Image description: A man in a wheelchair works at a desk with a laptop and external monitor displaying code, conducting a manual digital accessibility audit in a modern office environment.
Human-led accessibility assessments
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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508, enforceable across the US, and the European Accessibility Act (EAA) in the EU, both require digital services to be accessible to people with disabilities. An accessibility assessment helps identify compliance issues, but compliance alone doesn’t guarantee usability. At AIOPSGROUP, a valantic company, we offer accessibility assessments grounded in real-world user experience – combining automated analysis with manual testing by people with disabilities.
What’s at stake?
Ignoring accessibility is a liability. In 2023, over 3,000 lawsuits were filed in the US over inaccessible websites, with average settlements between $50,000 and $100,000. Another case from January 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a landmark $1 million fine against an AI-overlay company for deceptive advertising. The FTC found the company misrepresented its widget as a “fully automated” solution for ADA and WCAG compliance, when in reality, it failed to address essential barriers and even masked persistent errors.
This enforcement underscores that “quick-fix” AI tools are no longer a shield against liability. They are now a target for consumer protection agencies. Furthermore, over 1,000 companies using such widgets were still sued in 2024 because these tools cannot replace manual testing. Beyond legal fees, the cost is commercial: nearly 70% of users with disabilities abandon inaccessible websites for competitors. With the EAA enforcement in the EU and the FTC cracking down on “AI-washing” in the US, businesses must move beyond automated shortcuts to avoid massive regulatory fines and brand damage.
A dual-layered audit approach
Our accessibility assessment goes beyond automated scans and code checks. We evaluate more than 100 predefined test scenarios covering the full digital user journey—search, navigation, transactions, content interaction, user account management, and more. These scenarios are adapted to fit the specific context of each organization, whether it’s retail, finance, insurance, telecommunications, travel, or any other sector affected by accessibility regulations.
Tests are conducted across devices, browsers, and assistive technologies including:
- Multiple screen readers (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, TalkBack)
- Testing across devices and platforms
- Responsive design performance
- Custom user journeys and flows
- Consistent reporting from executive summaries to detailed issue logs in Jira
This ensures that digital experiences are assessed for consistency and accessibility across platforms.
Why testing done by people with disabilities matters
Automated tools catch syntax errors and detect structural issues, but they can’t simulate the human experience. Human insight identifies gaps that automation misses – like focus traps, confusing modal behavior, unlabeled elements, and screen reader ambiguities.
For instance, our accessibility assessment of a global luxury fashion retailer revealed:
- Landmark ambiguity: Repeated use of unlabeled navigation landmarks made orientation difficult for screen reader users.
- Heading misuse: Key content areas lacked proper semantic heading structures, disrupting hierarchy and flow.
- Focus issues: Interactive components like “scroll to top” failed to return focus, creating navigation dead-ends.
- Labeling problems: Core elements (e.g., “add to favorites” buttons, selected filters) were either missing labels or status indicators—leaving users unsure if actions were successful.
- Popup bugs: Modal dialogues opened without focus shift or clear exit paths, creating accessibility bottlenecks.
Each issue was mapped to WCAG 2.2 conformance level AA and accompanied by clear technical recommendations.
Audit deliverables designed for action
We deliver structured reports that speak to everyone involved in your digital accessibility journey. Each accessibility assessment includes an executive summary that outlines key findings, the potential business risks, and your current compliance status. This high-level overview helps leadership understand what’s at stake. For design and UX teams, we include feedback on visual and interaction-level issues that impact usability, such as inconsistent focus states or unclear visual hierarchy. Finally, the technical section of the report contains detailed HTML, CSS, and ARIA recommendations, complete with severity ratings and examples, enabling developers to take direct and informed action. Our goal isn’t to just deliver a report. It’s to support continuous improvement. That’s why our audits also serve as a foundation for developing sustainable accessibility programs. We help clients move from reactive compliance to embedding inclusive design into ongoing workflows.
Read more about the accessibility services that we offer.
