By Mehdi HassanHow much does an accessibility audit cost?
Accessibility audit cost depends on which kind of audit you're buying. An automated scan costs nothing to a modest subscription. A manual WCAG audit by an expert is a fixed or day-rate project priced by how many page templates and user flows are tested. Fixing what the audit finds is a separate cost, and on most sites it's the larger one.
We don't quote a single market range here because published prices vary too much to be useful, and our research didn't find figures reliable enough to repeat. What we can do is show you how audits are priced, so you can compare quotes properly. For the legal reasons an audit might be needed, see our overview of website accessibility compliance.
Audit type | How it's usually priced | What you get | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
Automated scan | Free tools or a monthly subscription | Machine-detectable issues only | A first look; ongoing monitoring |
Manual WCAG audit | Fixed fee or day rate, by templates and flows | Expert review against WCAG 2.2 AA, issue log | Most startups with legal or sales pressure |
Audit with disabled user testing | Manual audit plus paid testing sessions | Real-world task findings | Products with complex flows |
Conformance report (VPAT/ACR) | Added to a manual audit | Criterion-by-criterion report for buyers | Selling to enterprise or government |
Retest after fixes | Smaller follow-up fee | Confirmation the issues are closed | Before you publish a statement |
Remediation | Design and development time | The actual fixes in code and content | Every audit that finds problems |
Designify | $1,000 trial week or $6,000/month retainer | Fixes in design and code, scoped first | Teams that want issues fixed, not just listed |
What's the difference between a scan, an audit and remediation?
A scan finds what software can detect, an audit finds what an expert can detect, and remediation fixes both. Mixing them up is the most common reason accessibility budgets go wrong: a team buys a cheap scan, assumes it's done, and later learns the hard issues were never checked.
- Automated scan. Tools like axe or Lighthouse flag missing alt text, contrast failures, empty links and missing labels. They can't judge whether alt text is accurate, whether focus order makes sense or whether a custom menu works with a screen reader.
- Manual WCAG audit. An accessibility specialist tests representative pages and flows with a keyboard, screen readers and zoom, and checks each WCAG 2.2 AA criterion. Our WCAG 2.2 checklist shows what's on that list.
- Remediation. Designers, writers and developers change the components, colors and content. This is where the site actually becomes accessible.
If you want to see how much you can find yourself before paying anyone, our guide on how to test website accessibility covers a free routine with scanners, a keyboard and a screen reader.
What drives the cost of a WCAG audit?
The biggest cost driver of a WCAG audit is how many unique templates and flows need testing, not how many pages the site has. A large blog built from a few templates can cost less to audit than a small site with a custom configurator, a checkout and an embedded app.
- Unique templates and components. Auditors test a representative sample of each template, so variety drives effort more than volume.
- Critical user flows. Signup, checkout, booking and account settings each need step-by-step testing.
- Custom interactive widgets. Carousels, date pickers, maps, configurators and drag-and-drop need detailed keyboard and screen-reader checks.
- Platforms covered. Testing the website, a web app and native apps separately multiplies the work.
- Assistive tech matrix. More screen reader and browser combinations mean more test time.
- Reporting depth. A plain issue log costs less than a formal conformance report with remediation guidance.
- Retesting. Some quotes include a retest after fixes; many charge for it separately.
Why does remediation usually cost more than the audit?
Remediation usually costs more than the audit because finding a problem takes minutes and fixing it properly can mean redesigning a component, rewriting copy and retesting every page that uses it. A report with hundreds of issues often comes down to a short list of root causes, but each root cause is real work.
The cost of remediation depends heavily on how the site was built. On a site with a clean component library, a fix to one button component repairs hundreds of pages. On a site where every page was built by hand, or where a page builder generates messy markup, the same fix has to be made many times. That's also why a site full of issues on an old platform is sometimes cheaper to rebuild than to patch; see how much a website costs for a startup for rebuild ranges.
Hypothetical example: how 180 issues become a scoped fix
For example, suppose a SaaS marketing site with eight templates and a demo-request form gets a manual audit listing 180 issues. Grouped by root cause, they fall into a short list: the button component lacks a visible focus style, the brand's accent color fails text contrast, the navigation dropdown can't be opened by keyboard, the form shows errors only in red, the logo carousel can't be paused and the blog template skips heading levels.
That's six fixes in the design system and components, plus a content pass on alt text. Scoped this way, the work fits a defined sprint. Scoped issue by issue, it looks like months.
What should an accessibility audit report include?
A useful accessibility audit report maps every issue to a WCAG criterion, rates its severity, shows where it happens and suggests a fix. If a vendor can't show you a sample report like that, you'll pay for a list you can't act on. Ask for these items before you sign.
- Scope statement. Which pages, templates, flows and devices were tested, against which standard (WCAG 2.2 AA).
- Method. Which tools, screen readers and browsers were used, and whether testing was manual.
- Issue log. Each issue with its criterion, severity, location, screenshot and a suggested fix.
- Root-cause summary. Issues grouped by component, so developers fix causes, not symptoms.
- Priorities. What blocks users completely versus what's a minor inconvenience.
- Retest terms. Whether a retest is included and when.
If buyers or regulators will see the result, you'll also need an accessibility statement after the fixes. And be wary of any vendor bundling the audit with an overlay subscription; as we explain in do accessibility overlays work?, the widget doesn't fix what the audit finds.
How does Designify price accessibility work?
We don't sell standalone certified audits. We're a design and development team, so we price accessibility work as fixing: finding the issues on your key flows, then repairing them in your design system, components and content. That suits teams who'd rather have a working site than a long report.
- Trial week of design and development
- $1,000
- Monthly retainer, no hourly tracking
- $6,000
- New website up to 6 pages, if a rebuild makes more sense
- $8,000
For a contained problem, a trial week can go on fixing the highest-risk flows. For a larger site, a retainer works through issues in priority order alongside other design and development work. If the site is old and fragile, a rebuild is often the cheaper route. We scope which one fits on the intro call, after looking at your site.
Is an accessibility audit worth paying for?
A manual accessibility audit is worth it when there's external pressure: an enterprise questionnaire, a public-sector contract, EU consumer customers under the European Accessibility Act, or a demand letter under the ADA. In those cases, documented evidence from an independent reviewer has value of its own.
It's often not worth it as a first step for an early-stage startup with a small site and no pressure. Free scans plus a careful keyboard and screen-reader pass will find most of the fixable problems, and the budget goes further on fixes. Industries with higher stakes, like healthcare, should lean toward a formal audit; see healthcare website accessibility for why.
