Accessibility Audit Course

Lesson 1 • Principles of Accessible Design

Teaches the four core accessibility principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, robust. Provides a conceptual lens for evaluating any digital interface.

Lesson 2 • Accessibility Audit Roles and Scope

Defines what an accessibility audit is, who conducts it, and what it covers. Sets professional expectations for the auditor role.

Lesson 3 • Global Accessibility Standards Overview

Introduces international guidelines, regional regulations, and conformance levels. Connects standards to audit scope and legal accountability.

Lesson 1 • Screen Reader Fundamentals

Covers how screen readers parse and announce content, including reading order and focus. Essential for evaluating keyboard and semantic markup issues.

Lesson 2 • Alternative Input Devices

Introduces switch access, voice control, and eye-tracking as input methods. Expands audit scope beyond keyboard and mouse assumptions.

Lesson 3 • Cognitive and Neurodivergent User Needs

Addresses reading aids, reduced-motion preferences, and simplified interfaces. Ensures auditors evaluate beyond sensory and motor barriers.

Lesson 4 • Keyboard-Only Navigation

Teaches how users navigate without a mouse using Tab, arrow keys, and shortcuts. Directly informs keyboard accessibility testing criteria.

Lesson 1 • Manual Testing Browser Setup

Guides configuration of browsers, developer tools, and accessibility panels for manual checks. Ensures consistent testing conditions across audits.

Lesson 2 • Building a Repeatable Test Protocol

Teaches how to document tool configurations and testing sequences for consistency. Enables auditors to produce comparable results across engagements.

Lesson 3 • Screen Reader Installation and Configuration

Walks through installing and configuring major screen readers on desktop and mobile. Prepares auditors for hands-on assistive technology testing.

Lesson 4 • Automated Accessibility Scanning Tools

Covers browser-based and CI-integrated scanners, their detection limits, and output formats. Establishes automated testing as the first audit layer.

Lesson 1 • Colour, Contrast, and Visual Presentation

Applies contrast ratio standards to text, UI components, and graphical objects. Identifies reliance on colour alone as an information carrier.

Lesson 2 • Adaptable Content and Structure

Examines heading hierarchy, landmark regions, reading order, and orientation. Ensures content meaning survives presentation changes.

Lesson 3 • Text Alternatives for Non-Text Content

Covers alt text quality, decorative image handling, and complex image descriptions. Core to evaluating screen reader accessibility of visual content.

Lesson 1 • Timing and Motion Controls

Evaluates time limits, auto-updating content, pause controls, and animation. Addresses barriers for users with cognitive and motor disabilities.

Lesson 2 • Navigation and Wayfinding

Audits skip links, page titles, focus order, and multiple navigation paths. Ensures users can locate and move through content efficiently.

Lesson 3 • Input Modality and Authentication

Evaluates motion actuation, label-in-name accuracy, and accessible authentication. Addresses emerging operability criteria in updated standards.

Lesson 4 • Pointer and Touch Accessibility

Covers pointer cancellation, drag alternatives, target size, and touch gestures. Extends operability testing to mobile and touch interfaces.

Lesson 1 • Error Prevention and Recovery

Audits error identification, suggestion quality, and reversible submission flows. Critical for forms and transactional interfaces.

Lesson 2 • Robust Markup and Parsing

Tests valid HTML, complete name-role-value implementation, and status messages. Ensures assistive technologies can reliably interpret interface state.

Lesson 3 • Predictable Interface Behaviour

Evaluates on-focus and on-input context changes, consistent navigation, and identification. Prevents disorientation for screen reader and cognitive users.

Lesson 1 • Carousels, Tabs, and Dynamic Content

Tests live region announcements, tab panel focus, carousel controls, and content injection. Addresses dynamic interface patterns that frequently fail audits.

Lesson 2 • Data Tables and Complex Grids

Audits table headers, scope attributes, captions, and grid navigation patterns. Ensures tabular data is interpretable by screen reader users.

Lesson 3 • Form and Input Accessibility

Audits label association, grouping, autocomplete, and error handling in forms. Forms are the highest-risk interactive component for accessibility failures.

Lesson 4 • Modal Dialogs and Overlays

Tests focus trapping, background inertness, close mechanisms, and ARIA roles in dialogs. Modals are among the most commonly failed interactive patterns.

Lesson 1 • Structuring an Accessibility Audit Report

Covers executive summary, methodology, scope, and findings sections. Teaches report architecture that serves both technical and non-technical audiences.

Lesson 2 • Communicating Findings to Stakeholders

Covers presenting audit results to executives, developers, and designers with tailored messaging. Ensures findings drive action rather than defensiveness.

Lesson 3 • Writing Reproducible Findings

Guides writing of issue descriptions with steps to reproduce, affected criteria, and screenshots. Reproducibility is essential for developer handoff.

Lesson 4 • Remediation Recommendations

Teaches how to write specific, code-level fix guidance alongside design alternatives. Bridges the gap between audit findings and developer implementation.