Evaluation resources for meeting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA standards

Below is a list of resources you can use when evaluating your website for accessibility.

Accessibility should be part of the planning, design and development process, not saved for the end. Many of the resources listed are useful for initial accessibility checks.

Each resource has been assigned a minimum level of expertise to use that resource effectively: basic, intermediate, or advanced. Use these to help you find the resources most appropriate for your purposes. Most resources are most useful for technical roles such as web developers and quality assurance (QA) or accessibility testers, although a few may be useful for other members of the web team.

WebAIM WCAG 2.0 Checklist
From WebAIM, this easy-to-use checklist provides WebAIM's recommendations on how to meet each success criterion. New WCAG 2.1 criteria are highlighted and labeled, allowing you to evaluate your website for the new criteria. (Level of expertise: basic, all roles)

McMaster University Web Page Checklist
This interactive checklist helps you determine what to check on each page. In addition to the "Basic Checklist" that applies to all pages, selecting the type of content on your page will add the relevant checklist for that type of content. This resource is most useful for determining which checks are necessary. (Level of expertise: basic, all roles)

Penn State University WCAG 2.0 Guidelines
This synopsis of WCAG 2.0 in table form includes helpful information on how to implement each success criterion. (Level of expertise: basic, technical roles)

University of Washington IT Accessibility Checklist & Tutorial
This tutorial uses simplified language to explain the items on the University of Washington IT Accessibility Checklist. Additional information on each topic is available by following the corresponding link. (Level of expertise: intermediate, technical roles)

Michigan State University Evaluation & Validation
This protocol is divided into six tiers, which are intended to be moved through in order. It is also designed to be done in smaller chunks. The instructions are more thorough than many of the other resources listed here. Both the protocol and the instructions are Word documents. (Level of expertise: intermediate, technical roles)

Paul J. Adam WCAG 2.0 Checklist
This interactive checklist is best for experts. You can filter by WCAG level, with each success criterion linking to the applicable WCAG "Understanding" document. (Level of expertise: advanced, technical roles)

W3C WCAG-EM Conformance Methodology
From the W3C, this is a very technical methodology designed to be performed on a representative sample of pages. (Level of expertise: advanced, technical roles)