A quick accessibility first pass can reveal a blocked customer journey, but it cannot certify a website. Choose one useful path—a visitor finding a service, reading it and making an enquiry—and try it without a mouse. For a Formby business, that could be the path from the homepage to a service page and then the contact form. W3C’s Easy Checks are explicitly preliminary, not a complete accessibility audit.
Follow the journey with a keyboard
Put the mouse aside. Press Tab and Shift+Tab from the top of the page. Can you see which link or control has focus? Is the order sensible? Can you open the menu, follow the service link, reach each form field and activate Submit? If a control is trapped, skipped or invisible while focused, note the exact page and step. A keyboard check is valuable even when a page looks polished.
Read the page as an outline
Headings should describe meaningful sections, not merely look large. Check that the page has a clear main heading and that its subheadings follow a useful structure. A marketing slogan styled in huge type is not automatically a heading; conversely, a heading element used just to make text large can mislead a screen-reader user. This is about understandable structure, not stuffing keywords into every heading.
Check what pictures communicate
For an informative image, ask: what would someone miss if they could not see it? Its alternative text should convey that purpose in context. An image that is only decorative need not repeat nearby copy. A graphic of four actual steps deserves a useful text equivalent; “image123.jpg” does not provide one.
Try the form’s error path
Visible labels should remain understandable when the input is empty; placeholder text is not a dependable substitute. Use agreed dummy data, leave one required field blank and try to submit. Can you identify the problem and fix it without starting again? Then complete a harmless test submission under the site owner’s procedure. Do not use real customer details to run a casual audit.
Keep the same route usable on a phone
Narrow the viewport and repeat the journey. Look for clipped text, sideways scrolling, inaccessible menu controls and a contact form that is difficult to use. Record the actual device, browser and page rather than a vague “mobile is broken”. A 20-minute first pass helps prioritise work; it is not a substitute for broader assistive-technology testing or formal conformance assessment.
| Record field | Useful example |
|---|---|
| Page and device | Contact page on a phone browser |
| Action and expected result | Tab to Submit; visible focus and working activation |
| Actual result | Describe the blocker without guessing its cause |
| Priority and owner | Blocked enquiry path before decorative polish |
Our quote-form guide focuses on the questions a visitor should answer; this checklist focuses on whether they can use the form at all. To discuss a website improvement project in Formby or a suitable nearby area, see Web Design and contact us. This is not an offer of formal accessibility certification.
Sources checked 19 September 2026: W3C WAI Easy Checks and WAI forms tutorial.
