|
| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +id: accessibility-web-score |
| 3 | +title: Accessibility Web Score |
| 4 | +hide_title: false |
| 5 | +sidebar_label: Accessibility Web Score |
| 6 | +description: Learn about LambdaTest's Accessibility Score - a unified metric that measures the accessibility health of your website or application workflow through severity-weighted calculations. |
| 7 | +keywords: |
| 8 | +- accessibility score |
| 9 | +- accessibility testing |
| 10 | +- wcag compliance |
| 11 | +- accessibility metrics |
| 12 | +- accessibility health |
| 13 | +url: https://www.lambdatest.com/support/docs/accessibility-web-score/ |
| 14 | +site_name: LambdaTest |
| 15 | +slug: accessibility-web-score/ |
| 16 | +--- |
| 17 | + |
| 18 | +The Accessibility Score is a unified metric that represents the accessibility health of your website or application workflow. |
| 19 | +Gone are the days of sifting through lengthy accessibility reports trying to figure out what matters most. The Accessibility Score gives you a clear, actionable number that tells you exactly where your product stands on accessibility compliance. |
| 20 | +Use this score to track your progress over time, compare releases, and demonstrate tangible improvements to stakeholders. |
| 21 | + |
| 22 | +## Who needs this? |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +The Accessibility Score helps: |
| 25 | + |
| 26 | +- **Product Managers** who need to quantify accessibility health and present progress to leadership |
| 27 | +- **QA Engineers** tracking accessibility improvements across sprints |
| 28 | +- **Accessibility Teams** monitoring compliance and identifying problem areas |
| 29 | +- **Developers** who want quick feedback on whether their changes improve or hurt accessibility |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +If you're building digital products that real people use, this score matters. |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +## Where to find it |
| 34 | + |
| 35 | +Navigate to any completed accessibility test in your LambdaTest dashboard. The Accessibility Score appears prominently in the test report, giving you an instant read on how that specific scan performed. |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | +--- |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | +## How the score is calculated |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | +The Accessibility Score reflects both **how many** accessibility issues exist and **how severe** those issues are. A site with 100 minor issues scores differently than one with 10 critical blockers, and our formula accounts for that reality. |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | +### Step 1: Weight issues by severity |
| 44 | + |
| 45 | +Not all accessibility violations carry equal impact. A missing form label (critical) prevents screen reader users from completing tasks, while a small color contrast issue (minor) might only affect readability slightly. |
| 46 | + |
| 47 | +We assign each severity level a multiplier: |
| 48 | + |
| 49 | +| Severity | Weight | Why this matters | |
| 50 | +|----------|--------|------------------| |
| 51 | +| Critical | 1.0 | Complete blockers that prevent access | |
| 52 | +| Serious | 0.75 | Major barriers that significantly impair experience | |
| 53 | +| Moderate | 0.50 | Notable issues affecting usability | |
| 54 | +| Minor | 0.25 | Small problems with limited impact | |
| 55 | + |
| 56 | +**Calculate the weighted severity (z):** |
| 57 | +``` |
| 58 | +z = (% critical × 1.0) + (% serious × 0.75) + (% moderate × 0.50) + (% minor × 0.25) |
| 59 | +``` |
| 60 | + |
| 61 | +This gives us a single number representing the severity distribution across all issues found. |
| 62 | + |
| 63 | +### Step 2: Measure issue density |
| 64 | + |
| 65 | +Raw issue counts don't tell the whole story. Finding 50 issues on a page with 1,000 elements is different from finding 50 issues on a page with 100 elements. |
| 66 | + |
| 67 | +**Calculate the density (y):** |
| 68 | +``` |
| 69 | +y = Total issues / Total elements |
| 70 | +``` |
| 71 | + |
| 72 | +This ratio shows how widespread accessibility problems are across your page structure. |
| 73 | + |
| 74 | +### Step 3: Calculate the final score |
| 75 | + |
| 76 | +We combine severity weighting and issue density to determine how much they should reduce your score from a perfect 100: |
| 77 | +``` |
| 78 | +Accessibility Score = 100 - (y × 100 × z) |
| 79 | +``` |
| 80 | + |
| 81 | +The score scales from 0 to 100, where: |
| 82 | +- **90-100**: Excellent accessibility with minimal issues |
| 83 | +- **70-89**: Good, but room for improvement |
| 84 | +- **50-69**: Moderate issues requiring attention |
| 85 | +- **Below 50**: Significant accessibility barriers present |
| 86 | + |
| 87 | + |
| 88 | +**Note:** The Accessibility Score is a proprietary metric developed by LambdaTest. This scoring methodology is unique to our platform and provides a tailored approach to measuring accessibility health. |
| 89 | + |
| 90 | + |
| 91 | +--- |
| 92 | + |
| 93 | +## Calculating scores across pages and tests |
| 94 | + |
| 95 | +The same formula applies whether you're looking at a single page or an entire test with multiple pages. |
| 96 | +This approach ensures that particularly problematic pages don't get hidden by well-performing ones, giving you an accurate view of your overall accessibility health. |
| 97 | + |
| 98 | +--- |
| 99 | + |
| 100 | +## What impacts your score |
| 101 | + |
| 102 | +- **Severity distribution**: A page with mostly critical issues scores lower than one with mostly minor issues, even if the total count is the same. |
| 103 | +- **Issue density**: More issues relative to page elements means a lower score. A complex page with many elements can absorb more issues before the score drops dramatically. |
| 104 | +- **Total element count**: Pages with more elements have more opportunities for issues, but the density calculation accounts for this fairly. |
| 105 | + |
| 106 | +--- |
| 107 | + |
| 108 | +## Improving your score |
| 109 | + |
| 110 | +Focus on high-impact changes: |
| 111 | + |
| 112 | +1. **Fix critical issues first** - They carry the most weight and create real barriers for users |
| 113 | +2. **Reduce issue density** - Systematic problems affecting many elements hurt your score more than isolated issues |
| 114 | +3. **Test iteratively** - Run scans after each fix to track improvements in real-time |
| 115 | + |
| 116 | + |
| 117 | +:::tip Remember |
| 118 | +The goal isn't gaming the score, it's making your product genuinely accessible to everyone. |
| 119 | +::: |
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