Using the ReachDeck Auditor: A step-by-step guide
With the ReachDeck Auditor, you can check for Compliance errors, Readability issues, and Broken Links.
Follow our simple steps below to make sure your team is making best use of the software.
Log in to the portal
Before we begin, make sure you're logged in to the ReachDeck portal.
To log in, simply, click on the button below to access the portal. Then, sign in using Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Heads up! Select the login option that uses the same email address that you used to register with us.
Once you're logged in, follow the four steps below.
Step 1: Scan your URL/s
To run a scan of your website simply:
A. Head to the ‘Home’ of your dashboard
B. Select the URL/s you would like to scan
C. Hit the ‘Scan Now’ button
Once you’ve done the above, you’ll see your ‘Last Scan’ date change - and you’ll know you're ready for steps 2-4!
Step 2: Check WCAG compliance
On average there are 60 WCAG level AA errors on the homepages of the top one million websites. At least, that’s according to research conducted by WebAIM.
Once you’ve run a scan, find and fix any WCAG errors by following these simple steps:
A. Head to the Compliance section of the dashboard, you’ll find it under ‘Auditor’
B. Choose your filters
C. Click the arrow to expand. This will display all the URLs where a compliance issue has been found
D. Click the URL to view the error on your website
E. Download the report
F. Once you've downloaded your report, review it and prioritise action.
We recommend that you aim for WCAG Level AA compliance. So to help you prioritise your fixes, why not start with WCAG Level A and AA failures?
Need help?
Here’s some extra resources to help you complete this step.
Missed something? Head back to the top of the page.
Step 3: Check Readability
Readability matters. As you find and fix WCAG errors, you’ll be improving accessibility. But it’s just as important that your content is usable too. To make sure your content can be understood by everyone, we recommend you aim for a reading age of between age 9 and 15.
Follow the steps below, and check the readability of your web content.
A. Head to the Readability section of the dashboard, you’ll find it under ‘Auditor’
B. Select the URL/s you want to review
C. Review each column. Hover over the ‘I’ symbol to explore what each means
D. Click the arrow to expand. This will display all the URLs where the readability errors have been found
E. Click the URL to view the errors on your website
F. Download the report
G. When you've downloaded your report, review it. Pay particular attention to any amber or red issues
H. Scroll to the section where the amber or red readability errors are being highlighted
I. Click on the URL to view the content with readability problems on your website
Not responsible for content creation? Send to the content creators in your organisation!
If you’re not responsible for creating the content for your website, send this report to your Marketing/Communications team.
To help, we’ve written some email copy to go along with it.
Some useful resources
If you need help or would like to explore Readability in more detail, check out these resources.
Missed something? Head back to the top of the page.
Step 4: Check Broken Links
Broken links create a bad user experience for everyone. Find and fix them quickly and easily. Here’s how...
A. Head to the Broken Links section of the dashboard, you’ll find it under ‘Auditor’
B. Select the URL/s you want to review
C. Review the overall total number of broken links
D. Click the arrow to expand. This will display all the URLs where the broken links have been found
E. Click the URL to view the errors on your website
F. Download the report
G. The report will give you the total number of broken links found
H. Review each section of the report
I. Click the link to view the broken link/s on your website
Some useful resources
If you need help, check out these resources.
One last piece of advice
By now we’re sure you’re feeling like an Auditor pro! But, perhaps you’re wondering, ‘How often should I scan my site using the ReachDeck Auditor?’
Monitoring and maintaining accessibility is important. Not only for your web visitors. But for your organisation too. In fact, did you know that almost 10 lawsuits are filed against inaccessible websites every business day? And of those filed, 21% are against companies that have received web accessibility lawsuits in the past?
That's why we recommend that you make scanning your website part of your team’s regular routine.
Tell us what you think
Before you go, we’d love to hear what you think of the ReachDeck Auditor. Fill in our short form to tell us your thoughts.
Head back. Or discover more
Missed something? Head back to the top of the page.