Accessibility audit services for websites: what each type delivers and costs
Accessibility audit services for websites come in four kinds: a free automated scan, a self-serve report from a tool, a written audit by a person, and an expert audit with manual testing and a conformance report. For a small business site, a written audit of the pages that matter, with each fix explained, is usually the right buy. Published prices run from free to about $2,750 for the expert kind. Below is what each service delivers, what to ask before you pay, and how to avoid paying twice.
The four kinds of accessibility audit service
| Kind | Who does the work | What you get | Typical published price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free automated scan | A program (axe, WAVE, Lighthouse) | A raw list of errors for one page | Free |
| Self-serve report | A program, packaged as a report | A longer list with plain explanations, no person involved | WCAG Repair lists $79–$199 |
| Written audit | A person using tools plus a keyboard walk | Every issue, where it is, how to fix it on your platform | Varies by vendor; ask for a quote |
| Expert conformance audit | A specialist testing manually, often with screen readers | A formal report against WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 AA, sometimes a statement of conformance | accessible.org lists $1,250–$2,750; Compliapoint a $1,000 minimum |
Prices are what vendors published when we checked them in November 2026. They change, and sites with many templates cost more. Treat them as a range to compare quotes against, not a quote.
What an accessibility audit should include
Whatever you buy, read the deliverable list before you pay. A useful audit includes:
- The standard it tests against. WCAG 2.1 level AA is the usual target for US businesses. WCAG 2.2 AA is fine too: it adds a few checks and is built on the same base.
- A page list. Which pages were tested. Home, contact, booking or checkout, and one inner page of each template is a sensible minimum.
- An issue list that says where. Not "images lack alt text" but the page, the element and the fix.
- Keyboard testing. A person pressing Tab through your menu, forms and pop-ups. A scanner cannot do this.
- Severity or priority. So you can fix the issues that block people first.
- A date. A dated report is the record that you looked and acted.
If a service lists only a score, or says "AI-powered" and nothing about who reads the results, ask what a person checked.
Free scan or paid audit: when each is enough
A free scan is enough when you have a handful of pages, you or your developer can edit the theme, and you only want to clear obvious errors. See the free website accessibility checkers worth using for how to run one in five minutes.
A paid audit earns its price when any of these is true:
- You do not edit the site yourself and need instructions to hand to a web person.
- You have a form, booking tool or checkout where errors cost you customers.
- You received a demand letter or a customer complaint and need a dated record of what you found and fixed.
- You want to publish an honest accessibility statement backed by real tests.
Audit services for websites: what to ask before you buy
- "Which pages are included?" A one-page audit of a twelve-template site tells you little.
- "Does a person test with a keyboard and a screen reader?" If the answer is no, you are buying a scan.
- "Do you fix what you find?" Some services audit only; some fix only; some do both. Auditing and fixing are separate jobs and are often priced separately.
- "Is the audit credited toward the fix?" Linnflux, for example, says its $450 audit is credited to its fix, which starts at $2,900.
- "Will you re-test after I fix?" A re-test is what proves the errors are gone.
- "Do you promise compliance?" Be careful. No service can honestly promise that nobody will complain, and no law names a tool or certificate as proof. Promises of "100% ADA compliance" or "lawsuit protection" are a warning sign.
- "What do you do to my site?" An audit should change nothing. An overlay widget changes your site by adding a script, which is a different product; see accessiBe alternatives.
How much do accessibility audit services cost?
The honest answer is a range. Free scans cost nothing. Self-serve reports sit under $200. A person-written audit of a small site is priced by the vendor and varies; get two quotes. A formal expert audit runs about $1,250 to $2,750 on accessible.org's published pricing, and agencies that include remediation plans quote thousands. Pages tested, platform and who tests drive the difference. Our longer breakdown is in website accessibility audit cost.
Audit only, fix only, or both
An audit tells you what is wrong. Remediation changes the code. Agencies often bundle both, which is convenient but hides the split. Ask for two prices. Fix labour on accessible.org's page is $100 to $200 an hour, and Linnflux's published fix starts at $2,900 for a small site. If your own web person can do the fixes, a clear written audit is all you need to buy, and it keeps the total low. If nobody on your side can edit the code, see website accessibility remediation cost for what fixing runs.
Red flags when choosing an audit service
- A "compliance badge" or seal. No court or regulator recognises a vendor seal as proof.
- An audit that arrives in minutes with no person named. That is a scan, priced like an audit.
- Pressure about lawsuits. A real audit does not need a scare to sell it.
- A required monthly plan to see your results. You should be able to keep the report.
- No list of pages tested. You cannot tell what was and was not covered.
- A widget sold as an audit. A script that sits on top of your site is not a test of your site.
What you can do yourself before paying
Run a free scan on four pages and note the counts. Do the three-minute keyboard test: Tab from the top of the page and see whether you can reach and use the menu, the main button and the form. Go through the ADA compliant website checklist. You will arrive at an audit service knowing your baseline, which keeps you from paying for what you could see yourself and lets you judge what the paid audit adds.
What happens after the audit
An audit is a to-do list, not a finish line. The usual order: fix issues that stop someone completing a task (a form that cannot be reached by keyboard, a button with no name), then contrast and image descriptions, then headings and smaller items. Re-run the tool, record the date and counts, and publish a short statement saying what you tested and how to reach you. Then check again after every redesign or new plugin, because new pages bring new errors.
Our own approach
Site Record is the written-audit kind. We open up to 25 of your pages in a real browser, run the axe-core engine (the same one behind the axe extension) for WCAG A and AA, and write each issue with its place on the page and the fix for WordPress, Shopify or whatever you use. You get a statement page built from the results and monthly rechecks for twelve months. It costs $499 once. We do not touch your site, we do not promise legal outcomes, and we are not lawyers. If you want us to make the changes, that is a separate conversation and a separate price.
Reading an audit report: what a good finding looks like
A finding worth paying for has five parts: the page, the element, the rule it breaks, why it matters to a real person, and the fix. For example: on the contact page, the email field has a placeholder but no label; a screen reader announces "edit text" with no hint what to type; add a visible label tied to the field. A finding that says only "WCAG 1.1.1 failed" leaves you to work out the rest. When you compare quotes, ask each vendor for a sample finding. The quality of one example tells you more than the price list.
Audit services for a restaurant, shop or clinic site
The pages that matter differ by business. A restaurant needs its menu (often a PDF or an image, which a screen reader cannot read), its reservation or ordering tool and its hours. A shop needs product pages, the cart and checkout. A clinic needs its booking form and any forms that collect health details. Tell the service which pages carry your income, and ask that those be included first. Third-party tools embedded in your pages, such as a booking widget, are tested as part of the page, but only the tool's vendor can fix their code. A good audit says so and gives you wording to send them.
How to compare two quotes
- Put the standard, page count, manual testing, deliverable format and re-test policy side by side.
- Divide the price by pages tested to see the real unit price.
- Ask what is excluded: PDFs, videos, third-party tools, mobile apps.
- Ask for the turnaround as a date, not "a few days".
- Check whether you own the report and can share it with your web person.
Frequently asked questions
What does an accessibility audit service do?
It tests your pages against WCAG, usually with a mix of automated tools and manual checks, and gives you a report of the problems and how to fix them.
Are accessibility audit services worth it for a small business?
If you cannot edit the code yourself or you have a form or checkout that matters, yes: the report saves hours and gives you a dated record. If you only have a few simple pages, free tools and the checklist may be enough.
How long does an audit take?
Automated scans take minutes. A person-written audit of a small site takes longer, and vendors state their own turnaround. Ask each vendor for a date.
Does an audit make my site ADA compliant?
No. An audit finds issues. Fixing them and re-testing is what improves the site, and no one can guarantee legal outcomes.
What is the difference between an audit and a scan?
A scan is automated and finds a subset of issues. An audit adds a person: keyboard testing, reading order, judgement about image descriptions and forms.
Can I use an audit report in a legal matter?
A dated report and fix log show you acted in good faith, but ask a lawyer how it applies to your case; we are not lawyers and this is not legal advice.
Sources
- W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 and 2.2.
- accessible.org, cost of making a website ADA compliant (audit and fix labour prices, checked 2026-11-03).
- Linnflux, ADA compliance service page; WCAG Repair, pricing page; Compliapoint listing on Clutch (checked 2026-11-03).
- Deque, axe-core documentation.