Website Accessibility Remediation – What to Do Before Fixing Issues

The audit is done. You have a report with all the issues found and a clear picture of what needs fixing. Remediation is the obvious next step.

But for remediation to go smoothly, some planning needs to happen first. Organising the findings, prioritising what matters most, and making sure the right work reaches the right people.

This guide covers exactly that planning step, the work that happens after the audit and before remediation starts. Get it right and everything after becomes easier.

Document where you stand today

Before anyone starts making changes, document where the site stands right now.

Capture:

• Audit date
• Tool or method used
• Exported report
• Overall score or issue count
• Screenshot of the summary or dashboard view
• Audit scope; pages covered, templates included, any known exclusions

Without a documented starting point, you have no way to measure progress, report improvement, or show stakeholders what changed and when.

It also matters outside of progress reporting.

If you receive a legal complaint, a procurement question, or an internal compliance review, being able to show when you audited and when remediation began carries weight. It demonstrates the work was taken seriously and started in good faith.

Your real issue count is lower than it looks

Before you start planning any work, look for patterns in the report. The same problem appearing across dozens of pages is usually one root cause, not dozens of separate fixes.

For example:

• A body text colour contrast issue will appear on every page in the report, but it is one issue that can be fixed with just one change in the stylesheet.
• An accessibility issue in the header or footer will show up on every page in the report, but it is one issue that can be fixed with just one change in the template.

So look for these patterns first. Group them into one item each, and you will find your real working list is much shorter than the raw report.

The easiest way to find these patterns is to sort the report by issue type or WCAG criterion. Issues sharing the same criterion on the same template or element type are usually the same root problem. Scan for repeats before you do anything else.

Triage before you assign anything

A long list of issues without any structure is just noise. Triage turns that list into something your team can act on. Before you create a single ticket or assign any work, spend time sorting, prioritising, and flagging what is blocked. Everything after this step depends on getting this right.

#1. Separate issues by who needs to fix them

Accessibility issues get stuck when nobody knows who owns them. Before any work is assigned, sort issues into three buckets:

• Developer: code structure, semantic HTML, keyboard behaviour, ARIA, focus management, component logic
• Designer: colour contrast, focus states, visual hierarchy, spacing, design system decisions
• Content: alt text, link labels, heading structure, page titles, error messages, plain language

This is useful even if you are working alone. The work still requires different modes of thinking, and separating it prevents constant context switching.

For larger teams, this step is essential. Issues without a clear owner rarely get fixed.

If you ran your accessibility audit with WebYes, this step is already easier. The accessibility checker categorizes issues by role, such as developer, designer, or content, so your triage starts with ownership already attached.

#2. Prioritize by impact, not ease

The easiest issues are not always the most important ones.

It is tempting to start with whatever looks quick and easy to fix. That creates visible progress but can leave the biggest barriers untouched.

Prioritise using this lens: severity, reach, and page importance.

Start with issues that block access entirely or affect critical flows:

• Keyboard traps
• Unlabeled forms on checkout or signup pages
• Missing or broken skip links
• Login or account access problems
• Booking, signup, or support flow issues

Then consider reach. An issue on one low-traffic page matters less than the same issue in a global header, product card, checkout template, or form component.

If you are using WebYes, the quick wins feature surfaces high-impact issues first, so you do not have to sort through the full list to find where to start.

#3. Identify what you cannot fix right now

Some issues will not be in your control right now. Third-party widgets, embedded maps, payment tools, chat plugins, social embeds.

There is a difference between cannot fix now and will not fix. Document that difference.

For each blocked item, record:

• What the issue is
• Which vendor or system controls it
• Whether a workaround exists
• When it should be reviewed again

If a third-party tool is causing accessibility issues, contact the vendor. Some have fixes available, accessibility roadmaps, or accessible alternatives worth knowing about. Either way, log that you reached out and when.

This keeps planning honest and prevents the same issue from being rediscovered every few weeks.

Turn triage into actual work

Triage gives you a clean, organised list. Now it needs to become work your team can pick up and act on. That means good tickets and a focused first sprint.

#1. Write tickets from triage findings, not raw audit rows

Do not create tasks directly from the raw audit. Create them from your deduplicated, grouped, and categorised findings.

The rule is simple:

One root cause, one ticket.

That applies whether the issue appears on one page or 200 pages.

A good accessibility ticket should include:

• WCAG criterion or success criterion reference, when known
• Affected pages, templates, or components
• Responsible role, such as dev, design, or content
• Severity and priority
• Clear, testable acceptance criteria
• Example screenshots or audit references, if helpful

Acceptance criteria matter.

“Fix contrast issues” will bounce.

“All body text in product cards meets a 4.5:1 contrast ratio against its background, verified with a contrast checker” is much easier to complete and review.

This structure applies whether you use Jira, Linear, Trello, Notion, or a spreadsheet. The tool changes. The task quality does not.

If your team uses Jira, WebYes can push issues from the audit into Jira, already organized by issue context and role. That removes the manual export-and-reformat step and helps tickets arrive closer to ready for assignment.

#2. Plan the first sprint with a specific goal

Your first remediation sprint should be focused, not heroic.

Start with high-impact, high-confidence fixes. Do not try to fix everything at once.

Group work by role where possible, so each person has a focused block of work:

• Developers handle code and component issues
• Designers handle contrast, focus, and visual system issues
• Content teams handle alt text, links, headings, and instructions

Set a specific sprint goal.

Not: “Improve accessibility.”

Better: “Resolve all critical keyboard navigation issues across the checkout flow.”

Build review time into the sprint. A ticket that has been changed but not checked is not truly closed.

The first sprint will probably be slower than expected. That is normal. The team is learning the workflow.

Lower-priority issues should still have a home. Put them into named phases, such as Phase 2 or Phase 3, rather than leaving them floating in the backlog.

No formal sprint process? Use a defined weekly task list. The same principle applies: scope the work, assign it clearly, and review progress before adding more.

Now you are ready to start fixing

Once baseline, triage, and planning are complete, remediation can begin with less confusion.

At this point, every fix should have:

• An owner
• A priority
• A clear task
• A definition of done
• A place to track progress

Each role can work from its own queue. Developers are not sorting through content issues. Content teams are not guessing which code problems belong to them. Designers can focus on design system changes instead of one-off symptoms.

Keep the baseline handy as work closes. Compare scores, issue counts, and known blockers as you move through the plan.

And do not treat remediation as a one-time cleanup. Once the first fixes are done, you still need monitoring, regression testing, and a process that keeps new issues from slipping back in.