METHODOLOGY
How we calculated our Index Average.
In the real world, it takes both people and tools to keep our roads in good condition. It may be heavy equipment doing most of the digging, but it’s people planning where to dig next.
We think about digital accessibility the same way. There’s a clear need for tools like AI-driven automation to help us find and fix the majority of accessibility barriers. But there’s an equal need for people to identify certain issues and come up with solutions that deliver the best possible user experience.
Our Digital Accessibility Index reflects this perspective. We started with an automated scan, then had human experts audit the top sites in each industry, focusing on the most important page elements and user actions.
AUTOMATED SCAN
2M+ pages
We scanned more than 2 million pages across 40,000 enterprise domains.
3B+ elements
We tested more than 3 billion page elements (e.g., images and links) against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 criteria.
74M errors
Our scan revealed 74 million page elements that failed one of the WCAG criteria for accessibility.
EXPERT AUDITS
21 sites
Our expert testers audited 18 sites in the S&P 500 — plus 3 of the most-trafficked government sites.
102 pages
We tested up to 5 pages per site, focusing on pages that supported key industry goals (e.g., product pages for retailers, booking pages for travel sites).
274 barriers
In total, our testers found 274 significant accessibility barriers, many of which prevented users from accomplishing key tasks on that page.
TOP BARRIERS
The top accessibility barriers driving our key insights.
Our automated scan revealed 70 different types of accessibility barriers, based on 25 of the 78 WCAG criteria. The number of barriers identified exceeds the number of criteria tested because some WCAG criteria address multiple page elements. For example: WCAG Success Criterion 1.1.1: Non-text ContentOpens in a new tab requires that all images have a text alternative. But it also applies to emoticons, map areas, images as links, and more.
We limited our scan to 25 criteria because some barriers cannot be reliably tested by automation alone. For that reason, the true number of issues per page is likely higher. And it’s why we always stress the importance of backing automated scans with expert audits by human testers — including members of the disability community.
Of the 70 barriers that could be detected by automation, the most frequent were related to image accessibility, keyboard accessibility, and descriptive links or labels.
1. MISSING ALT TEXT
69% of pages had at least one image with inadequate or missing image alternative text.
Vague or missing alt text can make it hard for some people with visual and cognitive impairments to understand what an image is supposed to illustrate.
WCAG Success Criteria: 1.1.1: Non-Text ContentOpens in a new tab
Disabilities Affected: Visual, Cognitive
2. Vague Links
64% of pages had at least one link that did not clearly describe where it would take users.
Without clear, descriptive links, it can be hard for screen reader users and people with cognitive impairments to confidently navigate between pages.
WCAG Success Criteria: 2.4.4: Link PurposeOpens in a new tab
Disabilities Affected: Visual, Mobility
3. Keyboard barriers
54% of pages had at least one page action that could not be completed with a keyboard alone.
Keyboard-only users must be able to interact with every link and dropdown list on a page using keyboard commands (e.g., pressing the Tab or Page Down keys).
WCAG Success Criteria: 2.1.1: No KeyboardOpens in a new tab
Disabilities Affected: Visual, Mobility
4. Missing Page Titles
44% of pages lacked a title that described its topic or purpose.
Without clear, descriptive page titles, it can be hard for screen reader users to quickly determine if the information on a page is relevant to their needs.
WCAG Success Criteria: 2.4.2: Page TitledOpens in a new tab
Disabilities Affected: Visual, Cognitive, Mobility
5. Missing Form Labels
43% of pages failed to provide a descriptive label for every form field.
Missing or non-descriptive form labels can make it hard for screen reader users to know what information to enter into each field.
WCAG Success Criteria: 2.4.6: Headings and LabelsOpens in a new tab
Disabilities Affected: Visual, Cognitive
