Can a customer find the right service, read the details and contact your business using the way they normally browse? A first accessibility review starts with those everyday tasks.
This guide helps Carlow businesses record potential barriers and discuss them with their website provider. It follows W3C’s Easy Checks approach. These are initial checks, not a complete accessibility assessment or certification. A page can appear to pass them and still contain barriers that need a more thorough evaluation.
Pick tasks that matter to your own business. A service business might review finding a service description and sending an enquiry. A retailer might follow a product through its options, basket and checkout. An organisation might review finding membership information and opening a document.
Write down the starting page, intended result and the pages or controls involved. Include an important service page and a contact route, not just the homepage. If you are planning those pages, our service-page guide can help define the information customers need.
Record the browser, device, date and any settings used in the review. Use “not checked” where a task was not attempted, rather than treating an empty box as a pass. Arrange any form or checkout testing with the provider so it does not create unintended customer messages, bookings or payments.
On a desktop browser with keyboard navigation enabled, put the mouse aside and move through the page using Tab. Use Shift+Tab to move backwards. Check whether you can reach the links, menu controls and form fields needed for the chosen task, operate them and move away again.
Pay attention to the visible marker showing which control currently has focus. W3C’s Focus Visible guidance explains why this matters: a sighted keyboard user needs to know which item their next action will affect.
If you get stuck, record the control and the steps that led there. Avoid reporting only that “the menu is broken”: tell the provider which page, device and action produced the problem.
Increase text size or browser zoom and try the task again. Look for words being cut off, overlapping sections, hidden buttons or controls that become difficult to reach. Record whether you changed page zoom or text size, and the setting used.
WCAG’s Resize Text explanation describes enlarging text up to 200% without losing content or functionality, with specified exceptions. A quick zoom check is useful evidence to share; it does not cover every resizing or layout requirement.
Read the page headings in order. Do they explain the sections and help someone find the information they need? W3C’s heading guidance explains how properly structured headings communicate organisation and support navigation. Ask the provider to review the underlying structure as well as its visual appearance.
Check whether link wording makes sense in its surrounding text. A link labelled with the destination, such as “Website Maintenance & Care Plans”, gives a different amount of information from an unexplained “click here”.
Look for text that is difficult to distinguish from its background, including small labels, text over photographs and changing banner images. A visual concern is a useful finding, but a visual impression alone is not a contrast measurement.
W3C’s Contrast Minimum guidance sets out text contrast requirements and exceptions. Ask the provider to measure the actual text/background combinations and identify the relevant requirement. Record the affected wording and state, such as an error message, rather than only naming a brand colour.
For an agreed test of your enquiry journey, check whether each field’s purpose and any required format are clear before you enter information. Ask the provider to confirm that labels are correctly associated with their controls; appearance alone cannot establish that.
Use controlled test details to check what happens when required information is missing or a format is incorrect. W3C’s form notification guidance recommends clear feedback that helps people understand and correct mistakes, together with confirmation of successful completion.
Record delivery of the test enquiry separately from the accessibility observations. A message arriving in an inbox does not show that every customer can complete the form.
Use the website image checklist to discuss image purpose, text alternatives and captions. If important instructions appear only inside a picture, flag them for review.
List any PDF, video, booking widget or other content a customer must use to finish the task. Record who supplies or manages it and what further checks are needed. Do not assume a third-party tool or a downloadable document has been assessed because the surrounding page looks clear.
Create one entry for each finding so someone else can reproduce it:
An illustrative entry might say: “On the enquiry page, keyboard focus reaches the menu but I cannot see which menu item is selected.” This is a sample report format, not a finding about a named client website.
Share the issue log with your provider and agree what needs investigation, correction or a wider evaluation. A first review should lead to a clear work list. Keep the original findings so the same tasks can be repeated after changes.
For a Carlow website design project, agree the accessibility review scope, responsibilities and acceptance checks in advance. Include outstanding issues in the website handover record. This guide makes no claim that a particular site meets WCAG or any legal requirement.
For an existing website, confirm the scope of review or remediation separately from technical upkeep under a Website Maintenance & Care Plan.
Please note: content changes (text edits, new images, new pages or layout changes) are not included in maintenance plans and are quoted separately. This keeps the plans focused on technical upkeep and site stability.
We will agree exactly what is included before you start, so you know what you are getting for your yearly fee.
Have a customer journey you want to review? Contact Istech with your website address, the task involved and your initial issue log so the next steps can be discussed.
