Accessibility that actually includes people
A WCAG checklist tells you whether your site passes a technical test. It doesn’t tell you whether the people you serve can actually use it. Our audit looks at both, built by people who’ve been on nonprofit boards when the funder asked for exactly this kind of documentation.
Accessibility is a mission question, not just a compliance one
Nonprofits exist to serve the public. That public includes people with visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive disabilities. It includes older adults navigating unfamiliar interfaces. It includes people reading in a second language, or at a lower literacy level, or on a phone with a cracked screen and 200 MB left in their data plan. An inaccessible site doesn’t just fail a compliance test. It quietly turns people away from the services you built to help them.
Funders are paying attention. Government funders and an increasing number of private foundations now require or strongly prefer WCAG compliance as a condition of funding. An accessibility gap on your site is a funding risk, and a Tier 1 audit report gives you the documentation to address it before it becomes one.
There’s also a legal dimension. Canada’s Accessible Canada Act and provincial legislation like Ontario’s AODA have established compliance expectations that are only growing. The nonprofit sector is not exempt.
Roughly one in four Canadians reports a disability. Add low literacy, limited English or French proficiency, older hardware, and expensive data plans, and the share of your audience affected by an inaccessible site is likely larger than you think.
Funder accessibility requirements are increasingly specific, and increasingly enforced. A documented, compliant site isn’t just good practice; it’s becoming part of the grant application.
Nine dimensions. One thorough audit.
We designed our audit to cover the things that actually determine whether your site works for the people you serve, not just the things an automated scanner can check. Keyboard navigation, cognitive accessibility, and form usability require full manual testing; those dimensions are covered in Tier 2 and above.
WCAG 2.1 AA Compliance
The technical baseline, and the floor most audits never rise above. We run both automated and manual checks across contrast ratios, ARIA labelling, heading structure, landmark regions, and more.
Reading Level & Plain Language
If your content is written at a post-secondary reading level, a significant share of your audience can't effectively use your site. We assess readability against plain-language standards and identify what needs to change, though content rewriting is scoped separately from remediation.
Typography & Line Length
Evidence consistently shows 50–75 characters per line is the comfortable range for body text. Many nonprofit sites wrap well past 100 characters on desktop, a silent friction point that affects every reader, not just those with reading disabilities.
Site Performance & Page Weight
Canada has some of the highest mobile data costs in the world. A bloated homepage is a financial barrier for anyone on a metered plan. We assess total page weight, image optimization, and Core Web Vitals with equity in mind, not just speed scores.
Device Equity
Older, lower-cost devices handle pages differently: slower CPUs, less memory, different rendering behaviours. We assess how your site performs for users who may not have the latest hardware, because they're often the same people your programs are designed to serve.
Keyboard Navigation
Full site traversal without a mouse or trackpad. This is essential for users with motor impairments and anyone using a screen reader, switch control, or other assistive technology.
Colour Contrast
We assess against both AA and AAA thresholds, and flag low-contrast patterns even when they technically pass. Brand colours that look fine on a designer's monitor can fail badly on a phone screen in sunlight.
Cognitive Accessibility
Consistent navigation, plain error messages, reduced-motion support, no auto-playing media. The kind of barriers automated tools miss entirely, and that disproportionately affect the communities nonprofits serve.
Form Usability
Intake forms, registration forms, and donation flows are where most nonprofit sites fail under scrutiny. We check label association, error recovery, autofill support, and the experience of completing a form with a screen reader.
Beyond the checklist
Most accessibility audits are automated scans dressed up as reports. Here's what that gets you, and what we do instead.
- Automated scan of WCAG violations
- PDF report of flagged issues
- No prioritization or remediation guidance
- No content or readability review
- No performance or equity assessment
- No funder-ready documentation
- Automated and systematic WCAG 2.1 AA review
- Readability and plain-language analysis
- Typography and line-length assessment
- Performance and page-weight analysis with equity framing
- Colour contrast analysis (AA and AAA thresholds)
- Prioritized findings with clear remediation guidance
- Funder-ready compliance documentation
Three tiers. One stepped path.
Each tier builds on the last, and your investment carries forward. Start with a Baseline Audit and apply it as a deposit toward the Expert Audit or Full Custom engagement.
Baseline Audit
A systematic assessment across all nine dimensions, going beyond what an automated scanner flags. Findings are prioritized by severity and remediation effort, with a report structured to satisfy funder documentation requirements.
- WCAG 2.1 AA automated and systematic assessment
- Reading level and plain-language analysis
- Typography and line-length assessment
- Site performance and page-weight analysis
- Colour contrast analysis (AA and AAA)
- Prioritized findings report
- Plain-language executive summary
- Funder-ready compliance documentation
Expert Audit
Everything in Tier 1, plus the full manual review that automated tools can't do. We test keyboard navigation, screen readers, form usability under assistive technology, and cognitive accessibility; these are the barriers that affect real users and don't appear in any automated report.
- Everything in Tier 1
- Full manual WCAG review
- Keyboard navigation and focus order testing
- Screen reader walkthrough (NVDA + VoiceOver)
- Cognitive accessibility assessment
- Form usability under assistive technology
- Device equity testing on low-cost hardware profiles
- Assistive technology findings: keyboard paths, screen reader behaviour, form error states
Full Custom Audit
A fully scoped engagement for organizations that need certainty, not just a report. Includes moderated sessions with real assistive technology users, organizational compliance planning, team training, and ongoing monitoring. Scoped in consultation; typically $12,000–18,000.
- Everything in Tier 2
- Moderated usability sessions with assistive technology users
- AODA/ACA compliance plan and written accessibility statement
- Team training with recorded walkthroughs
- Accessibility policy and maintenance guide
- Ongoing monitoring setup and 6-month reporting
- Accessibility roadmap for future development
- Custom deliverables scoped in consultation
Remediation
Your audit already tells you exactly what needs to be fixed. Add remediation and we handle it directly on your site. Scope is confirmed from the findings before any work begins; pricing is quoted based on volume and complexity, starting at $1,500 for smaller sites.
- All identified issues fixed directly on your site
- Image optimization and performance improvements
- Readability revisions to existing content
- Re-audit and sign-off
- Compliance certificate
Book a free call
We'll help you figure out where the risks actually are and which tier makes sense. No commitment required.
Deliverables built for how nonprofits actually work
Our reports are written to be useful, not just technically complete. Every tier includes documentation your board, your funders, and your staff can actually use.
- Prioritized findings report, organized by severity and remediation effort
- Plain-language executive summary for board or leadership review
- Annotated screenshots of every identified issue
- Remediation guidance for each finding
- Funder-ready compliance documentation
- Screen reader walkthrough findings (Tier 2 and above)
- Re-audit and sign-off (Remediation add-on)
- Compliance certificate (Remediation add-on)
- AODA/ACA compliance plan and accessibility statement (Tier 3)
- Team training and accessibility maintenance guide (Tier 3)
What EDs and board members usually ask
Do we need to be WCAG compliant to qualify for funding?
It depends on the funder, but the bar is rising. Government funders at federal and provincial levels are increasingly requiring WCAG compliance as a condition of funding, and some private foundations are following suit. Our Tier 1 audit report is structured to satisfy the documentation requirements we've seen from these funders.
What's the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2?
Tier 1 uses automated tools and systematic review to assess the full site and produce a prioritized, funder-ready report. Automated tools catch roughly 30–40% of WCAG violations; the rest require a human to evaluate. Tier 2 adds that human layer: keyboard navigation testing, screen reader walkthroughs, form usability under assistive technology, and cognitive accessibility assessment. These are the barriers that affect real users and don't show up in any automated report.
How does the remediation add-on work?
Your audit already tells you exactly what needs to be fixed. Add remediation and we handle it directly on your site: issues corrected, images optimized, content revised for readability where needed, then a re-audit and compliance certificate. Scope is confirmed from the findings before any work begins; pricing starts at $1,500 for smaller sites and is quoted based on findings volume and complexity.
Our site was built by an agency. Do they need to be involved in remediation?
Usually not. If you add the remediation, we handle the work directly on your site with no agency involvement needed for the vast majority of issues. If something requires changes to the underlying code, we'll note it clearly in the findings and tell you exactly what needs to be done, which you can take back to your agency.
Can we apply previous tier payments toward a future tier?
Yes. Your Tier 1 payment applies as a deposit toward Tier 2. Your combined Tier 1 and Tier 2 payments apply toward Tier 3. An organization that takes the full stepped path pays significantly less for Tier 3 than one that comes to it cold, and each step's documentation carries forward.
Does remediation include rewriting our content for readability?
Not by default. Reading-level issues are identified and prioritized in the audit, and we provide a plan along with tool recommendations your team can act on independently. If you'd like us to take on content revisions directly, we can include that in the remediation scope, but any rewritten content will need review and sign-off from your team before it goes live. You know your organization and the communities you serve far better than we do.
Accessibility is a before-launch conversation, not an afterthought.
Book a free call. We'll tell you where your site stands and what it would take to fix it. No commitment required.