Maintaining an effective website is an ongoing activity. Regular, structured website audits can help provide the strategic insight needed to keep digital properties aligned with institutional goals and user needs.
What do Website Audits Evaluate?
A comprehensive website audit examines the full range of factors that impact the user experience. Here are some common areas website audits cover:
Accessibility Compliance: Accessibility scans evaluate conformance with standards like WCAG 2.1, Section 508, ADA, and ARIA across websites, internal intranets, and applications. These checks look at areas like color contrast, heading structures, alternative text for images, form labels, keyboard navigation, ARIA attributes, and screen reader compatibility. These evaluations help institutions maintain conformance levels and create inclusive online experiences.
SEO Optimization: SEO analysis examines factors that impact search rankings and organic traffic. Audits evaluate canonical tags, crawlable links, hreflang attributes, meta descriptions, structured data, sitemaps, and other elements that affect discoverability. Keyword analysis, backlink monitoring, and performance tracking provide the data needed to enhance digital presence.
Document Accessibility: Document audits identify accessibility issues in embedded files across web properties. Scans evaluate PDFs and other file types such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, text files, and HTML documents against WCAG 2.1 and Section 508 standards. This helps ensure consistency across digital libraries and makes content accessible to all users.
Usability Standards: Usability assessments evaluate broken links, unsafe domains, and exposure of sensitive information like phone numbers and email addresses. These checks help ensure that websites maintain credibility and provide a smooth, intuitive user experience across pages.
Content Quality: Content quality checks assess readability, spelling accuracy, and overall professionalism. These evaluations help institutions maintain high editorial standards and ensure content is accessible to intended audiences.
Performance Metrics: Performance audits measure how quickly pages load and respond to user interactions. These metrics evaluate factors like initial page rendering, largest element loading times, response delays, and overall page speed. Fast, responsive websites directly impact user satisfaction and engagement, reducing frustration and encouraging visitors to stay on your site.
The Value of Regular and Continuous Monitoring
Regular audits deliver value by identifying issues before they impact users and ensuring compliance with evolving standards. Continuous monitoring proactively highlights accessibility violations, broken functionality, and performance issues. Rather than waiting for user complaints or legal concerns, institutions can resolve problems early, reducing disruption and maintaining a positive user experience.
A proactive approach is critical as institutions and organizations must comply with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, including with accessible web and mobile applications. Regular audits can help ensure equitable access to information and services.
Beyond compliance, audits can help teams focus resources on changes that deliver the greatest impact, track scores over time, monitor issue types, and align improvements with institutional or organizational goals.
A single audit provides valuable insight, but websites and apps change constantly. New content gets published, features are added, and requirements shift. Without ongoing monitoring, previously resolved issues can resurface, and new problems can accumulate unnoticed.
Maintaining a High-Quality Digital Experience
A well-maintained website facilitates effective communication, fosters trust, and enhances the overall user experience. Regular auditing and continuous monitoring enable institutions to stay ahead of accessibility requirements, performance considerations, and evolving user expectations, while providing a practical framework for prioritizing updates and ensuring consistency across their digital properties.
Website governance is most effective when implemented as an ongoing process rather than a one-time initiative. Establishing repeatable auditing practices and maintaining visibility into accessibility and performance metrics helps organizations deliver online experiences that are inclusive, reliable, and aligned with their mission.
