Accessible means people can use your site however they browse: with a keyboard instead of a mouse, with a screen reader, with large text, on a small screen, in bright sunlight, or with limited vision. It is also good for search and for every visitor in a hurry. You cannot certify a site in ten minutes, but you can find the most common problems, and most sites have some. You need a browser and a page that matters: your home page, a contact page or a form.
Before you start
Pick the one page where a customer most needs to act: call, request a quote or place an order. Check that one first. Set a timer. Each step below takes about a minute or two.
1. Use only the keyboard (2 minutes)
Put the mouse aside. Press the Tab key repeatedly from the top of the page.
- Can you see where you are? A visible outline or highlight should move from link to link.
- Does the order make sense, top to bottom and left to right?
- Can you open the menu, and close it again, with the keyboard?
- Can you fill in and send the contact form?
- Does the first Tab press offer a "skip to main content" link?
- Can you ever get stuck, for example inside a pop-up you cannot leave?
Failing any of these means someone who cannot use a mouse cannot reach your contact details or your form.
2. Zoom to 200 percent (1 minute)
Hold Ctrl (or Command) and press the plus key until the browser reads 200 percent. Then widen your attention to the layout.
- Does the text reflow into one column, or do you have to scroll sideways to read a line?
- Is anything cut off or hidden behind something else?
- Do buttons still work and still show their labels?
This is also a rough test for phones, because a zoomed window behaves like a narrow screen.
3. Read the contrast (1 minute)
Look at light gray text on white, white text on a pale image, and text over photographs. If you squint, others cannot read it either. For a number, use the free contrast checker built into your browser's inspection panel: select the text, and it shows the ratio. Normal-size text needs at least 4.5 to 1. Large text and the edges of buttons and form fields need at least 3 to 1.
Also check that color is not the only signal. A form error shown only as a red border, or a chart that depends on telling green from red, fails people with color blindness.
4. Check the images (1 minute)
Hover over or inspect the images that carry meaning: a product photo, a chart, a logo that links home. Each one needs a short text description that says what it shows or where it goes. A decorative flourish should have an empty description so a screen reader skips it. Words baked into an image, such as an opening-hours banner, need to appear as real text as well.
5. Look at the headings (1 minute)
Headings are how screen reader users scan. Use a free browser extension that lists headings, or read the page source if you are comfortable with it.
- Is there exactly one main heading, and does it say what the page is about?
- Do the subheadings follow in order, without skipping from a main heading to a tiny one just for looks?
- Are headings real headings, and not bold text made to look like one?
6. Read the links and buttons (1 minute)
Imagine a list of only your links, read aloud. "Click here," "Read more" and "Learn more" repeated six times tell nobody anything. Each link should make sense alone: "Read the backup checklist," "Call us," "Request a quote." A button that is only an icon needs a text name behind it.
7. Test the form (2 minutes)
Forms are where a site earns its money, and where problems cost the most.
- Does each field have a visible label that stays in view while typing, not only gray hint text that disappears?
- Are required fields marked in words, not only with a color?
- Submit it empty on purpose. Does an error message appear, say what is wrong in plain words, and sit near the field?
- After a good submission, is there a clear confirmation?
8. Run one automated scan (1 minute)
Now let a tool look. Your browser's built-in audit panel, or a free extension such as WAVE or axe, will flag missing labels, empty buttons, low contrast and missing language settings. Run it on the same page.
Be honest about its limit. Automated tools catch only part of the real problems. A clean scan does not mean the site works for people, and the manual steps above find things the scan cannot. Still, a long list of errors tells you where to start.
Score yourself
Count how many of the eight checks passed.
- Seven or eight: a good base. Fix what failed and repeat on two or three other pages.
- Four to six: common, and fixable. The failures are usually in a few shared parts, such as the menu or the form, so the fix reaches many pages.
- Three or fewer: the site likely locks some visitors out. Treat the keyboard and form failures first, because they stop people from reaching you at all.
What to fix first
- Keyboard access to menu, links and forms.
- Form labels and error messages.
- Contrast of body text and buttons.
- Descriptions on images that carry meaning.
- Link names and heading order.
Keep a short note of what you found, the page and the date. It helps whoever fixes it, and it shows progress over time.
What this check does not cover
Video captions, audio transcripts, documents such as PDFs, moving or flashing content, and how a screen reader actually speaks the page all need separate review. The target most sites aim for is the current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, level AA. Meeting it takes a full review of a site, ideally including people who use assistive technology.
Next step: a free site check
If the ten minutes turned up problems, or you would rather have someone else look, we offer a free site check. It covers speed, accessibility, whether a buyer can find how to reach you in five seconds, and whether search engines can read the site. You get a one-page report.
We build fast, accessible marketing sites with clear contact paths, and we handle moves off old WordPress sites. See the websites page, or request the check through the contact form.