Digital accessibility, by design and by review
Accessibility is cheapest when it is designed in and most expensive when it is bolted on after a complaint. We do both ends: we build websites, apps and documents to be accessible from the first screen, and we find and fix the barriers in what you already have.
The benchmark is agreed for each engagement, usually WCAG 2.2 Level AA, and written into the scope. Every engagement has a fixed written quote, agreed before any work starts.
What we offer
Accessibility by design
When we build software, accessibility is part of the design and the acceptance criteria from the first screen. Keyboard use, screen readers, zoom, reduced motion, plain language and predictable pages, from the start.
Targeted audits and reviews
An audit of your website, app or documents against the agreed benchmark, with a report signed by our founder, who holds a Diploma of Access Consulting, that says what is wrong, who it affects and what to fix first. See WCAG accessibility audits.
Remediation
Fixing what an audit found, in your code or your documents, in priority order, with each fix re-tested against the criterion it addressed.
Test automation
Automated accessibility checks built into your development process, so common regressions are caught before release rather than by a user.
Manual testing
Testing with a keyboard, screen readers and magnification, on the journeys people most need to finish. Automated tools find some barriers; people find the rest.
Accessible delivery practices
Helping your team keep it accessible: patterns, checklists, review steps and plain guidance for designers, developers and content authors.
The benchmark, stated plainly
Every engagement names its benchmark in writing before work starts. For most Australian organisations that is WCAG 2.2 Level AA, which is also what government and many tenders ask for. If your obligations point to a different level or an additional standard, we agree that instead.
A report tells you how the things we tested measure against that benchmark on the day we tested them: a signed, professional finding about what we examined, with the scope and date stated, so you know exactly what it covers. Keeping the site at that standard as content changes is what test automation and delivery practices are for.
- We state what was tested: which pages, journeys, documents and assistive technologies.
- We state the benchmark and the date.
- We put issues in order, so your team fixes what shuts people out completely first.
- We re-test fixes against the criteria they address, and say so.
Audit or overlay?
If you have been offered an overlay widget as a quick fix, read accessibility audit vs overlay widget first. An overlay changes how a page looks to some visitors; an audit against the benchmark you are accountable to, followed by fixes in the code, is what changes the page for everyone.
Who asks for this
- Digital and product teams who want barriers found early, while they are cheap to fix.
- Organisations answering an accessibility clause in a tender or a funding agreement.
- Service providers whose customers include people with disability, and who want their website and documents to work for them.
- Teams that inherited a site with problems and need a clear, ordered list of what to do.
For an Easy Read layer on your key pages, see an Easy Read version of your website. For accessibility across the wider organisation, see accessibility.
Why aXai
aXai is a disability-led AI, software and accessibility company. We build AI systems, software, and concepts and prototypes ready to scale, and we deliver them through AI-supported work: skilled people with disability in real, properly paid roles, working to clear quality standards, with AI removing the barriers and people keeping the accountability.
Every project runs on our own infrastructure, the Decision Bus and Project Layer, so each step is planned, signed off by a person and on the record. That is our operating advantage. Read how it works.
Digital accessibility and usability testing is one of the skilled, paid roles in that model: professionals who use assistive technology every day, testing real journeys to a clear checklist, with professional review of the findings. Read about AI-supported work.
Questions
Which benchmark do you test against?
The one we agree with you in writing before work starts. For most organisations that is WCAG 2.2 Level AA. If your obligations name a different level or an additional standard, we use that.
Can you fix the problems as well as find them?
Yes. Remediation is quoted separately once the audit has shown what needs doing, so you know the size of the job before you commit.
Can you make our site fully compliant?
We can test what you nominate against the agreed benchmark, fix what we find and re-test the fixes. Keeping it that way as the site changes is what test automation and delivery practices are for.
Do you test documents as well as websites?
Yes. Documents, forms and apps can all be included in the scope.
Review a product
Tell us what you have, who uses it and what benchmark you are accountable to. We will reply by email with a scope and a fixed written quote. Prefer to talk first? Contact us.