A basic automated health check starts in the low hundreds of pounds, while a full WCAG 2.2 AA manual audit typically runs £2,500 to £4,000, rising above £3,000 once disabled-user testing is included. The single biggest factor behind that spread is scope: how many templates, journeys and assistive technologies get properly tested, not just scanned.
TL;DR:
- A full WCAG 2.2 AA manual audit costs between £2,500 and £4,000, and including disabled-user testing can raise the price above £3,000.
- Credible audits must cover representative templates, key journeys, third-party content, and mobile views, combining automated and manual testing methods.
- When requesting quotes, confirm the scope includes specific journeys, assistive technology coverage, and whether remediation and retesting are part of the deal.
- Automated scans are only initial triage tools; fixing identified issues in practice costs significantly more than discovery.
- Public sector websites must publish an accessibility statement backed by evidence, while private firms consider WCAG testing as part of risk management under the Equality Act.
Table of Contents
- UK accessibility audit price bands explained
- What a credible WCAG audit actually includes
- What to ask for before you accept a quote
- Public-sector rules and private-sector duties in the UK
- Budgeting beyond the audit: fixes and retesting
- How a UK agency actually scopes and prices an audit
- Three things people keep getting wrong about audit cost
- Getting a quote from Kukoo Creative
- FAQ
- Sources
UK accessibility audit price bands explained
Prices in this market vary because “accessibility audit” covers wildly different deliverables, from a ten-minute automated scan to a multi-week manual review with disabled testers. Public bodies sourcing through procurement frameworks often see day or unit rates rather than flat project fees, which is useful context even if you’re buying privately.
Market examples collected from UK procurement and public-sector budgeting show the following typical bands:
| Audit type | Typical UK price | What it usually covers |
|---|---|---|
| Automated scan / health check | Low hundreds of pounds | Single template, tool-only scan, no manual verification |
| Per-unit or per-day manual review | £500 to £1,500 per unit | One-page type or component, manual checks against a sample |
| Day-rate audit work | £600 to £900 per day | Specialist auditor time, billed by day across the engagement |
| Full WCAG 2.2 AA manual audit | £2,500 to £4,000 | Representative templates, key journeys, documented evidence |
| Audit with disabled-user testing | £3,000+ | Everything above plus real assistive-technology users |
A few things worth flagging before you compare quotes against these numbers:
- A low quote usually means a narrower sample, not a cheaper method for the same work.
- Day-rate and per-unit pricing only becomes comparable once you know how many days or units are included.
- An automated scan alone is triage. It flags obvious code issues but can’t tell you whether a screen-reader user can actually complete checkout.
What a credible WCAG audit actually includes
A proper audit is built around representative coverage, not a single homepage scan. Gov sets out a process that starts with scope and ends with a retest, and that structure is what separates a genuine audit from a quick tool report.
Expect your scope to include:
- Representative templates and components, not every single page.
- Key user journeys such as checkout, booking or account sign-up.
- Third-party widgets, embedded content and any downloadable documents.
- Mobile views alongside desktop, since behaviour often differs.
On method, GOV.UK recommends combining automated tools with manual checks: keyboard-only navigation, screen-reader testing and verification against WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria rather than relying on one method alone. The output should be an issue log that maps each finding to a specific success criterion, with evidence such as screenshots or assistive-technology notes, a severity rating, a recommended fix, and an agreed point for retesting once changes go live.
Pro Tip: Ask to see a sample issue log before you commission the full audit. If it doesn’t reference WCAG success criteria by number, it isn’t a WCAG audit.
What to ask for before you accept a quote
Comparing accessibility quotes is hard when every supplier describes scope differently. Use this checklist to force apples-for-apples answers:
- Which WCAG version and conformance level is being tested, and is it explicitly WCAG 2.2 AA?
- How many templates, pages or journeys are included in the sample?
- Will disabled users or assistive-technology users take part in testing, or is it desk-based only?
- Which browsers and assistive technologies are covered (for example, screen readers like JAWS or VoiceOver)?
- Is remediation advice included, or is it a separate, priced phase?
- Is a retest included once fixes are made, and on what terms?
Treat any supplier who promises blanket “compliance” without answering these specifics with caution. GOV.UK guidance is clear that testing should combine automated and manual methods rather than relying on a single scan badge.
Pro Tip: Get the sample size and journey list in writing before you pay. It’s the single detail that explains most price differences between quotes.
Public-sector rules and private-sector duties in the UK
Public bodies in the UK have a specific legal obligation here. Under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018, in force since 23 September 2018, websites and apps must meet accessibility requirements and publish an accessibility statement, with testing expected to cover WCAG 2.2 AA using both automated and manual methods.
Private businesses sit under different rules. The Equality Act 2010 places an anticipatory duty on service providers in Great Britain to consider reasonable adjustments, and WCAG evidence helps demonstrate good faith but isn’t an automatic legal safe harbour on its own.
Key points to carry into your planning:
- Public bodies must publish and maintain an accessibility statement backed by audit evidence.
- Private firms should treat WCAG testing as risk management, not as a tick-box exercise.
- Disproportionate burden guidance allows phased auditing and remediation where full compliance in one go genuinely isn’t proportionate, but that judgement needs documenting, not assuming.
Budgeting beyond the audit: fixes and retesting
The audit fee is rarely the biggest number on your accessibility spend. Remediation, typically billed separately, covers developer hours, content rewriting, design adjustments, third-party widget updates and document fixes such as inaccessible PDFs.
A rough way to estimate: look at the issue count and severity ratings in your report, then price developer time against the higher-severity items first and phase the rest. Phasing is sensible when the full list is large; fixing blockers to core journeys first, then working through lower-priority issues, keeps cost manageable without leaving major barriers unaddressed. Our content checklist for UK website owners covers many of the content fixes that typically sit in this phase.
Ongoing monitoring and periodic retesting are usually billed as a retainer or a scheduled block rather than folded into the original audit.
Pro Tip: Ask your auditor to group issues by estimated fix effort, not just severity. It makes phasing decisions far easier.
How a UK agency actually scopes and prices an audit
Our approach starts with a short discovery conversation to map your critical journeys, so the audit gets sized to genuine risk rather than a generic page count. We then combine automated scanning with manual WCAG 2.2 AA testing and bring in a small panel of disabled users where it matters most, which keeps findings practical rather than theoretical.
Packaging shapes the final price more than most buyers expect:
- Audit only: a scoped report with issue log and severity ratings.
- Audit plus a remediation block: fixes costed and delivered alongside the findings.
- Audit plus phased remediation and ongoing monitoring: suited to larger sites tackling accessibility over several quarters.
Our website audit guide for 2026 walks through the scoping questions we ask before quoting.
Three things people keep getting wrong about audit cost
We see the same misunderstandings on repeat. First, an automated scan is triage, never certification: it finds the easy issues and misses most of the real barriers. Second, fixing problems almost always costs more than finding them, so budget remediation as the bigger line item from the start. Third, a clear accessibility statement with honest evidence beats a vague “fully compliant” claim every time.
— Kukoo
Getting a quote from Kukoo Creative
If you’re weighing up audit quotes and want a partner who can scope the work and then actually fix what’s found, that’s exactly where we sit. We handle the full path from discovery through audit to remediation, so you’re not juggling separate suppliers for testing and development.
Here’s what to expect when you bring a quote request to us:
- A short discovery call to agree which journeys and templates matter most.
- A clear scope covering sample size, WCAG 2.2 AA coverage and whether disabled-user testing is included.
- A quote that separates audit, remediation and any ongoing monitoring, so you can phase spend sensibly.
Before contacting us, it helps to know roughly how many page templates your site has and which journeys (checkout, bookings, forms) matter most to your customers. Our maintenance and improvement plans cover the ongoing retesting and monitoring stage once remediation is done, and our services page lists the full range of design and development work we can bring to a remediation project.
This article is general information, not a substitute for advice from a qualified lawyer. Consult a qualified legal professional about your own circumstances before acting on anything here.
FAQ
How much does a WCAG audit cost?
A full WCAG 2.2 AA manual audit typically costs £2,500 to £4,000 in the UK, rising to £3,000 or more when disabled-user testing is included. Smaller health checks or single-template reviews can start in the low hundreds of pounds, but these cover far less ground than a full audit.
What is DDA accessibility audit?
“DDA audit” is an older term referring to the Disability Discrimination Act, which has since been replaced by the Equality Act 2010. In practice, what’s now called an accessibility audit tests a website or app against WCAG 2.2 AA to support the reasonable adjustment duties that Act sets out.
What does an accessibility audit for disabled individuals check?
A thorough audit tests representative templates and key journeys using automated tools, manual WCAG 2.2 AA checks, keyboard navigation and screen-reader testing, and ideally involves disabled users directly. GOV.UK’s testing guidance recommends combining these methods rather than relying on automated scanning alone.
Is website accessibility a legal requirement in the UK?
Public-sector websites and apps must meet accessibility requirements and publish an accessibility statement under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. Private businesses are covered by the Equality Act 2010’s duty to make reasonable adjustments, which is a different but related obligation.
What should I ask for in an accessibility audit quote?
Ask which WCAG version and conformance level is tested, how many templates or journeys are sampled, and whether disabled or assistive-technology users are involved. You should also confirm whether remediation advice and a retest are included in the price or billed separately.
Sources
These are the primary sources behind the figures and rules covered in this article, worth bookmarking if you’re planning procurement or writing your own accessibility statement.