How to Check If Your Website Is Accessible
Three barriers Esther found on a third or more of government websites can be checked in minutes, without a specialist. Here is the check for each.
Rick Hensbergen4 minute read
Three checks that take minutes
A resident reading a city's trash pickup schedule, for instance, has no reason to know what the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) say. They know whether the page works. Some of the barriers that decide it can be found the same way: by using the page and watching what happens.
Over the past three months (July 9 to October 6, 2026), Esther assessed government websites and rated every barrier it found by how often it appeared and how much effort it takes to address. Three of them sit on a third or more of those sites, carry a low effort rating, and show themselves to anyone who knows where to look. Each one you find is a dated fact about your own site, which is worth more than a hunch.
Text that breaks when the spacing widens
Many people with dyslexia or low vision widen the space between lines, words, and letters to read more easily. On 80% of sites, Esther found text that clipped or overlapped when they did: words cut off at the edge of a box, or lines running into each other.
This is the one check that needs a small helper. A text-spacing bookmarklet, a free browser bookmark that applies the spacing WCAG sets, widens the spacing on whatever page is open; a search for "text spacing bookmarklet" finds one. With it applied, the page answers for itself: if words disappear or lines collide, the barrier is there.
Headings and labels that say nothing
On 36% of sites, Esther found headings or form labels that give no clue to what they introduce. A heading such as "Information" could sit above anything, and people who use screen readers often move through a page heading by heading. A form field labeled "Field 1" leaves everyone guessing.
The check is reading. Taken in order, as though they were the only text on the page, the headings should each tell you what the section below covers. The same goes for every label on every form: if you can't tell what goes in the box, neither can the resident filling it out.
Error messages with no way forward
On 32% of sites, Esther found forms whose error messages say something is wrong and stop there. "Invalid entry" leaves a resident with a form they can't finish and no idea why.
The check is a deliberate mistake: a contact form or a service request sent with a date in the wrong format, or a phone number one digit short. What matters is the message that comes back. If it says what a correct entry looks like, the form passes. If it says only that something is wrong, the barrier is there.
The three, by how often Esther found them
- Text that clips or overlaps when spacing is widened: 80% of sites (WCAG 1.4.12, Text Spacing)
- Headings and labels that don't describe their content: 36% (WCAG 2.4.6, Headings and Labels)
- Error messages with no suggested fix: 32% (WCAG 3.3.3, Error Suggestion)
All three carry a low effort rating in Esther's assessments.
What you find is the start of a record
A finding is only as useful as the note that goes with it: the page, what you did, what you saw, and the date. Whoever owns the site can act on it. It also answers the question a complaint or an attorney's letter brings, usually without warning: what was found, what came first, and what has been resolved since. A record can't be created backwards. A dated note made this week is the first line of one.
A browser shows you these three. The most widespread barriers on government websites, such as text too faint to read comfortably and buttons a screen reader can't name, take measurement, page by page. Who is affected by inaccessible government websites? reports how far they reach. That is Esther's work: it finds the barriers on a site, ranks them by the urgency of what they block, and dates each one, so as issues are resolved the list gets shorter and the record shows when.
Three questions about your own site
- Can you widen the spacing and still read every line?
- Read on their own, do your headings and labels say what each section covers and what each box wants?
- When a form rejects an entry, does the message say what a correct one looks like?
A no to any of them is a finding. Written down with the page and the date, it's the start of your record, and the work behind it is small. How much work is it to fix website accessibility? shows why: barriers like these usually trace back to a few shared templates, and one change to a template clears every page built from it.
For state and local government, the Department of Justice's 2024 rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires WCAG 2.1 Level AA: by April 26, 2027, for governments serving 50,000 people or more, and by April 26, 2028, for smaller governments and special districts. The rule covers the whole site. A first look at where yours stands takes an afternoon.
Some of the most widespread barriers on government websites show themselves to anyone who uses the page the way a resident does. Finding them takes minutes. Dating them makes a record.
What this looks like for a government: For government. For a private organization: For business.
Figures describe government websites Esther assessed from July 9 to October 6, 2026.
About the author
Rick Hensbergen is the founder and CEO of Esther. He spent twenty years leading software testing and quality teams for major banks in the United States and the United Kingdom.