Why You Should Document Accessibility Issues and Fixes
Website accessibility claims are common, and many target small businesses. When a demand letter arrives, the strongest position is usually a documented, ongoing effort: you tested regularly against a recognized standard and fixed what you found. The Department of Justice states that the ADA applies to businesses’ web content and recommends choosing and following a standard (ADA.gov (opens in a new tab)). Records show what you did and when.
Records also help well before a dispute. Procurement teams ask for them, regulators in the EU expect documentation, and your own team needs to see what changed since the last audit.
What an Evidence Package Includes
The Legal Evidence Package covers the last 12 months by default, or the period you choose. It includes:
- Your testing program: the WCAG version and level, devices and the daily scan schedule.
- Every scan in the period, with monthly results.
- Your score and open issues at the start and end of the period.
- A remediation log: each issue found in one scan and gone in the next scan of the same page, with both dates.
- Your remediation notes and fixes applied with AccessBellFix.
- Your accessibility statement and the issues still open.
A Scan History Archive Documents Issues Over Time
The vault keeps one snapshot per month for the last 12 months, with scans run, pages scanned, average score and average issues, and each page has its full scan history. This comes from continuous monitoring, so the record builds up automatically while your team works.
Accessibility Statement and Certificate
An accessibility statement tells visitors what standard you aim for, what is not yet accessible and how to reach you. The W3C publishes guidance on developing a statement (opens in a new tab), and our free accessibility statement generator writes a starting point. In the vault, the statement is kept with your scan results.
When every scanned page scores 100 in its latest scan, you can generate an Accessibility Certificate. It states that the site passed every automated check on that date, and it is not a certification of full WCAG conformance.
What Compliance Vault Can and Cannot Do
The vault documents your effort. It is not legal advice or a guarantee against claims. Automated testing detects many, but not all, WCAG failures, and an issue that is no longer detected may have been fixed or removed from the page. See our methodology and disclaimer.
Learn More About Compliance Vault
Compliance Vault: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I document accessibility issues and fixes?
Keep dated records of each scan, the issues found and when each was fixed, plus notes on work done outside your scanner. AccessBell does this automatically in the Compliance Vault and exports it as an evidence package.
What does the Legal Evidence Package contain?
Your testing program, every scan in the period, start and end scores, a remediation log with dates, remediation notes, fixes applied with AccessBellFix, your accessibility statement and the issues still open. Download it as a PDF or as a ZIP with the record and CSV files.
How can someone verify the package has not been altered?
Each package is stored as issued with a record ID and a SHA-256 fingerprint of its record file. Anyone can check it at the verification link printed on the package, or compute the fingerprint themselves.
Will the vault protect me from an ADA lawsuit?
No tool can guarantee that. The vault gives you and your lawyer a dated record of your testing and fixes, which supports a good-faith accessibility program.
How long is the history kept?
Scan history is kept as long as the domain and page exist in your account, and the vault archive shows monthly snapshots for the last 12 months. Export anything you need before removing a domain.