Web Accessibility Service: What It Includes, What It Costs & How to Choose
Manual audits cost $5,000–$25,000 and are outdated the moment your site changes. Overlay widgets got the FTC's attention — and not in a good way. There's a better path: automated, continuous web accessibility services that fix issues at the source code level, starting at $29/month.
📋 Key Takeaways
- →A web accessibility service should scan your source code, not just add a cosmetic overlay on top of broken HTML
- →Manual audits are thorough but expensive ($5K–$25K) and become stale within weeks of any site update
- →Automated scanning catches the violations behind 80%+ of ADA lawsuits — for 1/100th the cost of manual audits
- →Continuous monitoring beats one-time audits: 73% of fixed issues resurface within 6 months without ongoing checks
- →The DOJ and courts increasingly expect ongoing compliance efforts, not just a single audit report
Table of Contents
What Is a Web Accessibility Service?
A web accessibility service is any professional solution that helps you identify, fix, and maintain compliance with accessibility standards — primarily WCAG 2.1/2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The goal is straightforward: make your website usable by people with disabilities — including those who use screen readers, keyboard-only navigation, voice control, and other assistive technologies. Beyond legal compliance, accessible websites reach a wider audience (26% of US adults have a disability), improve SEO, and generally provide a better user experience for everyone.
But the term "web accessibility service" covers a huge range of offerings, from a $29/month automated scanner to a $25,000 manual audit with a team of WCAG experts. Understanding what you actually need — and what you don't — can save you thousands of dollars while achieving better compliance outcomes.
The web accessibility services market is growing rapidly. ADA website lawsuits hit 4,605 in 2023, continued climbing in 2024 and 2025, and show no signs of slowing in 2026. The DOJ's Title II rule added government websites to the compliance mandate. The European Accessibility Act went into effect in June 2025. Businesses that ignored accessibility 5 years ago are now scrambling — and the service industry has exploded to meet the demand.
Not all of that demand is being met honestly. Some providers charge enterprise prices for basic scans. Others sell overlay widgets that the FTC has called "deceptive." This guide cuts through the noise and helps you find the right web accessibility service for your specific situation.
What a Good Web Accessibility Service Should Include
Regardless of the approach — automated, manual, or hybrid — a legitimate web accessibility service should deliver these core components:
1. WCAG Violation Detection
The foundation of any accessibility service. It should identify specific WCAG success criteria violations in your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — not just flag vague "issues." Look for services that reference exact WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 success criteria (e.g., "1.1.1 Non-text Content" or "4.1.2 Name, Role, Value") so your developers know exactly what standard they're failing to meet.
2. Actionable Remediation Guidance
Knowing you have 47 violations is useless without knowing how to fix them. A good service provides specific, developer-friendly remediation steps: what element is affected, what code change is needed, and why. The best tools show you the exact HTML element, the failing criterion, and a code-level fix — not just "improve your color contrast."
3. Continuous Monitoring
Websites aren't static. Every content update, plugin change, or design tweak can introduce new violations. A service that only checks once and disappears leaves you vulnerable. Continuous monitoring catches regressions automatically and keeps you compliant as your site evolves. This is where automated services dramatically outperform traditional audits.
4. Compliance Documentation
If you're ever challenged — by a lawsuit, customer complaint, or regulatory inquiry — you need documentation showing your compliance efforts. Reports, scan histories, remediation timelines, and VPAT documentation all demonstrate good faith. Courts look favorably on businesses that can show ongoing, documented compliance work.
5. Standards-Based Testing Engine
The testing engine matters. Industry-standard engines like axe-core (maintained by Deque, used by Google, Microsoft, and the US government) provide validated, false-positive-minimized results. Proprietary engines with no public validation should raise red flags. Ask any provider: what testing engine do you use, and is it publicly auditable?
Three Approaches to Web Accessibility: Compared
There are three fundamentally different approaches to web accessibility services. Understanding the difference is critical — because choosing the wrong one can cost you thousands while leaving you just as vulnerable to lawsuits.
Manual Accessibility Audits
A manual audit involves human accessibility experts — often Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) or Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) certified — reviewing your website page by page. They navigate with screen readers (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver), test keyboard-only navigation, check logical reading order, and evaluate color contrast, form interactions, and multimedia alternatives.
The good: Manual audits catch nuanced issues that automated tools can't — like whether your tab order is logical, whether your content makes sense to a screen reader user, or whether your custom JavaScript components are actually usable with assistive technology. Human testers can evaluate the intent behind content, not just its HTML structure.
The problem: Manual audits are expensive ($5,000–$25,000 per audit), slow (2–6 weeks for results), and immediately start going stale. The moment you update a blog post, change a product page, or push a code update, your audit report no longer reflects reality. Most businesses need to re-audit every 6–12 months — turning a $10,000 one-time cost into a $10,000–$20,000 annual cost.
Best for: Large enterprises, government agencies, or heavily regulated industries (healthcare, banking) that need the deepest possible analysis and have the budget to audit regularly.
Automated Scanning Services
Automated scanning tools crawl your website and programmatically test each page against WCAG success criteria. They check the DOM (Document Object Model) — the actual HTML, CSS, and ARIA attributes that assistive technologies interact with — and flag specific violations with code-level remediation guidance.
The good: Automated scanners are fast (results in minutes, not weeks), affordable ($29–$299/month), and continuous. They catch every detectable violation across every page of your site — not just a sample — and re-scan automatically to catch regressions. They're built on standards-based engines like axe-core that are validated against real WCAG criteria. And they scale effortlessly: scanning a 5,000-page site costs the same as scanning a 5-page site.
The limitation: Automated tools catch approximately 30–40% of WCAG violations — specifically, the machine-detectable ones. They excel at finding missing alt text, insufficient color contrast, broken form labels, missing ARIA attributes, keyboard traps, and duplicate IDs. They can't evaluate whether your alt text is meaningful, whether your reading order is logical, or whether your custom video player is actually usable with a screen reader.
However, the violations automated tools catch are the same ones that trigger 80%+ of ADA lawsuits. Plaintiff attorneys use automated scanning tools to identify targets — if your site fails an automated scan, you're a lawsuit candidate.
Best for: Small to mid-size businesses, agencies managing multiple client sites, and any organization that wants continuous compliance monitoring without enterprise budgets. Start here, then add manual testing for critical pages.
Overlay Widgets ⚠️
Overlay widgets (accessiBe, UserWay, AudioEye's widget layer, and others) add a JavaScript snippet to your site that injects a toolbar — typically offering font size adjustment, contrast changes, and other visual modifications. Some also attempt to automatically remediate accessibility issues by modifying the DOM on the fly.
The appeal: One line of JavaScript, no code changes needed, and a visible accessibility icon on your site. It feels like you're doing something. And vendors market heavily to non-technical business owners with claims like "WCAG compliance in 48 hours."
The reality: The FTC fined accessiBe $1 million in 2025 for making deceptive WCAG compliance claims. Over 700 accessibility professionals have signed the Overlay Fact Sheet opposing this approach. In H1 2025, 22.6% of ADA lawsuits targeted websites with overlay widgets installed. Screen reader users consistently report that overlays interfere with their assistive technology rather than helping.
Overlays don't fix the underlying source code. If your <img> tag is missing an alt attribute, the overlay might generate one using AI — but AI-generated alt text is frequently wrong, and the underlying HTML remains broken for search engines, automated testing tools, and assistive tech that doesn't load the overlay JavaScript.
Not recommended. Overlays provide a false sense of compliance while potentially making your site less accessible. They don't protect against lawsuits, and the FTC has actively penalized misleading marketing claims. Spend the same budget on a legitimate automated scanning service instead.
Pricing Comparison: Web Accessibility Services
Here's a side-by-side comparison of what different web accessibility service approaches actually cost — and what you get for that money.
| Feature | Manual Audit | Automated Scanning | Overlay Widget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical Cost | $5,000–$25,000 per audit | $29–$299/month | $490–$3,990/year |
| Annual Cost (ongoing) | $10,000–$50,000+ | $348–$3,588 | $490–$3,990 |
| Fixes Source Code Issues | ✓ Identifies issues (you fix) | ✓ Identifies with code-level guidance | ✗ Masks issues with JS overlay |
| Continuous Monitoring | ✗ Point-in-time snapshot | ✓ Automated, ongoing scans | ~ Frontend only |
| WCAG Coverage | ~100% (human judgment) | ~30–40% (machine-detectable) | ~5–10% (cosmetic fixes) |
| Time to Results | 2–6 weeks | Minutes | Instant (but cosmetic) |
| Scalability | Cost per page/audit | Flat rate, unlimited pages | Tiered by traffic |
| Legal Standing | ✓ Strong evidence of good faith | ✓ Documented ongoing compliance | ✗ Not recognized by courts |
| FTC/Regulatory Risk | ✓ No concerns | ✓ No concerns | ✗ FTC fined accessiBe $1M |
| Screen Reader Impact | ✓ Improves (when fixes applied) | ✓ Improves (when fixes applied) | ✗ Often interferes |
💡 The smart approach for most businesses: Start with automated scanning for continuous baseline compliance ($29–$99/month), then invest in a focused manual audit of your 5–10 most critical pages ($2,000–$5,000 one-time). This gives you 90%+ of the compliance benefit at 10%–20% of the cost of a full manual audit program.
Continuous Monitoring vs One-Time Audits
This is the single most important concept in web accessibility services — and the one most businesses get wrong.
A one-time audit gives you a snapshot. It tells you what's broken right now. But websites are living documents. Content management systems, marketing teams, developers, plugin updates, and third-party integrations all introduce changes that can break accessibility at any time.
Why One-Time Audits Fail
- •73% regression rate: Studies show that nearly three-quarters of accessibility issues found in an audit resurface within 6 months — either because fixes weren't properly implemented or new content reintroduced the same patterns
- •CMS content drift: Your marketing team publishes a blog post with images but no alt text. Your sales team adds a form that's missing labels. These happen weekly on active sites
- •Third-party code: WordPress plugins, embedded widgets, chatbots, analytics scripts — any of these can introduce accessibility violations that didn't exist during your audit
- •Legal expectations: The DOJ's position is clear — ADA compliance is an ongoing obligation, not a one-time achievement. Courts have sided with plaintiffs even when defendants could show a previous audit, if the site had deteriorated since
What Continuous Monitoring Gives You
- ✓Regression detection: When a new violation appears (broken form label, missing alt text, contrast issue), you're alerted immediately — not 6 months later during the next audit
- ✓Compliance history: A continuous record of scans, scores, and fixes demonstrates ongoing good-faith compliance to courts and regulators
- ✓Trend tracking: See whether your accessibility posture is improving or degrading over time — invaluable for reporting to leadership
- ✓Accountability: When every team member knows the site gets scanned regularly, accessibility becomes part of the development culture — not an afterthought
How Automated Accessibility Scanning Works
Understanding the technology behind automated scanning helps you evaluate services more effectively. Here's what happens when a tool like RatedWithAI scans your site:
Browser Rendering
The scanner loads your page in a real browser engine (Chromium/Playwright), executing JavaScript, loading CSS, and rendering the page exactly as a user would see it. This catches issues in dynamically-loaded content that simple HTML crawlers would miss.
DOM Analysis with axe-core
The industry-standard axe-core engine (used by Google, Microsoft, and the US government) analyzes the rendered DOM against WCAG 2.1/2.2 success criteria. It checks every element — images, forms, links, headings, ARIA attributes, color contrast, keyboard accessibility, and more.
Violation Mapping
Each violation is mapped to a specific WCAG success criterion, impact level (critical, serious, moderate, minor), and the exact HTML element causing the issue. This gives developers a precise target for remediation.
Remediation Guidance
For each violation, the scanner provides specific fix instructions — often with before/after code examples. "Add alt="Product photo of blue widget" to the img element on line 142" is more actionable than "fix alt text issues."
Scoring & Reporting
Results are compiled into an accessibility score, violation report, and trend data. This documentation serves as evidence of your compliance efforts and helps you track progress over time.
Who Needs a Web Accessibility Service?
Short answer: if you have a website that serves the public, you likely need one. But the urgency and type of service varies:
🔴 High Priority — You Need This Now
- • E-commerce sites: E-commerce is the #1 target for ADA lawsuits (34% of all filings). If you sell products online, you're in the highest-risk category.
- • Healthcare providers: The HHS Section 504 rule mandates WCAG 2.1 AA compliance for organizations receiving Medicare/Medicaid funding.
- • Financial services: Banking and fintech sites are high-lawsuit-risk and often have complex interactive forms that create accessibility barriers.
- • Government websites: The DOJ's ADA Title II rule requires WCAG 2.1 AA compliance for all state and local government websites.
🟡 Medium Priority — Plan for It
- • SaaS companies: Enterprise customers increasingly require VPATs and accessibility documentation in procurement.
- • Education: Section 504 and Title II requirements apply to educational institutions receiving federal funding.
- • Professional services: Law firms, accountants, and consultants with public-facing websites are ADA Title III targets.
- • Companies selling to Europe: The European Accessibility Act (effective June 2025) requires WCAG compliance for services offered in the EU.
🟢 Lower Priority — But Still Valuable
- • Small business brochure sites: Lower lawsuit risk but accessibility improvements boost SEO and expand your audience.
- • Personal blogs: Minimal legal risk, but a free scan can reveal quick wins for better user experience.
- • Internal tools: If used by employees, workplace accommodation requirements may apply under ADA Title I.
How to Choose a Web Accessibility Service Provider
The market is crowded, and not all providers are equal. Here's a practical checklist for evaluating any web accessibility service:
✅ Ask These Questions
- 1.What testing engine do you use? — Look for axe-core or another publicly validated engine. Proprietary "AI-powered" engines with no public audit trail should raise concerns.
- 2.Do you test rendered pages or just static HTML? — JavaScript-heavy sites (React, Angular, Vue, Next.js) require browser-based rendering to catch all issues.
- 3.Do you fix source code or apply overlays? — Only source-code-level fixes constitute genuine WCAG compliance. If the answer involves "JavaScript injection" or "DOM manipulation," it's an overlay approach.
- 4.How often do you scan? — Weekly or better is ideal. Monthly is acceptable. "Once at setup" is a red flag.
- 5.What documentation do you provide for legal defense? — Scan histories, compliance reports, and remediation timelines are crucial if you're ever challenged.
- 6.What WCAG version and conformance level do you test against? — Should be WCAG 2.1 AA minimum; WCAG 2.2 AA is increasingly expected.
🚩 Red Flags to Watch For
- • "100% WCAG compliant in 48 hours" — No automated tool can guarantee full compliance. This is the exact claim the FTC penalized.
- • "Just add one line of JavaScript" — This is overlay marketing language. Real compliance requires fixing your actual code.
- • No free scan or trial — Legitimate scanning services let you see results before paying. If they won't show you a scan, ask why.
- • Pricing based on traffic/pageviews — This model (used by overlay vendors) penalizes success. Look for flat-rate pricing.
- • No reference to axe-core, WCAG criteria, or specific testing methodology — Vague "AI-powered accessibility" claims without specifics are marketing fluff.
The RatedWithAI Approach
RatedWithAI is an automated web accessibility service built on the axe-core engine — the same testing engine used by Google Chrome DevTools, Microsoft's Accessibility Insights, and the US Department of Homeland Security.
Here's what makes our approach different from both expensive manual audits and unreliable overlay widgets:
🔍 Real Browser Scanning
We render your pages in a real Chromium browser using Playwright, catching issues in JavaScript-heavy frameworks that static HTML crawlers miss entirely.
🛠️ Code-Level Fixes
Every violation comes with specific remediation guidance pointing to the exact HTML element and WCAG criterion — not vague suggestions.
📊 Continuous Monitoring
Scheduled scans catch regressions before they become lawsuit targets. Your compliance score is always current, not 6 months stale.
💰 Transparent Pricing
$29/month for continuous monitoring. No per-page fees, no traffic tiers, no hidden costs. The same price whether you have 10 pages or 10,000.
Quick Cost Comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a web accessibility service include?
A comprehensive web accessibility service typically includes: automated WCAG scanning to detect code-level violations, detailed reports with remediation guidance, continuous monitoring for ongoing compliance, manual testing with assistive technologies (screen readers, keyboard navigation), documentation and compliance certification, and support for fixing identified issues. The specific scope varies by provider and service tier.
How much does a web accessibility service cost?
Costs vary significantly by approach. Manual accessibility audits typically cost $5,000 to $25,000 per audit. Automated scanning services range from $29 to $299 per month. Overlay widgets cost $490 to $3,990 per year but don't fix underlying code issues. For most small and mid-size businesses, automated scanning with continuous monitoring ($29–$99/month) provides the best balance of thoroughness and affordability.
Is a one-time accessibility audit enough?
No. A one-time audit provides a point-in-time snapshot, but websites change constantly. Studies show that 73% of accessibility issues found in an audit resurface within 6 months without continuous monitoring. The DOJ and courts increasingly expect ongoing compliance efforts, not just one-time fixes. Continuous monitoring services scan your site regularly and alert you to new issues as they arise.
What's the difference between an accessibility overlay and a real accessibility service?
An accessibility overlay adds a JavaScript widget that modifies frontend presentation — adjusting fonts, colors, and spacing. A real web accessibility service identifies actual code-level problems (missing alt text, broken form labels, keyboard traps) and provides guidance to fix them at the source. The FTC fined accessiBe $1 million in 2025 for falsely claiming its overlay could make websites WCAG-compliant. Over 700 accessibility professionals have signed the Overlay Fact Sheet opposing the overlay approach.
Can automated accessibility services replace manual testing?
Automated tools catch approximately 30–40% of WCAG violations — the machine-detectable issues like missing alt text, contrast problems, and missing form labels. Manual testing catches the remaining 60–70%, including logical tab order and screen reader usability. However, automated scanning catches the violations behind 80%+ of ADA lawsuits and provides continuous monitoring. The best approach: start with automated for continuous baseline compliance, then supplement with manual testing for critical pages.
How do I choose the right web accessibility service?
Choose based on your website's complexity, budget, and compliance requirements. For small businesses with simple sites, automated scanning ($29/mo) provides excellent coverage. For enterprises or regulated industries, consider hybrid approaches combining automated scanning with periodic manual audits. Avoid overlay-only solutions. Key questions: Does it scan source code? Does it provide remediation guidance? Does it offer continuous monitoring? Is it built on recognized engines like axe-core?
Start With a Free Accessibility Scan
See exactly where your website stands against WCAG 2.1 AA criteria. Get a detailed violation report with specific remediation guidance — in under 60 seconds. Then upgrade to continuous monitoring at $29/month to stay compliant as your site evolves.
Free Accessibility Scan →No credit card required · Results in under 60 seconds · Upgrade to monitoring for $29/mo