What a website accessibility audit checks — and why it matters

A website accessibility audit checks whether everyone can use your website — not just people with a fast connection and a mouse. If a visitor uses a screen reader, navigates with a keyboard, or reads with low vision, a site that looks fine to you can be hard or impossible for them to use. That is what this check is for.

1. What a website accessibility audit looks at

An accessibility audit looks at the parts of a page that assistive technology depends on. Can a screen reader tell what each image shows? Can every button and link be reached and used from a keyboard alone? Is the text readable — enough contrast, and a size and spacing that does not force a visitor to strain? Can a visitor tell where they are on the page, and move through it in an order that makes sense? None of this is about how the site looks to you. It is about whether someone else can get through it at all.

2. One category of seven

On AuditLixa, accessibility is one of the seven categories in a full audit — 20 checks in total across SEO, technical SEO, performance, mobile, content, accessibility, and security basics. If you have not run one yet, start with what a free website audit checks and what to fix first. That matters, because accessibility problems rarely sit alone. A page with missing image descriptions often has thin content too, and a page that is hard to navigate often has heading and structure problems as well. Reading the accessibility section on its own is fine, but reading it with the rest of the report shows which problems are really one problem.

3. What to fix first

Start with the issues that block a visitor completely. A button that cannot be reached by keyboard, or an image that carries important information with no description, stops someone from using the page at all — those come before polish. Then fix the issues that repeat across runs. A problem that shows up on every run is real; a problem that shows up once may be a snapshot quirk. Two free audits a day are enough for that: the first run shows where you stand, and the second confirms whether a fix worked.

An accessible site is not a separate project. It is the same site, checked from the visitor’s side. Run the audit, read the accessibility section, and fix what blocks people first.