# An accessibility pass in one afternoon

> A real a11y pass is an afternoon of tabbing, zooming and one screen reader — not a conformance project. The wins are mechanical and mostly free.

Most accessibility debt is not exotic: it is contrast that fails on the light theme, focus rings nobody sees, images with no alternative text and forms with labels that are decorative. An afternoon fixes the top of that list.

## Tab through the whole site once

Keyboard-only is the cheapest audit there is. If focus is invisible, trapped or illogical, a meaningful share of visitors hits the same wall. The fix is usually one :focus-visible rule and honest DOM order.

## Contrast is a number, not a taste

WCAG AA is 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large. The brand coral on this site needed a darker variant for paper backgrounds for exactly that reason; measure the pair, adjust the token, done.

## Alt text that describes, not narrates

A product photo needs what it sells; a decorative divider needs an empty alt so a screen reader skips it instead of announcing 'image'. The most common failure is not missing alt text but useless alt text.

## What to take away

- Do one full keyboard pass — it is the cheapest audit.
- Measure contrast per theme, not per colour.
- Alt text describes function; decoration gets an empty alt.
- Labels are for inputs, not for looks — wire them properly.

## Tags

A11y, WCAG, Frontend, UX

## We build this for clients

https://dfieldsolutions.com/en/services/full-stack

## More from the lab

- https://dfieldsolutions.com/en/lab/checkout-friction.md — Where the checkout loses the sale
- https://dfieldsolutions.com/en/lab/custom-software-cost.md — What custom software actually costs
- https://dfieldsolutions.com/en/lab/custom-vs-off-the-shelf.md — Custom software or off the shelf — the honest test
- https://dfieldsolutions.com/en/lab/first-90-days-retainer.md — The first ninety days of a retainer, as it actually goes

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Source: https://dfieldsolutions.com/en/lab/accessibility-afternoon
DField Solutions — Dunakeszi, Hungary — dezso@dfieldsolutions.com
Booking: see https://dfieldsolutions.com/en/contact