None of these are exotic. They aren't edge cases or judgement calls. They are the six errors that crop up again and again, and any team can fix all of them in an afternoon once they have been pointed out. The WCAG 2.2 AA checks in a UXDuty audit cover them all.
1. Low contrast text
- Description
- Text that's too pale against its background to be reliably readable. Pretty in the design tool, hard to read on a real screen.
- Who it affects
- Low vision, colour blindness, and anyone in bright light or on lower-quality displays.
- Recommendation
- Aim for at least 4.5:1 contrast for body text and 3:1 for large headings. Free tools and most design systems do the maths for you.
2. Missing alt text
- Description
- An image on the page with no description attached for assistive technology.
- Who it affects
- Blind users - screen readers can't describe the image. Also users on slow connections where images fail to load.
- Recommendation
- Write a short, accurate description for every image that carries meaning. Mark purely decorative images as decorative so screen readers skip them.
3. Missing form labels
- Description
- A field with a placeholder hint inside it but no proper visible label.
- Who it affects
- Blind users - they don't know what to enter. Users with cognitive disabilities who need clear, persistent instructions are also affected.
- Recommendation
- Every field gets a visible label that stays in place. Hints inside the field are fine in addition, but never instead.
4. Empty links
- Description
- A link that wraps an icon, image or empty span with no readable text.
- Who it affects
- Blind users - screen readers announce the link with no destination context, leaving them guessing where it goes.
- Recommendation
- Add visible link text. Where you must use an icon-only link, give it an accessible label that describes what it does.
5. Empty buttons
- Description
- A button with no text content - usually an icon-only button without an accessible label.
- Who it affects
- Blind users - they can't identify what action the button performs, which prevents interaction entirely.
- Recommendation
- Every button needs either visible text or, for icon-only buttons, an accessible label that describes the action.
6. Missing doc language
- Description
- A page that doesn't declare which language it's written in.
- Who it affects
- Blind users - screen readers use incorrect pronunciation. Users with reading difficulties relying on text-to-speech are also affected.
- Recommendation
- Set a language attribute on the page so assistive technology knows how to read it correctly.
Finding, fixing and tracking all six
Add the accessibility checks when you set up a UXDuty audit and every page it scans is checked against all six. Each finding is shown with a screenshot, a plain-language explanation, the WCAG success criterion and a recommended fix.
Your team verifies each finding, fixes the page, and UXDuty checks it again before the finding is marked resolved. Rerun the audit after each release and the trend chart shows these errors falling, run by run.
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