How Accesserty Understands Accessibility Signals
Accessibility certifications, statements, ALLY, user reports, and machine scan summaries are useful signals, but they mean different things and each has limits.
Why separate these signals?
Website accessibility is not a single score, and one visible badge cannot prove everything about a site. People encounter different kinds of information while searching, browsing, reporting barriers, and completing tasks.
Accesserty calls these pieces of information accessibility signals. Their value is that they make status easier to notice, trace, and discuss. They are not a full audit or legal compliance guarantee.
Signals Accesserty currently uses
Public testing, certification, recognition, or website-category award records from governments, delegated authorities, or trusted organizations.
They show that a source published an accessibility-related public record for a website, service, or selected pages. Signal keeps the source, issuer, level, date, and original link traceable.
They may not cover a whole domain, every sub-service, every page, or later changes. Systems, levels, validity rules, and standard versions differ by country and organization.
Public statements published by websites, often describing standards, known limits, improvements, and feedback channels.
They show that a website publicly explains its accessibility status and contact path. For users, they provide an entry point for understanding and reporting barriers.
A statement is not third-party certification and does not guarantee ongoing maintenance. A clear statement with limits and feedback process is more meaningful than a broad promise.
A reviewed signal that a verified domain maintainer is actively maintaining accessibility.
It shows that a maintainer verified the domain through Pulse and passed Accesserty ALLY review. ALLY appears first because it is tied to ongoing report handling.
ALLY is not an accessibility certification or whole-site compliance guarantee. It may be revoked when report handling or maintenance no longer meets the expected standard.
Issue types and page context submitted by users who encounter accessibility or usability barriers.
They show that someone encountered a barrier in a real use context and left a concrete clue. Reports are sent to Accesserty first; verified maintainers can review and handle Signal reports for their domains in Console.
One report does not always identify the root cause, and it does not guarantee a response. Reports for unclaimed domains may not be made available to website owners or resolved; they are not formal legal complaints or official support requests to the website owner.
Automated checks in Pulse and DevCheck that surface machine-detectable WCAG A/AA and best-practice risks.
They can quickly identify missing labels, ARIA errors, some contrast problems, and structural issues, making it easier to decide where to inspect first.
Machine scans cannot judge all semantics, content quality, task completion, or assistive technology experience. They do not replace manual review, assistive technology testing, or legal compliance analysis.
How Signal orders these signals
Accesserty Signal orders search-result signals by traceability and maintenance relationship so weaker signals do not appear ahead of stronger ones.
- Accesserty ALLY: a reviewed active-maintenance signal for a verified domain.
- Certified / Recognized / Awarded: public accessibility certification, recognition, award, or badge records, labeled according to the source type.
- Accessibility Statement: a public accessibility statement published by the website.
- When no supported record is matched, Signal shows no badge. That does not prove the site is good or bad.
What these signals cannot prove
Signals make information more visible, but they should not be overread.
- They cannot prove that a whole website, every page, or every authenticated flow meets accessibility requirements.
- They cannot replace manual review, assistive technology testing, user research, or a full audit.
- They cannot guarantee legal compliance.
- No signal does not mean a site is inaccessible. It only means Accesserty did not match a supported public record.
How to use these signals
Different people can start from different entry points.
- Use Accesserty Signal for search-result signals
For people who want to see public certifications, statements, and ALLY maintenance signals before opening a website.
- Review accessibility certification, recognition, and award sources
See which public signal sources Accesserty currently supports and what their limits are.
- Verify a domain and receive reports with Pulse
For maintainers who want to verify a domain, review Signal reports for that domain, inspect interaction clues, and inspect page scan summaries.
- Learn how Accesserty handles website data
A plain-language explanation of what Pulse and Signal collect, what they do not collect, and how private data differs from public signals.
- Read the guide to public accessibility signals
Understand how badges, statements, ALLY, user reports, and machine scan summaries become traceable public clues.
- Learn how to read an accessibility statement
Look for standards, scope, known limits, feedback channels, and update dates instead of only broad promises.
- Understand why public records are not a permanent whole-site guarantee
Understand the scope, time, and system limits of public certifications, recognitions, awards, and badges.
- Learn about Accesserty ALLY
Understand how ALLY applications, review, and ongoing maintenance work.
Frequently asked questions
No. They are important signals, but they may cover selected pages, selected flows, or one point in time. A complete judgment still requires manual review, assistive technology testing, and ongoing maintenance.
Because it provides traceable public communication and a feedback entry point. It is not certification, but it can still help users and maintainers understand what is claimed and how to report barriers.
Signal shows no badge. That only means no supported public record was matched by Accesserty; it does not prove whether the site is accessible.