, such as a design system with insufficient colour contrast, a navigation pattern that does not work with a keyboard, or a layout that confuses screen readers throughout, a redesign is usually more cost-effective than patching the existing build.

We test with NVDA on Windows and VoiceOver on macOS and iOS, which together cover the most widely used screen reader combinations. For projects requiring broader coverage, we can extend testing to include JAWS on Windows and TalkBack on Android. [verify] Specific screen reader testing scope is confirmed during project scoping.

Done well, no. WCAG 2.2 AA constraints on colour contrast and focus visibility are design constraints, not design limitations. Working within them from the start produces a design system that is both compliant and visually coherent. The sites that look compromised by accessibility requirements are usually the ones where accessibility was added after the design was finished.