Accessibility Audit
An accessibility audit is a comprehensive review of a product's accessibility, combining automated scanning with manual expert and assistive-technology testing, typically producing a structured report of findings mapped against a standard like WCAG, along with severity ratings and remediation guidance.
A thorough audit goes well beyond what automated tools alone can catch — an automated scanner reliably flags missing alt text or insufficient color contrast, but can't judge whether a screen reader's actual reading order makes logical sense, or whether a complex interactive widget is genuinely usable via keyboard alone.
Audits are often performed periodically (annually, or ahead of a major redesign) rather than continuously, distinguishing them from ongoing automated accessibility testing folded into CI — the audit is the deeper, more expert-driven check; automated testing is the continuous baseline that catches regressions between those deeper reviews.
