Accessibility testing in the US: what the ADA rule and the WebAIM Million tell testers

Accessibility used to be a topic for a few specialists. In the US it is turning into a testing job with a legal backdrop: a federal rule for state and local government websites, long-standing ADA guidance for businesses, and a yearly study that keeps finding the same defects on almost every home page. This article lays out what those sources say, what an accessibility tester actually checks, and what our A11y Test specialisation covers.

What the DOJ rule says

On April 24, 2024, the Federal Register published the Department of Justice's final rule under Title II of the ADA, which covers state and local governments. It names WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard for web content and mobile apps.

The ADA.gov fact sheet currently lists two compliance dates: April 26, 2027 for governments with a population of 50,000 or more, and April 26, 2028 for smaller governments and special district governments. The larger group's date was extended by an interim final rule published on April 20, 2026. Dates can move, so check ADA.gov before you plan around one.

What matters for testers is the standard itself. A rule that points to WCAG 2.1 AA turns "is this site accessible?" into a list of success criteria that can be checked, page by page, and re-checked at every release.

What about private businesses?

The DOJ's web guidance, dated March 18, 2022, says that the ADA's requirements apply to all the goods, services, privileges or activities offered by public accommodations, including on the web. It names WCAG as an existing technical standard and describes it as helpful guidance for making web features accessible. The same page notes that it does not reflect the Title II rule of April 2024.

So for businesses there is guidance, not a Title II-style deadline. We are a training organisation, not a law firm, and we do not draw legal conclusions from that. We note only that WCAG is the common yardstick in both cases.

What the WebAIM Million finds

WebAIM runs automated checks on the home pages of one million websites every year. In the 2026 edition:

• 95.9% of home pages had detected WCAG 2 failures, with an average of 56.1 errors per page;
• low contrast text appeared on 83.9% of pages;
• missing alternative text for images on 53.1%, and missing form input labels on 51%;
• empty links on 46.3% and empty buttons on 30.6%.

Two cautions. These are failures an automated tool can detect on home pages, so they understate the real picture: many problems only show up when a person tries the page with a keyboard or a screen reader. And the study measures the web at large, not US sites specifically.

We looked for a reliable, recent count of accessibility testing jobs in the US and did not find one we could cite, so we are not quoting a number.

What an accessibility tester checks

• Keyboard use. Can every control be reached without a mouse, in a logical order, with a visible focus?
• Screen readers. Are headings, form labels, alternative text and error messages announced correctly?
• Contrast. Under WCAG 2.1 AA, regular text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 against its background (3 to 1 for large text).
• Tools plus manual checks. An automated scan finds part of the defects; the rest needs hands-on testing.
• Reporting. A useful report names the criterion, the page, the severity and a fix the team can apply.

Notice how closely this list follows the WebAIM findings: contrast, missing labels, empty links and buttons, missing alternative text. The most common defects are also the most testable ones.

A quick way to start on any page: put the mouse aside and press Tab. If the focus disappears, jumps around, or lands on something you cannot activate with the keyboard, you have already found a defect. Then turn on a screen reader and listen to the same page. Ten minutes of this teaches more than a long checklist, and it is the habit a tester builds first. A written report turns it into something a developer can act on: where, which criterion, how to reproduce, how to fix.

What our A11y Test specialisation covers

The "Accessibility Tester" specialisation is one of the QA specialisations on our 3-month tracks page. Here is what that page announces, and nothing more:

• WCAG 2.1, screen readers and contrast;
• 399 hours over 3 months, 100% online;
• the next session announced for November;
• one-on-one mentoring, 6 months of access to the learning platform and 24 months of session replays.

The page does not detail the programme beyond those three topics. Exact dates, prerequisites and the language of the sessions are to be confirmed with an advisor. As for certifications, the page says that those of the specialisations are to be confirmed with ADC; we do not promise any here.

Price and funding

• Individuals: €1,500 incl. VAT, a launch price, payable in 1 to 4 interest-free instalments.
• Companies: €7,500 incl. VAT, with a quote and a training agreement.

To be clear about what does not exist yet: ADC is not currently eligible for French public funding such as CPF or France Travail, and it does not hold the Qualiopi certification that OPCO funding requires.

What we do not promise

We do not guarantee a job or a salary. This article is not legal advice: whether a given website must meet a given standard is a question for a lawyer. Our part is more modest: teach you to test, and to write up what you find so that a team can fix it.

Frequently asked questions

Written by Oussama Belakhdar with AI assistance. Sources accessed on October 19, 2026. This is not legal advice; the specialisation details are those of the course page.