Accessibility & WCAG Consulting for Enterprise CMS
Digital accessibility is a legal requirement, ethical imperative, and business advantage. Organizations serving government, education, healthcare, or financial sectors face strict WCAG conformance requirements. Even in unregulated industries, accessible experiences expand your audience and improve usability for everyone.
We provide accessibility consulting specifically for enterprise CMS platforms, where editorial teams, component libraries, and content workflows create unique challenges. Our approach combines technical remediation with process changes that prevent accessibility issues from recurring.
Comprehensive Accessibility Audit
Manual and automated testing across content types, components, and user workflows to identify WCAG conformance gaps.
Remediation Roadmap
Prioritized fix list with severity ratings, implementation guidance, and effort estimates for each accessibility issue.
Component-Level Fixes
Accessible markup, ARIA patterns, keyboard navigation, and focus management built into your CMS component library.
Editorial Workflow Training
Training content teams on accessible authoring practices: alt text, heading hierarchy, link text, and semantic markup.
Automated Testing Integration
CI/CD pipeline integration with accessibility testing tools to catch regressions before they reach production.
VPAT & Compliance Documentation
Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates and conformance reports required for government contracts and procurement.
Our accessibility consulting process
Comprehensive accessibility audit
We conduct manual and automated testing across your website, examining representative pages from each content type and template. Testing includes keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver), color contrast, semantic HTML structure, and ARIA implementation. You receive a detailed report mapping issues to WCAG 2.1 success criteria with severity ratings (A, AA, AAA conformance levels).
CMS component remediation
Most accessibility issues stem from reusable components: navigation menus, modals, carousels, accordions, forms, and data tables. We remediate these components once at the source, fixing accessibility problems site-wide rather than page-by-page. This includes proper semantic HTML, ARIA roles and properties, keyboard event handlers, and focus management patterns that work reliably across browsers and assistive technologies.
Editorial workflow improvements
Content editors control much of the accessibility experience through their authoring choices: alt text for images, heading hierarchy, descriptive link text, and proper use of semantic markup. We train editorial teams on accessible authoring practices and implement CMS validation rules that prevent common mistakes. Field help text, preview warnings, and required accessibility fields guide editors toward compliant content.
Automated testing integration
Manual testing is essential but doesn't scale. We integrate automated accessibility testing into your CI/CD pipeline using tools like axe-core, Pa11y, or Lighthouse. These checks run on every pull request, catching regressions before code reaches production. While automated tools only detect 30-40% of accessibility issues, they prevent the most common problems from slipping through.
Ongoing governance & documentation
Accessibility is not a one-time fix; it requires ongoing attention as your site evolves. We establish governance processes, accessibility champions within your team, regular audit schedules, and clear documentation of standards and testing procedures. For organizations requiring formal compliance documentation, we prepare VPATs (Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates) and accessibility conformance reports.
Common accessibility challenges in enterprise CMS
Component libraries lack ARIA patterns: Interactive components like accordions, tabs, and modals often fail to communicate state changes to assistive technologies or lack proper keyboard navigation.
Editorial teams introduce issues: Even with accessible components, editors can break accessibility through poor alt text, skipped heading levels, vague link text, or improper use of formatting controls.
Form validation lacks clear feedback: Error messages that rely only on color, appear far from fields, or don't programmatically associate with inputs create barriers for keyboard and screen reader users.
Dynamic content updates fail to announce: AJAX-loaded content, filtering interfaces, and real-time updates often don't inform screen reader users that content has changed, leaving them confused about page state.
Color contrast failures persist: Text overlaid on images, branded color palettes, and link styling frequently fail WCAG color contrast requirements, making content difficult to read for users with low vision.
Why accessibility matters for your organization
Legal compliance: Section 508, ADA Title III, and state-level accessibility laws create enforceable requirements. Government contracts often mandate WCAG 2.1 AA conformance and require VPAT documentation.
Expanded audience reach: One billion people worldwide live with disabilities. Accessible sites serve aging populations, users with temporary impairments, and anyone in challenging contexts (poor lighting, noisy environments, limited mobility).
Improved overall usability Accessible design benefits everyone. Clear navigation, consistent layouts, readable text, and logical content structure improve user experience across the board.
SEO advantages: Search engines reward semantic HTML, descriptive headings, meaningful link text, and properly structured content, the same practices that support accessibility.
Reduced risk: Accessibility lawsuits are increasing. Proactive compliance is less expensive and disruptive than reactive remediation driven by legal action or regulatory enforcement.
Ready to start your project?
Let's discuss how we can help modernize your web presence and deliver measurable results for your organization.