How to read an accessibility scan or report
What the numbers in a scan or vendor report mean, what to fix first, and what to ask before you trust a claim.
Start with what you received
After reading this guide, you'll be able to read an accessibility scan or vendor report, decide what to fix first, and ask vendors better questions. A scan is an automated test that looks for problems in a page's code. If a report or a sales email has left you with a long list and a worrying number, start here.
A long list is common. WebAIM's 2026 scan of the top one million home pages detected failures on 95.9% of them, with an average of 56.1 errors per page (WebAIM Million). It also found that 96% of detected errors fall into six categories, such as low contrast text and missing form labels. Most barriers are accidents, and most can be fixed.
We sell accessibility services, so we have a stake in how you read these reports. Use the questions in this guide on anything we send you too.
What a scan can and cannot tell you
A scan is fast, and it can find many problems that a rule can describe, such as an image with no alt text or a form field with no label. It can't tell you whether a person can finish a task on your site. W3C says no tool alone can determine whether a site meets accessibility standards. It also says tools can produce false or misleading results.
So read every report in both directions. A long list does not show that your site is as far behind as the number suggests. A short list or a high score does not show that your site works for everyone, because either one reflects only what a tool tested.
Why the number can look bigger than the work
Four things can make a total look larger than the work behind it.
- Repeats. A problem in a shared header or template can appear on every page. A tool that counts each page can list it hundreds of times, and one fix in the template can clear all of them.
- Level AAA items. WCAG, the international accessibility standard, has three levels: A, AA, and AAA. Some tools include AAA items in their totals. W3C does not recommend requiring AAA for whole sites, because some content can't meet every AAA requirement.
- Advice beyond the standard. Some tools also list best-practice suggestions that WCAG doesn't require. They can be useful, but they belong on a separate list.
- False alarms. A tool can flag something that isn't a problem. A person needs to confirm a finding before your team spends time on it.
Where the laws in our law guides name a WCAG level, they name Level AA. Others, such as ADA Title III, name no level at all. A few AAA requirements can still matter a great deal to your customers, and our guide to how far to take accessibility explains how to choose them.
The barriers behind the list still matter. Reading the total this way tells you the size of the work, which can be smaller than the number first suggests.
If you’re not sure where to start, tell us about your website and we’ll suggest a first step.
Talk to us about a first stepWhat to fix first
You don't need to clear the whole list at once. Work through it in this order.
- Sort by level. Start with Level A and AA findings. Move AAA items and best-practice suggestions to a separate list for later.
- Group by cause. Ask your developer which findings come from the same template or component. One fix can clear many findings.
- Start with the tasks people came to do. Put checkout, booking, sign-in, and contact forms ahead of pages few people need. Fix what stops someone from finishing.
- Confirm the finding. Try the task yourself, using the checks in how to find and fix common accessibility barriers. Drop any false alarms and add barriers the tool missed.
- Keep a dated record. Note what you found, what you fixed, and when you retested. A record is evidence of your effort, not a legal opinion or a guarantee.
Ask for an estimate for each group, not each finding. Adding a missing label to a shared form field is usually a small change for a developer. Replacing a brand color or rebuilding a custom date picker can take much longer and can need a designer.
For a small team, a shared task list is enough. A larger organization can track each group as a ticket with an owner and a retest date. A plan does not change what the law requires, but it gives your team an order to work in and a record of what you've done.
Questions to ask a vendor
Use these questions for any scan, report, or sales claim, including ours. A specific answer is a good sign. So is a plain statement of what a product does not cover.
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Which WCAG version and levels does this number include? | A total that includes AAA can look much larger than the work you're aiming to do. |
| How are repeats counted? | One problem in a template can be counted once or hundreds of times. |
| How do you handle false alarms? | Your team loses time on findings that nobody confirmed. |
| What did a person check? | A tool can't judge everything, such as whether an image description fits. |
| Which pages and tasks were tested, and when? | A report covers only what was tested on that date. |
| What does this not cover? | A clear limit tells you what you still need to check. |
When a vendor cites a study
Accessibility companies are known for paying for studies and reviews that promote their own products. Some call that work independent, even when they paid for it. We sell accessibility services too, so read what we publish the same way.
A bigger count does not always mean a better tool. A tool can report more because it counts repeats, includes AAA items, or flags more false alarms. It can also report more because it found more real problems. The total alone can't tell you which.
Read the full report and check who paid for it. A paid study can have accurate numbers and still leave out what matters to you. Check which levels are in the totals, whether false alarms were counted, and whether anyone tested the sites by hand to find what the tools missed.
Your next step
Take your latest report, separate the Level A and AA findings, and pick the one task that matters most to your customers. Then check that task by hand using our guide to finding and fixing common barriers.
A scan and these checks cover only part of the standard, so neither one can tell you whether your site meets the law. If you need a full review, talk to us about an evaluation. An evaluation records what we found on the date we tested. It is evidence of your effort, not a legal opinion or a guarantee.
Terms used in this guide
Sources
Get help with every step.
We can work with organizations of every size and industry, from a startup serving its first customers to a bank. We find where you stand, help your team fix what matters, and keep checking as your product changes. That work is evidence of your effort, not a legal guarantee.