Manual testing

Test your website manually and keep a record of the results.

You must do manual accessibility testing and keep a record of your results. The 2 types of manual tests require different levels of expertise. If you're not sure, find out which type of testing to do.

Basic accessibility check

A basic accessibility check means testing your website for the most common accessibility issues.

Anyone can, and should, be involved in doing a basic accessibility check. One person testing is enough for a basic check, but using more testers and devices will give you better results.

Most checks are not technical and can help build understanding of accessibility. The best person to lead a basic check is the person most familiar with the site's code or content management system.

Follow the GOV.UK guidance for doing a basic accessibility check.

Record any issues you find in our accessibility test template. It may also help to take screengrabs of the issues as you go to help demonstrate them later.

It’s likely the checks will take at least a few days, so make sure to give yourself enough time to work through them.

Detailed audit

A detailed accessibility audit means testing your website against all WCAG 2.2 A and AA criteria.

A detailed audit requires a large amount of technical expertise. This can be done by an accessibility expert in your team or a third-party accessibility auditor.

We are developing guidance and a template to record issues for a detailed audit. In the meantime, use the GDS template by Anika Henke.