Web Accessibility: 6 Compliance Checks Every Site Must Pass [Checklist]

Web Accessibility is no longer a nice-to-have feature reserved for government portals and large enterprises. It is a foundational requirement for any business that wants its website to work for every visitor, including the millions of Indian users who rely on screen readers, keyboard navigation, or voice controls to browse the internet. Think of your website as a physical storefront: if the entrance only has stairs, you have quietly turned away every customer who uses a wheelchair. The same principle applies online, and search engines have started rewarding sites that get this right. This checklist walks you through six compliance checks every site must pass to be genuinely accessible and defensible.

A Strategic Cpluz Perspective

Most agencies treat accessibility as a legal checkbox, something to bolt on before a client gets nervous about a lawsuit. We think that approach misses the real opportunity. In our work with fintech clients at Cpluz, we've found that accessibility fixes almost always improve usability for everyone, not just users with disabilities. Clearer contrast helps people browsing in bright sunlight. Better keyboard navigation helps power users who hate touching a mouse. Structured headings help mobile users who skim before committing to read.

We call this the Cpluz "A-U-X" Model: Accessibility, Usability, eXperience. The idea is simple - instead of asking "does this pass an automated scanner," ask "does fixing this also make the experience better for a non-disabled user." If the answer is yes, you have found a change worth prioritizing immediately. If the answer is no, it might still be a legal necessity, but it belongs lower on your roadmap. This reframing helps businesses stop viewing compliance as a cost center and start seeing it as a quality signal that quietly improves conversion rates across the board.

What Does Web Accessibility Actually Require?

Web Accessibility requires that people with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with your site without barriers. The global benchmark most businesses reference is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), currently at version 2.1, with Level AA as the practical target for most commercial websites. Meeting this standard is not about perfection; it is about removing the obstacles that prevent a meaningful share of your audience from completing basic tasks like reading content, filling a form, or making a purchase.

1. Color Contrast and Text Readability

Check that body text has sufficient contrast against its background, and that no critical information is conveyed by color alone. A common mistake we often see businesses in the tech sector make is using light gray text on white backgrounds because it looks elegant in a design mockup, without testing it against contrast ratio standards.

2. Keyboard Navigation

Every interactive element - links, buttons, form fields, dropdown menus - must be operable using only a keyboard. Tab through your entire site. If you get stuck, lose visible focus, or cannot reach a menu item, that is a barrier a real user will hit too.

3. Alternative Text for Images

Every meaningful image needs descriptive alt text so screen readers can convey its purpose. Decorative images should be marked so screen readers skip them, avoiding unnecessary noise for visually impaired users.

4. Semantic HTML and Heading Structure

Headings should follow a logical order, and content should use proper HTML elements rather than styled <div> tags pretending to be buttons or lists. This benefits screen reader users and, as a side effect, tends to improve SEO structure too.

5. Form Labels and Error Handling

Every form field needs a properly associated label, and error messages must be specific and programmatically announced. "Something went wrong" tells a sighted user little; it tells a screen reader user nothing actionable.

6. Captions and Transcripts for Media

Video and audio content need captions and transcripts. This one check quietly serves multiple audiences: deaf users, non-native speakers, and anyone scrolling social media with the sound off.

A mistake we often see businesses in the tech sector make is treating these six checks as a one-time audit rather than an ongoing practice. When we redesigned the approach for one of our retail clients, we discovered their accessibility score dropped every time the marketing team published a new campaign landing page, because the checklist lived in a document nobody consulted mid-project. We built a lightweight pre-publish review into their workflow instead, and the regressions stopped almost immediately. The lesson here is that accessibility is a habit you build into your process, not a document you file away after launch.

Why Do Businesses Struggle to Maintain Compliance?

Businesses struggle because accessibility often gets treated as a design afterthought rather than a foundational requirement baked into the development process from day one. Teams design first, build second, and only think about screen readers or keyboard traps once a client or auditor raises a concern.

Mistake 1: Adding accessibility fixes only after a complaint or audit, rather than during design.
Mistake 2: Relying entirely on automated scanning tools, which typically catch only a portion of real-world barriers.
Mistake 3: Assuming a mobile-responsive site is automatically accessible, when the two are entirely separate concerns.

Is your team making any of these mistakes right now? If you are unsure, a manual keyboard-only walkthrough of your site's core user journeys will answer that question faster than any automated report.

How Should You Prioritize Fixes When Resources Are Limited?

Prioritize the checks that block entire tasks first, then move to the checks that degrade quality of experience. A broken checkout form that a screen reader cannot complete is more urgent than a missing alt tag on a decorative background image. Align your fixes with your busiest user journeys - the login page, the contact form, the primary call to action - before addressing lower-traffic pages.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is Web Accessibility a legal requirement in India?
A: India's Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act references accessibility standards, and businesses serving global markets often need to meet WCAG for contractual or regulatory reasons abroad as well.

Q: Can automated tools fully test Web Accessibility?
A: No, automated scanners catch a portion of issues but miss context-dependent problems like whether alt text is genuinely descriptive or whether a keyboard flow makes logical sense.

Q: How often should we re-check accessibility compliance?
A: Ideally with every major release, since new pages, forms, or components can introduce fresh barriers even on a previously compliant site.

Q: Does improving accessibility affect SEO?
A: Yes, many accessibility practices like semantic headings and descriptive alt text directly support search engine crawling and indexing.

About the Author

Rajendaran is the Lead Digital Strategist at Cpluz, where he blends creative design with data-driven marketing strategies to help Indian businesses build powerful and profitable online presences. He has guided technology and retail businesses across India through practical accessibility audits that strengthen both compliance and everyday user experience.

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