Auditing Accessibility

Use this skill for accessibility reviews that go beyond a quick lint-style pass. It helps structure a full audit so findings are grounded in user impact, mapped to WCAG 2.2, and prioritized for remediation.

When to Use

• audit a single page or end-to-end user flow for accessibility
• sample multiple templates or a high-risk journey across a product
• triage suspected accessibility issues before filing tickets
• produce a technical audit report for a team
• produce a business-facing summary for stakeholders or release leads
• create a retest checklist after accessibility fixes
• combine manual checks with Playwright or automated tool output

Audit Principles

• User impact over raw counts - ten minor issues do not outweigh one blocker.
• Automated output is a lead, not a verdict - confirm important findings manually when possible.
• Native semantics first - missing semantics, labels, and keyboard access usually matter more than ARIA cleverness.
• One finding, one problem statement - deduplicate repeated symptoms into a single actionable issue.
• Exact criterion names - use the official WCAG 2.2 success criterion wording.
• Do not report SC 4.1.1 Parsing - it is not part of WCAG 2.2.

Workflow

Phase 0: Choose the audit mode

Pick the lightest mode that matches the request:

• Quick triage - short signal check for likely blockers and fast wins
• Full page audit - one page with deeper manual verification
• Journey audit - a user flow across multiple pages or states
• Site sampling - a representative pass across unique templates and critical journeys

If the user did not choose, infer the mode from the scope and explain what will be covered.

Phase 1: Frame the scope

Clarify:

• URL or page set
• authentication or special setup
• target standard, defaulting to WCAG 2.2 AA
• output mode: technical report, business summary, or both
• devices or browsers that matter most
• whether the audit is browser-only or should also use code/workspace clues when available
• known high-risk components such as forms, dialogs, menus, drag-and-drop, or rich text editors

Phase 2: Run the review passes

Cover the page or flow through these passes:

1. Structure and semantics - landmarks, headings, lists, labels, names, roles
2. Keyboard and focus - reachability, order, focus visibility, traps, dialog behavior
3. Forms and validation - labels, instructions, error identification, error recovery
4. Dynamic behavior - menus, accordions, modals, toasts, live updates, state announcements
5. Visual accessibility - contrast, zoom/reflow, hidden content, motion, target size
6. Media and alternatives - alt text, transcripts, captions, decorative handling

For WCAG 2.2 work, explicitly check:

• focus not obscured
• target size
• dragging alternatives
• redundant entry
• accessible authentication

Phase 3: Normalize findings

For each issue, capture:

• location or affected component
• user impact
• exact WCAG criterion
• severity: critical, high, medium, or low
• evidence or verification notes
• remediation direction

If a tool reports the same issue repeatedly, merge it into one finding with a broader affected scope.

Phase 4: Produce the audit output

Use ./resources/accessibility-audit-template.md when possible.

A complete report should include:

• scope and method
• overall risk summary
• prioritized findings
• quick wins vs structural fixes
• manual retest checklist

If the audience is not primarily developers, use ./resources/business-a11y-summary-template.md to produce a shorter stakeholder-facing summary focused on user impact, delivery risk, and next-step decisions.

If the audit is intentionally lightweight, say so clearly and label the result as triage rather than full certification-grade review.

Phase 5: Close the loop

Before finishing, identify:

• fixes that can be validated quickly
• findings that need human retest with assistive technology
• areas that should become automated accessibility checks later

Multi-page Sampling Strategy

When the request covers more than one page or a larger product surface:

• include at least one representative page for each unique template or interaction pattern
• always include critical journeys such as authentication, core conversion, and error recovery when they exist
• prioritize reusable shared UI such as navigation, forms, dialogs, and account flows
• state clearly what was sampled and what was excluded

Sampling is valid when the scope is explained honestly. Do not imply full-site certification from a template sample.

Reporting Modes

Choose the output mode that matches the audience:

• Technical report - for designers, developers, and testers who need concrete findings and remediation direction
• Business summary - for leads and stakeholders who need risk, scope, and priority without deep implementation detail
• Both - when the work needs a technical appendix plus a short decision-friendly summary

If the user does not specify, default to the technical report.

Criterion Naming Rules

• Use the exact official WCAG 2.2 success criterion wording
• Keep the criterion number and title together, for example 2.4.7 Focus Visible
• Do not paraphrase criterion titles in the main findings table

Common Failure Modes

• relying only on automated tool output
• reporting contrast or keyboard issues without describing the user impact
• citing WCAG numbers loosely or with the wrong criterion name
• flooding the report with duplicates from repeated components
• calling the audit complete without a clear scope statement

Resource Map

• ./resources/accessibility-audit-template.md - technical report structure for findings and remediation
• ./resources/business-a11y-summary-template.md - shorter summary for release leads, PMs, and stakeholders
• ./resources/manual-a11y-checklist.md - portable checklist for manual verification and retest

Related Skills

• designing-functional-tests - when the audit should expand into manual regression coverage
• reporting-bugs - when individual findings need to be split into defect tickets
• requirements-test-coverage-mapper - when accessibility requirements must be traced systematically across a feature set

Definition of Done

This skill is complete when:

• the audit scope is explicit
• findings are mapped to exact WCAG 2.2 criteria
• duplicates are merged into clear issues
• user impact and remediation direction are both visible
• the final output makes next steps obvious for testers and developers