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Accessibility

Accessible, AODA-compliant website design: WCAG 2.2 AA built in, plus honest audits and remediation for the site you already have.

Accessibility lives in how a page is built, not in a widget bolted on afterward. I build to WCAG 2.2 AA from the first commit, and I audit and remediate existing sites with a plain report of where they stand and what it takes to fix them.

An accessibility overlay is like air freshener sprayed into a room with a broken drain. The site smells fine for thirty seconds, and the person who actually depends on assistive technology knows the moment the scent fades. Real accessibility is in the markup underneath, and that is where I build it.

Delivery context: Accessibility built to AODA and WCAG 2.2 AA on every build since the first commit, not added as a phase near the end. Building on the web since 1996, in WordPress since 2007, WordCamp speaker at 18+ events. Audits and remediation available for existing Ontario sites.

Web accessibility is the layer that decides whether a person using a keyboard, a screen reader, or a phone in bright sunlight can actually use your site, before any design polish or marketing has a chance to matter. Most sites I audit have foundational issues that a widget cannot touch, because the standard applies to how the page is built. This page is for organisations that want accessibility done properly, not papered over.

Who this is for

  • Ontario organisations with obligations under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) that want the work done properly rather than papered over with a widget.
  • Businesses that have had an accessibility complaint, or an audit that came back with a list nobody understood, and need an honest read on where they really stand.
  • Public-facing organisations that want to stop quietly turning away customers who use assistive technology, and know a locked front door when they see one.

Who this is not for

  • Anyone who just wants an overlay widget installed so the site looks compliant without being compliant. I will not sell you one, because it does not do what its sales page claims.
  • A buyer shopping purely on the cheapest quote, where the corner most easily cut is the accessibility work that is the whole point here.

What I deliver

Accessibility audit

A structured review of the site against WCAG 2.2 AA: semantic structure and heading order, full keyboard operability, colour contrast, visible focus, form labelling and error handling, meaningful alt text, and reliance on colour alone. A written report with findings ranked by how many people each one affects, the specific fix for each, and a prioritised order. Suitable for handing to a developer or acting on directly.

Remediation of an existing site

Most issues turn out to be fixable in place: contrast, headings, labels, focus, alt text, and keyboard behaviour can usually be corrected without starting over. I remediate in priority order, so the changes that help the most people land first, and I verify each one the way a real user would hit it rather than trusting a scan.

Accessible builds from the first commit

On new work, WCAG 2.2 AA is simply how the site gets made. It is not a phase near the end and it is not a line item you can decline, the same way a good electrician wires to code because that is the job. The same discipline that helps a screen-reader user also makes the site faster and more findable, so accessibility and good engineering are the same project described from two angles.

Ongoing accessibility advisory

For organisations with an internal team that handles execution but needs a senior voice for pre-launch review, procurement questions, and the accessibility decisions that come up after a redesign or a migration. Hourly advisory at the senior rate, not a retainer that renews whether there is work or not.

Send a brief or email at hello@thisismyurl.com. Describe the site, the platform, and whether you are working from a complaint, an audit, or a standard you have to meet; I will tell you in one email whether it is in my lane and what an engagement looks like.

How this connects to the rest of the system

  • The same clean markup and fast, keyboard-friendly pages that accessibility requires are exactly what technical SEO rewards, so the two are one job described from two angles.
  • An accessibility review is one lens of a full site audit, and a failed audit is often where this work begins.
  • For a publishing operation, accessibility is part of whether the editorial system actually reaches the audience it publishes for.

The overlay is not accessibility. Build it in instead.

WCAG 2.2 AA from the first commit on new work, and honest audits and remediation for the site you already have. AODA obligations met in the markup, not with a widget you will later have to explain.

Book a 20-minute discovery call

Related: Why the overlay widget fails · Site audit · Technical SEO

Common questions

Does an accessibility widget make my site AODA compliant?

No. Compliance is about how the page itself is built, and a widget cannot change the markup it sits on top of. It can offer a few surface controls, but it cannot add semantic structure, fix keyboard traps, or repair a form that was never labelled. The disabled users these tools claim to serve broadly report that they get in the way, and overlays have appeared in accessibility complaints rather than defending against them.

Can you fix the site I already have, or does it need a rebuild?

Almost always I audit first, because I will not guess. Once I can see how your site is built, most issues turn out to be fixable in place, and I remediate them in priority order. A rebuild only enters the conversation when the foundation cannot support the standard no matter what we patch, and in that case I will show you exactly what I found so the decision is yours.