Free SEO and WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility audit
Quick answer: A website accessibility audit tests a site against WCAG 2.1 AA, the accessibility standard most widely used for websites. 45Squared’s free audit also checks technical SEO. It crawls your site in about a minute and emails the findings in plain English, with no call and no obligation.
What does the audit check?
The audit covers two areas that small-business sites often get wrong:
- Search visibility. Page titles, descriptions, headings, broken links, sitemaps, structured data, and whether search engines can read your pages.
- Accessibility. Missing image descriptions, low color contrast, unlabeled form fields, keyboard problems and other WCAG failures.
Why does accessibility matter for a business site?
Many of your customers browse with a screen reader, a keyboard instead of a mouse, or the page zoomed to 200 percent. A site they can’t use is a sale you lose. The U.S. Department of Justice also publishes guidance on web accessibility under the ADA. It points businesses to WCAG as the practical standard.
Accessibility work tends to help everyone. Clear headings, readable contrast and labeled forms make a site easier for every visitor, and easier for search engines to understand.
What are the most common failures?
| Issue | What it looks like | Typical fix |
|---|---|---|
| Missing alt text | Images a screen reader can’t describe | Add short descriptions |
| Low contrast | Light gray text on white | Darken text colors |
| Unlabeled form fields | A screen reader says “edit text” | Add proper labels |
| Keyboard traps | Can’t tab out of a menu or pop-up | Fix focus handling |
| Vague link text | Five links that all say “click here” | Name where the link goes |
What happens after the audit?
You get a plain-English report by email. Each problem comes with the page it’s on and why it matters. Fix it yourself, hand it to your current developer, or ask us to quote the fixes. Re-running the audit later shows what improved. Read what a WCAG 2.1 AA audit checks for a deeper walk-through.
Sources and further reading
Common questions
Is the audit really free?
Yes. The automated audit is free and comes with no sales call. You enter your web address, and the report arrives by email in plain English. It lists search and accessibility problems in order of importance. If you want help fixing what it finds, you can ask for a quote, but you don’t have to.
Will an audit make my site legally compliant?
No audit can promise that. An audit shows where your site falls short of WCAG 2.1 AA so you can fix it. Automated tools also can’t catch every issue, so some checks still need a person. For legal questions about your own business, talk to a lawyer. The audit is a practical starting point, not legal advice.
Do you fix the problems too?
Yes, if you want. Many fixes are quick, like missing alt text, unlabeled form fields or low color contrast. Others, like keyboard navigation in a custom menu, take longer. We quote the fixes at a fixed price, and then re-run the audit after the work so you can see the result.