What This Template Is For
Accessibility is not a nice-to-have. Products that fail WCAG 2.2 Level AA standards face legal risk under the ADA, EAA (European Accessibility Act), and equivalent legislation in over 30 countries. Beyond legal exposure, inaccessible products exclude roughly 16% of the global population who live with disabilities.
This template gives product teams a structured way to track WCAG 2.2 compliance across four principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Each criterion maps to a specific WCAG success criterion with a pass/fail/partial status, an owner, and evidence notes. Use it alongside the GDPR compliance template if your product also handles personal data from users who rely on assistive technologies. For teams building technical products, the Technical PM Handbook covers infrastructure-level accessibility considerations.
If you are assessing the broader regulatory exposure of your product, the regulatory impact assessment template helps you map all applicable regulations. For tracking accessibility as a product metric, the product metrics library includes engagement metrics that can be segmented by assistive technology usage. The privacy impact assessment template is a useful companion when accessibility and data privacy intersect, such as in screen reader data collection.
When to Use This Template
- Before launching a new product or major feature to verify baseline accessibility
- During quarterly accessibility audits as part of your compliance cadence
- After receiving user complaints or legal notices about accessibility barriers
- When expanding into the EU market (EAA enforcement begins June 2025)
- During vendor evaluations to assess third-party component accessibility
- When onboarding a new design system or UI framework
How to Use This Template
Step 1: Assign an accessibility lead
Designate one person (PM, design lead, or QA engineer) to own the audit. They coordinate testing across the team but do not need to execute every check personally.
Step 2: Scope the audit
Decide which product areas to cover. For a first audit, start with the top 5 user flows by traffic volume. Subsequent audits can expand to less-trafficked pages.
Step 3: Test with real assistive technologies
Automated tools (axe, Lighthouse) catch about 30% of accessibility issues. The remaining 70% require manual testing with screen readers (NVDA, VoiceOver), keyboard navigation, and high-contrast mode.
Step 4: Document findings per criterion
For each WCAG success criterion, record the status (Pass, Fail, Partial, N/A), the owner responsible for remediation, and evidence (screenshot, test result, or PR link).
Step 5: Prioritize and remediate
Rank failures by severity (critical path vs. edge case) and user impact. Fix critical-path failures before the next release. Track remediation in your sprint backlog.
The Template
Perceivable (WCAG Principle 1)
| Criterion | WCAG Ref | Status | Owner | Evidence / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All images have meaningful alt text | 1.1.1 | |||
| Decorative images have empty alt="" | 1.1.1 | |||
| Video content has captions | 1.2.2 | |||
| Audio content has transcripts | 1.2.1 | |||
| Color is not the sole means of conveying information | 1.4.1 | |||
| Text contrast ratio >= 4.5:1 (normal) / 3:1 (large) | 1.4.3 | |||
| Non-text contrast ratio >= 3:1 for UI components | 1.4.11 | |||
| Content reflows at 400% zoom without horizontal scrolling | 1.4.10 | |||
| Text spacing adjustments do not break layout | 1.4.12 |
Operable (WCAG Principle 2)
| Criterion | WCAG Ref | Status | Owner | Evidence / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All functionality available via keyboard | 2.1.1 | |||
| No keyboard traps | 2.1.2 | |||
| Focus order follows logical reading sequence | 2.4.3 | |||
| Focus indicator visible on all interactive elements | 2.4.7 | |||
| Skip navigation link present | 2.4.1 | |||
| Page titles are descriptive and unique | 2.4.2 | |||
| Link purpose clear from link text (no "click here") | 2.4.4 | |||
| Touch targets >= 24x24 CSS pixels | 2.5.8 | |||
| No content flashes more than 3 times per second | 2.3.1 |
Understandable (WCAG Principle 3)
| Criterion | WCAG Ref | Status | Owner | Evidence / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Page language declared in HTML lang attribute | 3.1.1 | |||
| Form inputs have visible labels | 3.3.2 | |||
| Error messages identify the field and describe the error | 3.3.1 | |||
| Error suggestions offered when input format is known | 3.3.3 | |||
| Consistent navigation across pages | 3.2.3 | |||
| Consistent identification of repeated components | 3.2.4 |
Robust (WCAG Principle 4)
| Criterion | WCAG Ref | Status | Owner | Evidence / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valid HTML with no duplicate IDs | 4.1.1 | |||
| ARIA roles, states, and properties used correctly | 4.1.2 | |||
| Status messages announced to screen readers without focus | 4.1.3 | |||
| Custom components expose name, role, value to assistive tech | 4.1.2 |
Audit Summary
- ☐ All critical-path flows tested with keyboard navigation
- ☐ All critical-path flows tested with screen reader (NVDA or VoiceOver)
- ☐ Automated scan completed (axe or Lighthouse)
- ☐ Remediation items logged in sprint backlog with owners and deadlines
- ☐ Next audit date scheduled (quarterly recommended)
Filled Example: SaaS Analytics Dashboard
Perceivable (WCAG Principle 1)
| Criterion | WCAG Ref | Status | Owner | Evidence / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All images have meaningful alt text | 1.1.1 | Pass | Sarah K. | Verified in axe scan 2026-02-15. Charts use aria-label describing the data trend. |
| Decorative images have empty alt="" | 1.1.1 | Pass | Sarah K. | Background patterns use role="presentation" |
| Video content has captions | 1.2.2 | N/A | - | No video content in product |
| Audio content has transcripts | 1.2.1 | N/A | - | No audio content in product |
| Color is not the sole means of conveying information | 1.4.1 | Fail | James R. | Status badges use color only (red/green). Need icons or text labels. Target: Sprint 14 |
| Text contrast ratio >= 4.5:1 | 1.4.3 | Partial | Sarah K. | Main content passes. Placeholder text in filters is 3.2:1. Fix in PR #892 |
| Non-text contrast ratio >= 3:1 | 1.4.11 | Pass | Sarah K. | Chart lines and form borders verified |
| Content reflows at 400% zoom | 1.4.10 | Fail | James R. | Data table overflows horizontally at 200%+ zoom. Need responsive table component. Target: Sprint 15 |
| Text spacing adjustments do not break layout | 1.4.12 | Pass | Sarah K. | Tested with bookmarklet. No clipping or overlap. |
Operable (WCAG Principle 2)
| Criterion | WCAG Ref | Status | Owner | Evidence / Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All functionality available via keyboard | 2.1.1 | Fail | James R. | Date picker and chart tooltips require mouse. Target: Sprint 14 | |
| No keyboard traps | 2.1.2 | Pass | James R. | Modal dialogs support Escape key | |
| Focus order follows logical reading sequence | 2.4.3 | Partial | Sarah K. | Main nav OK. Dashboard widget order skips the filter bar. Fix in PR #894 | |
| Focus indicator visible | 2.4.7 | Pass | Sarah K. | Custom cyan focus ring on all interactive elements | |
| Skip navigation link present | 2.4.1 | Pass | Sarah K. | "Skip to main content" link on every page | |
| Page titles descriptive and unique | 2.4.2 | Pass | Sarah K. | Format: "Page Name | ProductName" |
| Link purpose clear from link text | 2.4.4 | Partial | Sarah K. | 3 instances of "Learn more" without context. Adding aria-label. | |
| Touch targets >= 24x24 CSS pixels | 2.5.8 | Pass | James R. | Minimum 32x32px on all buttons and links | |
| No content flashes > 3 per second | 2.3.1 | Pass | - | No animated or flashing content |
Audit Summary
- ☑ All critical-path flows tested with keyboard navigation
- ☑ All critical-path flows tested with VoiceOver (macOS)
- ☑ Automated axe scan completed (12 issues found, 8 resolved)
- ☑ 4 remediation items logged in Sprint 14-15 backlog
- ☐ Next audit date: 2026-06-01
Key Takeaways
- Automated tools catch only 30% of accessibility issues. Manual testing with assistive technologies is required for real compliance.
- Start with the top 5 user flows by traffic. A perfect audit of everything is less useful than thorough coverage of what users actually do.
- Color-only indicators are the most common failure. Always pair color with icons, text, or patterns.
- Keyboard navigation and focus management are the foundation. If a user cannot tab through your product, nothing else matters.
- Accessibility is ongoing. Schedule quarterly audits and integrate checks into your CI/CD pipeline.
- Document evidence for every criterion. When regulators or legal teams ask, "show me the test result" is a better answer than "we think it works."