Start with a page that matters
You do not need an accessibility specialist to find the most common problems. Pick one important page, such as the home page, a contact page or a page where people complete a task, and test it in a few simple ways. The checks below take roughly ten to fifteen minutes in total. They will not prove a page is fully accessible, but they often expose the barriers that matter most.
Write down what you find as you go. A short list with the page, the problem and a rough sense of severity is far more useful than a general impression.
Check 1: Use only the keyboard
Put the mouse aside and press Tab repeatedly from the top of the page. Watch what happens.
- Can you reach every link, button, menu and form field?
- Can you always see where you are? A visible outline or highlight should move with you.
- Does the order feel logical, roughly following the visual layout?
- Can you open and close menus, dialogs and carousels, and can you get out of them again?
- Does Enter activate links and buttons, and does Space work on buttons and checkboxes?
Getting stuck, losing sight of the focus, or being unable to dismiss a pop-up are serious findings. The topic is covered in more depth in keyboard navigation, but even a quick pass is revealing.
Check 2: Zoom and enlarge text
Zoom the browser in to about 200 percent, and then try increasing the default text size in browser settings. Look for:
- text that gets cut off or overlaps other elements
- content that disappears behind fixed headers or banners
- sideways scrolling needed to read a normal paragraph
- menus that become unusable
People with low vision often use exactly these settings. Pages built with flexible layouts usually cope well, while rigid fixed-width designs often break.
Check 3: Look at contrast and color use
Squint at the page or view it in a dim room. Is any text hard to read? Common weak spots are light gray text on white, text placed over photos, placeholder text in form fields, and links that are only distinguishable from surrounding text by color.
Ask a simple question: if color vanished, would the meaning survive? Charts, status labels and error messages that rely only on red versus green can fail for people with color blindness. A line of text, an icon or a pattern in addition to color solves this. The measurement side of readability is explained in color contrast.
Check 4: Review images
Scroll through the page and ask what each image contributes. If it carries information, such as a product photo, a chart or a button made of an icon, it needs a short text description. If it is purely decorative, it should not add noise for screen reader users. Right-click and inspect, or use browser developer tools, to see whether the description exists. Good wording is a skill of its own, discussed in alt text.
Check 5: Read the structure
Look at the headings. Is there one clear main heading, followed by subheadings that outline the page? Screen reader users often move through a page by jumping between headings, so a page styled to look structured but built from bold paragraphs gives them no map. This connects directly to heading structure, which also helps ordinary readers skim.
Check links too. A link that says only “click here” or “read more” is meaningless when read out of context in a list of links. Descriptive wording like “download the pricing sheet” works better.
Check 6: Try the forms
Fill out one form without a mouse and then submit it with an empty field or a wrong entry. Does every field have a visible label that stays visible while typing? Does the error message say what went wrong and where? Is the error obvious without relying on color alone? Forms are where accessibility problems most directly cost you customers, and the phone-specific side is covered in mobile forms.
Check 7: Pause moving content
Look for carousels, auto-playing video, animated banners and anything that moves, blinks or scrolls on its own. Can a visitor pause or stop it? Is any audio started automatically? Motion can be distracting or physically uncomfortable for some people, and automatic changes can make content disappear before it has been read.
Check 8: Try a screen reader briefly
Most computers and phones include a built-in screen reader. Turn it on, close your eyes or dim the screen, and listen to the first minute of your page. This will feel awkward at first, and it takes practice to interpret what you hear. Still, even a short test can show missing labels, nonsense link text or a menu that is announced as an unlabeled button. If you are not comfortable with it, skip this step rather than draw conclusions from unfamiliar behavior.
Add automated checks, but keep expectations realistic
Free automated checkers can flag missing descriptions, some contrast failures and unlabeled fields quickly. They are useful for a first sweep across many pages. They usually cannot tell whether alt text is sensible, whether the reading order makes sense, or whether instructions are understandable. A clean automated result is therefore not the same as an accessible page, and a flagged item is not always a real barrier.
Turning findings into action
Sort findings by how badly they block someone. A form that cannot be submitted with a keyboard is a blocker; a slightly low-contrast footer link is minor. Fix blockers first, then repeat the tests after the fix to confirm it worked. Include accessibility in your regular audit routine, such as a monthly routine, so new content and design changes do not quietly introduce new problems. Standards and expectations vary by region and by site type, so if your organization has legal obligations, consider asking a qualified professional for guidance beyond these basic checks.