1. Executive summary
A focused review identified eight barriers across five representative task flows. The most significant issues prevented keyboard operation and obscured the names or states of interactive controls. Code-level remediations were implemented and all eight findings passed targeted retesting.
Important: This is a fictional portfolio exercise, not a conformance claim for a real organization.
2. Scope and evaluation context
- Product
- Open Path Learning fictional website demonstration
- Target
- WCAG 2.2 Level AA and applicable Revised Section 508 requirements
- Included flows
- Navigation, class discovery, course links, email submission, error recovery, and confirmation
- Methods
- Manual keyboard, screen-reader, semantic structure, focus, contrast, form, and source review
- Limitations
- Focused component and task-flow evaluation; not a full-product conformance determination
3. Review process
- Defined essential functions, included views, target criteria, and test conditions.
- Explored repeated components, dynamic states, navigation, content structure, and form behavior.
- Performed manual evaluation and used automated results only as supporting evidence.
- Recorded reproducible findings with impact, recommendation, and acceptance criteria.
- Repeated the original task after remediation and checked adjacent patterns for regression.
4. Results and recommended actions
| ID | Finding | WCAG | Impact and evidence | Acceptance criteria | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WEB-01 | Mouse-only course controls | 2.1.1 | Keyboard users could not operate an essential course-selection action. | Control receives focus in logical order and activates with expected keyboard input. | Passed retest |
| WEB-02 | Missing visible focus | 2.4.7 | Users navigating by keyboard could not reliably determine their location. | Every interactive element displays a persistent, high-contrast focus indicator. | Passed retest |
| WEB-03 | Unlabeled email input | 3.3.2, 4.1.2 | The field purpose was not consistently communicated by assistive technology. | A visible label is programmatically associated and the computed accessible name is “Email address.” | Passed retest |
| WEB-04 | Error not programmatically associated | 3.3.1 | The submission failure was shown visually but was not announced with the field. | Error text identifies the problem, is connected to the input, and is announced at the appropriate point. | Passed retest |
| WEB-05 | Ambiguous repeated links | 2.4.4 | “Learn more” did not identify which course each link opened. | Each link has a unique, destination-specific accessible name. | Passed retest |
5. Severity definitions
- Critical
- Blocks an essential task with no reasonable workaround.
- Serious
- Creates substantial difficulty, information loss, or unreliable operation.
- Moderate
- Causes friction or limited access while leaving a practical path forward.
6. Retest conclusion
All documented issues in the selected scope passed their targeted retests. This conclusion applies only to the identified components, states, environments, and task flows. A full conformance statement would require evaluation of a representative sample of the complete product.