Appendix: The AA Conformance Checklist

Use this checklist as your repeatable indicator — a structured way to judge whether a page, post, document, or video actually meets WCAG Level AA, and to show donors and partners the evidence.

It is adapted into plain language from the global consensus: the W3C evaluation methodology (WCAG-EM), the WebAIM WCAG 2 Checklist, The A11y Project checklist, and Deque’s testing research. The marking scale (Supports / Partially Supports / Does Not Support) is the same one used in the international VPAT / Accessibility Conformance Report that vendors file.

How to use it

1. Define the scope — pick what you are checking: one campaign post, a PDF report, a video, or a representative sample of your most-used page types.
2. Check the whole thing — evaluate the complete page or process, not just part of it.
3. Mark every applicable row S, PS, DNS, or N/A (scale below).
4. Read the verdict, log anything that is not “Supports,” fix it, and re-check — accessibility is ongoing, not one-time.

Test in three layers — a green scan is not enough

No single method finds everything. Combine all three:

• Automated tools (axe, WAVE, Lighthouse) — fast, but partial. Deque’s study of 13,000 pages found automation identifies about 57% of issues (up to ~80% with guided testing). A useful first pass, never sufficient alone.
• Manual checks — work through this checklist by hand: keyboard-only use, contrast, headings, alt text, captions, link text.
• Real assistive technology and people — test with a screen reader (NVDA, VoiceOver) and, wherever possible, with people with disabilities. The only way to be sure.

Run the manual checks yourself

You do not need special software or training to catch the most common problems. These four checks take about ten minutes on any page, document, or post.

1. The keyboard test (about 2 minutes)

Put your mouse aside and use the keyboard alone:

1. Tab moves forward, Shift + Tab moves back, Enter or Space activates a link or button, and the arrow keys move within menus and radio groups.
2. Check you can reach and use every control — links, buttons, form fields, menus — in a logical order.
3. Check the focus outline is always visible, so you can see where you are.
4. Check you are never trapped — you can always Tab back out of a menu, dialog, or video player.
5. Check a “skip to main content” link appears first, before the navigation.

2. Try a screen reader (about 15 minutes)

Free screen readers are built in or one download away:

• Windows: NVDA (free download) with Firefox or Chrome. Turn it on or off with the NVDA key — Insert or Caps Lock.
• Mac / iPhone: VoiceOver, built in. On a Mac, toggle it with Command + F5; it is driven with the Control + Option keys.
• Android: TalkBack, built in.
• Turn off your screen (or close your eyes) and try one task — read a page, or fill in a form. Listen: are images described? Do links make sense out of context? Are headings and form fields announced and labelled?

3. Two one-minute checks

• Zoom to 200% (Ctrl/Cmd and the + key). Is all the text still readable, with nothing cut off, overlapping, or needing sideways scrolling?
• Switch on high-contrast / forced-colours mode in your operating system. Does anything disappear — borders, icons, the focus outline, buttons?

Part A — Content checklist (your team controls this)

Part B — Website & app checklist (hand this to whoever builds your site)

These criteria are usually controlled by your website or app, not by the person writing a post — but they are part of a full AA claim, so share them with your developer or platform provider.