What does an accessibility audit cost?
In short
The range is wide: free tools (€0, but only part of the criteria), overlay widgets (around €500–1,500/year, legally worthless), manual agency audits (roughly €3,000–8,000) and enterprise platforms (€5,000–30,000/year). The price of a defensible audit is driven above all by scope: the number of templates and business-critical journeys.
Why prices vary so widely
“Accessibility audit” covers very different services — from an automated quick test to a full manual review by trained testers. The price range is correspondingly wide. The overview below places the common approaches (market prices as of 2026):
| Approach | Cost | Evidential value |
|---|---|---|
| Free tools (axe, WAVE, Lighthouse) | €0 | Useful, but only cover part of the WCAG criteria automatically; no auditable proof. |
| Overlay widget | approx. €500–1,500/year | Does not establish legal conformance; can itself become a risk. |
| AI-plus-human audit (hybrid) | plannable by scope | Automates the bulk, a human checks the ambiguous cases — with proof and code fixes. |
| Manual agency audit | approx. €3,000–8,000 per audit | High evidential value, but expensive and slow; day rates usually €800–1,500. |
| Enterprise platform | approx. €5,000–30,000/year | Comprehensive, tailored to large organisations with their own team. |
What really drives the price
For a defensible audit the largest share of the cost is not technology but human review and sign-off. That is why the price depends above all on scope:
- Number of templates: home, category, product page, cart, checkout, login, forms. One representative template covers hundreds of similar pages.
- Business-critical journeys: flows such as checkout or registration must be played through end to end with the keyboard — more effort than a single page.
- Depth of proof: a documented, signed-off statement (VPAT / EN 301 549) costs more than a plain defect report.
Testing representative templates instead of every single URL keeps the cost plannable — one product page stands for hundreds.
Why free tools are not enough
Automated tests are valuable and belong in every review — but they reliably detect only part of the WCAG A/AA criteria. Whether an alt text fits in substance, whether the reading order makes sense, or whether text stays legible over an image cannot be decided by machine alone. And a free tool provides no auditable proof. From the seemingly cheapest “solution”, the overlay widget, we explicitly advise against — why is explained in “Overlays vs. a real audit”.
What a defensible audit should contain
- Per finding: page, exact DOM element, violated WCAG / EN 301 549 criterion, screenshot marker and a concrete code fix.
- A confidence rating per finding; ambiguous cases go to human review instead of being decided automatically.
- A defensible conformance statement (VPAT / EN 301 549) that is signed off only once nothing ambiguous remains open.
Find out for free where you stand
Before you commit to a full audit, a free initial scan is worthwhile: it shows the biggest barriers and whether there is any need to act at all. Whether your offering falls under the obligation is clarified in “BFSG: Who is affected?”.
Frequently asked questions
- What does a BFSG audit cost?
- There is no flat price: the cost depends on scope — the number of templates and business-critical journeys and the depth of proof. Manual agency audits are often €3,000–8,000 on the market; an AI-plus-human approach can be considerably cheaper and still auditable.
- Is a free tool like axe or WAVE enough?
- For a first impression yes, for defensible proof no. Automated tests detect only part of the criteria and provide no auditable documentation. They are a sensible building block, not a full audit.
- Isn't an overlay widget the cheaper alternative?
- No. Overlays do not establish legal conformance (this is the position of the European Commission) and can themselves become a risk. They do not replace a real audit with documented findings and code fixes.
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