Accessibility audits
After an accessibility audit
- Last reviewed
- 14 September 2026
- Owner
- DesignOps
Find out what to do with your accessibility audit report, how to prioritise and fix issues, and when to retest your service.
Your audit report will identify accessibility and best-practice issues that may affect users with disabilities.
It should tell you:
- where your product or website may not provide a good user experience, particularly for people with disabilities
- which WCAG criteria you are not meeting
- potential ways to fix the issues
Some audit providers may also prioritise issues for you.
What to do after an audit
Use your audit findings to understand, prioritise and fix accessibility issues.
1. Review your audit report
Review the findings with your team and make sure you understand:
- what the issues are
- where they occur
- which users may be affected
- which WCAG criteria are not met
- what needs to be done to fix them
2. Prioritise the issues
Prioritise issues based on their impact on users and the effort needed to fix them.
You should consider where an issue occurs in the user journey and whether it prevents users from continuing to use your service.
[Find out how to manage and prioritise accessibility issues]
3. Track and fix the issues
Record the issues and track them through to resolution.
Your team should work together to understand who needs to fix each issue and when it needs to be resolved.
You can use the accessibility issues and statements service to track accessibility issues and manage your accessibility statement.
[Use the accessibility issues and statements service]
4. Retest the fixes
After you have fixed issues, arrange a retest where needed to confirm that they have been resolved.
Keep a record of the fixes and the outcome of the retest.
Do not mark an issue as resolved until you are confident that it has been fixed. This may need to be confirmed by an accessibility expert within DfE, your audit supplier or DesignOps.
5. Update your accessibility statement
Your accessibility statement must reflect the current accessibility of your product or website.
Update the statement when issues have been resolved and your level of conformance has changed.
Any unresolved issues that need to remain in your accessibility statement should include the information required by the relevant guidance and templates.
[Find out how to publish an accessibility statement]
Before your service goes live
Most accessibility issues should be resolved before users access your service.
High-impact issues should be fixed before your service goes live.
If lower-impact issues remain, your accessibility statement must include a timeline for when they will be resolved.
Make sure your team has allowed enough time to fix issues, retest them and update your accessibility statement before the service goes live.
After your service goes live
You should incorporate budget for an accessibility audit every 12 months.
This can help you identify accessibility issues when you have made changes to your service, introduced new patterns or components, or need to respond to potential user complaints or GDS monitoring findings.
A new audit may not be needed if:
- no changes have been made to your service
- previously identified issues have been resolved and retested
- your team has carried out sufficient internal testing
If you are unsure whether another audit is needed, DesignOps can review your service and help you decide. They aim to respond within 5 working days.
[Submit an audit request]