We run a WCAG 2.2 audit on every site before launch, and we have audited hundreds of existing sites over the years. The same issues come up again and again. Here are the 12 we fix most often.
1. Images Without Alt Text
Still the most common issue. Every meaningful image needs descriptive alt text. Decorative images need empty alt attributes so screen readers skip them.
2. Insufficient Color Contrast
WCAG 2.2 requires a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. The most common failure is light grey text on white backgrounds — a pattern that looks sophisticated in design mockups and fails contrast requirements by a wide margin.
3. Keyboard Navigation Traps
Modal dialogs, dropdown menus, and custom components frequently trap keyboard focus. Every interactive component needs a clearly defined focus management pattern, including a way to close using the keyboard alone.
4. Missing Focus Indicators
CSS resets that include outline: none are accessibility disasters. Every focusable element needs a visible focus indicator. Modern CSS gives you enough control to make focus indicators that look good.
5. Form Fields Without Labels
Placeholder text is not a label. When a user focuses on a field, the placeholder disappears. Every form field needs a persistent label, either visible or provided via aria-label.
The Remaining Seven
Missing skip navigation links, incorrect heading hierarchy, links with non-descriptive text, videos without captions, dynamic content not announced to screen readers, PDF documents without tagged structure, and touch targets smaller than 44x44px. Each has a straightforward technical fix — the barrier is usually awareness, not complexity.
Accessibility built in from the start takes no longer and performs better for all users — including those on mobile in suboptimal conditions, which is most of us, most of the time.
