What this service is
The Web Accessibility & Compliance service helps organizations ensure their websites are usable by people with disabilities and meet WCAG 2.1/2.2, ADA Title II/III, and Section 508 standards. Automated tools catch roughly 30–40% of accessibility issues—the rest require expert manual review of keyboard navigation, screen reader behavior, color contrast in context, ARIA implementation, and dynamic component patterns.
Northwoods offers a clear progression: a free automated homepage scan that surfaces the most critical WCAG violations in minutes, a paid full-site audit with expert manual review of key templates and user journeys, a comprehensive remediation engagement where Sydney’s team provides developer-ready fix guidance and validates the corrections, and an ongoing retainer that continuously monitors the site and catches regressions from CMS updates, new content, or third-party script changes.
Why clients care: Accessibility barriers prevent real users from completing real tasks—a resident can’t submit a service request, a student can’t register for a class, a patient can’t book an appointment. Beyond usability, the regulatory environment is accelerating: the DOJ finalized ADA Title II rules in 2024 requiring WCAG 2.1 AA compliance for state and local government websites, and private sector enforcement under Title III continues to generate thousands of demand letters annually. Most organizations don’t know how many barriers their websites contain until someone complains—or files suit.
Highest-interest audiences: Government agencies and municipalities face the most acute and time-bound compliance pressure—DOJ’s 2024 Title II rule sets hard deadlines (2026 for large entities, 2027 for smaller ones). School districts and higher education institutions fall under Section 508 and Title II simultaneously. Healthcare organizations (ADA Title III, patient access obligations) and financial services firms (increasing DOJ scrutiny) are strong secondary markets. Any Northwoods client on Titan CMS is a natural prospect—we can audit and monitor what we built.
SS
Sydney Shimko
Accessibility Compliance Practice Lead
Sydney leads Northwoods’ accessibility compliance services, specializing in WCAG website compliance, ADA and Section 508 requirements, and large-scale remediation programs for public sector organizations. She works with government agencies, school districts, healthcare organizations, and enterprise clients to implement accessibility programs that combine automated testing, expert review, and scalable remediation workflows. At S-tier, Sydney conducts the manual template audit. At M-tier, she leads the developer remediation engagement directly and validates fixes. At L-tier, her team monitors the site continuously and coordinates with client development teams to resolve regressions.
Service tiers — F / S / M / L
F — Free / Quick Scan
Accessibility Snapshot
Free
Agent-automated • Homepage + up to 10 pages • <10 minutes
- ✓ Automated WCAG 2.1 AA scan (homepage)
- ✓ Missing / empty alt text detection
- ✓ Heading hierarchy check
- ✓ Color contrast failures (automated)
- ✓ Form label and input association check
- ✓ Skip navigation link present
- ✓ ARIA landmark regions check
- ✓ Page language attribute
- ✓ Accessibility maturity estimate (Level 1–5)
Scope: Homepage • Agent: wcag-scanner (planned) • No credentials needed
S — Paid Deeper Scan
Full-Site Audit
$1,500–$5,000
Manual template review • Key user journeys • Prioritized report
- ✓ Everything in Accessibility Snapshot
- ✓ Full-site automated scan (all pages)
- ✓ Manual review of key page templates (5–10)
- ✓ Keyboard navigation testing
- ✓ Form and service flow accessibility review
- ✓ ARIA implementation check
- ✓ Dynamic component review (modals, dropdowns)
- ✓ Prioritized issue report by WCAG criterion
Scope: Full site • 8–16 hrs effort • Sydney-led manual review
M — Audit & Remediation
Remediation Engagement
$5,000–$15,000
Developer-ready fixes • Screen reader testing • Validation
- ✓ Everything in Full-Site Audit
- ✓ Screen reader testing (NVDA / JAWS)
- ✓ Developer-ready remediation specs per issue
- ✓ Developer office hours with Sydney’s team
- ✓ Validation testing after fixes are applied
- ✓ VPAT / ACR documentation support
- ✓ Live walkthrough of findings with client team
Scope: Full site • 20–40 hrs effort • Requires dev access for validation
L — Retainer
Ongoing Compliance Program
Retainer
Monthly monitoring • Regression detection • Dashboard KPIs
- ✓ Everything in Remediation Engagement
- ✓ Monthly automated full-site scan
- ✓ Regression detection from CMS updates
- ✓ Remediation hours from client backlog budget
- ✓ Monthly compliance dashboard report
- ✓ Quarterly review with Sydney
- ✓ Developer team guidance and training
- ✓ VPAT / ACR maintenance support
Scope: Full site • Ongoing • 6–10 hrs/mo • Dashboard KPIs tracked
Government and public sector pricing note: Government agencies and municipalities typically require larger scopes—more page templates, multi-department sites, procurement documentation (VPAT/ACR), and governance advisory. Expect S-tier engagements to trend toward the upper end ($3,500–$5,000+) and L-tier retainers to run $3,500–$10,000/mo depending on site complexity and remediation volume. These budgets are frequently available through IT compliance line items or accessibility-specific grants.
What the agent checks
| Check |
F — Free |
S — Audit |
M — Remed. |
| Page Structure & Semantics |
| Heading hierarchy (H1→H2→H3 order) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| ARIA landmark regions present | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Page language attribute | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Semantic HTML usage (lists, tables, buttons) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Skip navigation link | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Navigation & Interaction |
| Keyboard accessibility (all interactive elements) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Focus order logical and visible | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Focus indicator visible on all focusable elements | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| No keyboard traps | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Forms & Service Flows |
| Form inputs have associated labels | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Error messages linked to fields | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Required fields identified | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Complete form user journey (keyboard + screen reader) | — | — | ✓ |
| Images & Media |
| Alt text present on all images | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Decorative images marked presentation | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Video captions and audio transcripts | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Visual Design & Color |
| Color contrast (automated — WCAG AA 4.5:1) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Color contrast (manual — context-aware) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Information not conveyed by color alone | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dynamic Components |
| Modals and dialogs trap focus correctly | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| ARIA roles, states, and properties correct | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Live region announcements work with screen readers | — | — | ✓ |
✓ Included — Not included Note: automated tools catch ~30–40% of WCAG issues. Manual expert review at S+ is required to surface the rest.
Web accessibility maturity model
Every engagement begins with a maturity assessment. The level tells clients where they are today, what the gap to their regulatory target is, and what a realistic improvement timeline looks like. Government agencies with DOJ Title II deadlines often need to move from Level 1–2 to Level 4 within 12–18 months.
1
Ad Hoc
No formal accessibility program. Issues fixed only after complaints or legal action.
2
Reactive
Audits performed after complaints. No continuous monitoring or consistent standards enforcement.
3
Structured
Regular audits. Defined remediation workflows. Accessibility included in procurement or publishing.
4
Integrated
Accessibility testing in development workflows. Continuous monitoring. Accountability established.
5
Proactive
Accessibility embedded in culture. Teams design and publish accessible content by default.
Government clients with Title II deadlines typically need to reach Level 3–4 within 12–18 months. Commercial clients often target Level 3 as an initial defensible position. Level 5 requires process and culture changes beyond the website itself.
Sample output — Accessibility Snapshot (F tier)
This is representative of what a prospect sees from the free automated scan. All checks are performed against the publicly accessible homepage—no credentials required. Completes in under 10 minutes.
Scanned: www.example-city.gov — April 10, 2026 — Homepage only • WCAG 2.1 AA
✗
Alt Text
14 images missing alt text
✗
Heading Hierarchy
H1 missing — page jumps directly to H2
!
Color Contrast
6 elements fail 4.5:1 minimum ratio
✓
Form Labels
Search input properly labeled
✗
Skip Navigation
No skip-to-main-content link found
!
ARIA Landmarks
Main landmark present — nav and footer not labeled
✓
Page Language
lang="en" set correctly
✗
Document Title
Title tag is "Home" — not descriptive
Accessibility Maturity
Level 1–2 / 5 Ad Hoc — significant barriers present
What happens next: The prospect receives a single-page PDF summary showing the most critical automated findings and their WCAG criterion references. The missing alt text and skip navigation issues are called out as high-priority ADA compliance risks. The CTA offers a Full-Site Audit ($1,500–$5,000) covering all page templates with expert manual review—since automated tools only catch 30–40% of real barriers, the manual audit surfaces what the snapshot cannot.
Deliverables by tier
| Tier |
What the client / prospect receives |
Format |
Who produces it |
| F — Snapshot |
Automated homepage scan: alt text, heading structure, color contrast, form labels, skip nav, ARIA landmarks, language, page title. Accessibility maturity estimate (Level 1–5). Top 3 highest-risk issues called out. |
Single-page PDF summary |
Agent (wcag-scanner — planned) |
| S — Full Audit |
Full-site automated scan plus manual review of 5–10 key templates: keyboard nav, form journeys, ARIA patterns, dynamic components, screen reader spot-checks. Issues mapped to WCAG criterion, prioritized by risk. Developer-ready issue descriptions. |
Branded PDF report (20–40 pages) + issue spreadsheet |
Sydney (manual audit + report) |
| M — Remediation |
Everything in Full Audit plus: screen reader testing (NVDA/JAWS), developer-ready fix specifications per issue, office hours with Sydney’s team, validation testing after fixes applied, optional VPAT/ACR documentation. |
Audit report + fix specs + validation report + optional VPAT |
Sydney (audit, fix specs, validation) |
| L — Retainer |
Monthly automated full-site scan with regression detection. Remediation hours applied from backlog budget. Monthly compliance dashboard. Quarterly review with Sydney. Developer team guidance and training. VPAT/ACR maintenance as site evolves. |
Client dashboard + monthly report + quarterly review |
Sydney + Agent (monitoring automation) |
How this service is delivered today
Step 1
Automated Scan
Lighthouse and axe-core run against all public pages. Automated issues are logged by WCAG criterion, severity, and element. This catches ~30–40% of real barriers—the foundation for the manual review.
Agent — wcag-scanner (planned)
Step 2
Manual Expert Review
Sydney reviews key page templates, forms, and user journeys manually: keyboard navigation, focus order, screen reader behavior, ARIA correctness, and dynamic component patterns. This surfaces what automation cannot.
Sydney — axe DevTools / NVDA
Step 3
Remediation & Validation
Developer-ready fix specifications delivered per issue. Sydney’s team holds office hours with client devs during fixes and validates corrections after deployment. VPAT/ACR documentation produced if required.
Sydney — Remediation Lead
Step 4
Ongoing Monitoring
Monthly automated scans detect regressions from CMS updates, new content, or third-party script changes. Issues are queued from the client’s remediation budget. Dashboard updated monthly; quarterly review with Sydney.
Agent + Sydney — Retainer
F-tier automation note: The wcag-scanner agent is currently planned, not in production. The automated checks (Lighthouse / axe-core) are highly automatable via API. Manual template review at S+ is not automatable—expert judgment on keyboard behavior, ARIA patterns, and screen reader compatibility cannot be reliably replaced by tools. Automation feasibility: HIGH for scanning and reporting; LOW for manual review and validation.
L-tier dashboard KPIs
For retainer clients, these metrics are tracked on the NWS-360 dashboard and reviewed quarterly with Sydney. Government clients often share these reports with legal counsel or use them to demonstrate compliance efforts to regulators—the dashboard serves as an ongoing compliance record, not just an internal tool.
| KPI |
What it measures |
| Accessibility Maturity Level (1–5) |
Position on the 5-level maturity model, re-assessed each quarter. Government clients often have hard deadlines (DOJ Title II: Level 3–4 by 2026/2027). Rising level is the primary outcome metric for the program. |
| Total Accessibility Issues (Open vs. Closed) |
Total open issues from the most recent audit, tracked against the prior period. Broken down by severity (critical, serious, moderate). Target: declining trend. New regressions from CMS updates are flagged separately from backlog items. |
| Critical Issues Backlog (WCAG A / AA) |
Count of open WCAG A (must-fix) and AA (should-fix) violations. These are the issues most likely to surface in an ADA complaint or DOJ audit. Target: 0 open critical issues. Trended monthly to show velocity of remediation. |
| Regression Count (New Issues This Month) |
Number of new accessibility issues introduced since the prior monthly scan. A non-zero count indicates development or content changes are introducing new barriers—triggers a review of publishing or deployment processes with Sydney. |
Features & benefits
What makes this service distinctive
- Free snapshot gives prospects immediate visibility into their compliance risk—automated, no friction
- Expert manual review surfaces the 60–70% of issues automated tools cannot detect
- Developer-ready fix specifications—not just issue descriptions—shorten remediation time
- Screen reader testing with NVDA and JAWS validates real-world assistive technology compatibility
- VPAT / ACR documentation support for organizations that need to demonstrate compliance to procurement or legal
- Monthly regression detection catches issues introduced by CMS updates, new content, or third-party scripts
- 5-level maturity model gives clients a measurable, reportable compliance trajectory
- Government-specific expertise in DOJ Title II, Section 508, and state-level accessibility requirements
- Works on any CMS—Titan, WordPress, HubSpot, Drupal, custom builds—Northwoods-built sites included
- Dashboard documentation functions as an ongoing compliance record for legal defensibility
Client benefits
- Know exactly which barriers are blocking users with disabilities from completing real tasks on your site
- Reduce ADA, Section 508, and WCAG legal exposure with documented remediation efforts
- Give developers specific, actionable fix instructions instead of a general issue list
- Demonstrate ongoing compliance efforts with monthly reporting—critical for government and regulated industries
- Stop regressions from CMS updates silently re-introducing accessibility barriers
- Move from reactive (fixing after complaints) to proactive (catching issues before they reach users)
Cross-service relationships
Web Accessibility is one half of Sydney’s accessibility practice. The other half—PDF Accessibility—covers document remediation and compliance monitoring for PDFs published on the client’s website. Clients with both services active get a unified compliance view on the same dashboard: website and documents tracked together, with a single maturity level that reflects the full digital presence.
CWV & Performance overlap: Web accessibility audits frequently surface focus indicator and keyboard navigation issues that are tightly coupled to CSS and JavaScript performance. At L-tier, Sydney coordinates with the CWV service to ensure that performance optimizations don’t inadvertently remove focus styles or break keyboard navigation—a common regression pattern in image optimization and lazy-load implementations.
CMP / Privacy overlap: Consent banners and cookie preference centers must themselves be accessible—keyboard operable, screen-reader compatible, and compliant with WCAG. When a client has both CMP and Web Accessibility services active, Sydney reviews the consent UI as part of the accessibility audit and coordinates with the CMP team to ensure the implementation meets both compliance frameworks simultaneously.