Grow Wild Agency
WCAG 2.2 AAAJacksonville, Florida
CPACCWASManual AuditAnti-OverlayVerified
ADA Compliance AuditsAccessible Web DesignWCAG Remediation
HealthcareeCommerceNonprofit
$5,000 - $150,000+
How to Hire an Accessible Web Designer
Audit before you scope. Commission a manual WCAG 2.2 AA audit first, so every quote prices the same defect list instead of guessing. Then shortlist on evidence that has a document behind it — named certified staff, a real findings report, a conformance report — and put the standard, the testing method and the post-launch defect responsibility into the contract. Skipping the audit is what makes these projects overrun.
The sequence that avoids a change order
Commission an audit before you scope the work
The most common and most expensive mistake is asking for redesign quotes before anyone has tested the current site. Without a findings list you are asking vendors to price an unknown, so they either pad the number or quote low and change-order later. A manual WCAG 2.2 AA audit gives you a defect list every candidate prices against the same way.
Where budget allows, buy the audit from a different vendor than the one doing the remediation. An auditor who is also bidding on the fix has an incentive to find more of it.
Decide what you are actually buying
Remediating an existing site, building a new one accessibly, and buying ongoing conformance maintenance are three different engagements with three different shapes. Remediation is scoped off a defect list. A new build is scoped off templates and components. Maintenance is a retainer. Vendors quote very differently across the three, so name which one you want before you ask for numbers.
Shortlist on evidence, not on the pitch
Every vendor in this market says "WCAG compliant" and "ADA compliant." Those phrases cost nothing to write. Shortlist on the things that have a document or a public record behind them — named certified staff, a real findings report, a conformance report you can read, and a documented position on overlay widgets.
Put the conformance target in the contract
Name the standard and level (WCAG 2.2 Level AA is the practical target for most organisations), the testing method that will be used to demonstrate it, what deliverable proves it at handover, and who pays to fix defects found after launch. "Accessible" in a statement of work is unenforceable. "Conforms to WCAG 2.2 AA, demonstrated by manual screen-reader testing, evidenced by an Accessibility Conformance Report" is.
Agree who owns conformance after launch
Accessibility is a state a site drifts out of, not a certificate it earns. Every CMS edit, plugin update and embedded third-party form is a chance to regress. Before signing, settle what monitoring is included, how often the site is re-tested, who is accountable when a new page fails, and whether that work is inside the retainer or billed on top.
Where to actually look
Ordered roughly by how easily you can verify a claim made by someone you find there.
- The IAAP member and certificant directories
- The International Association of Accessibility Professionals publishes listings of member organisations and credentialed individuals. It is the closest thing this field has to a registry, and it lets you verify a certification claim rather than take it on trust.
- Specialist accessibility consultancies
- A small number of firms do accessibility as their entire practice rather than as a service line. They are typically the most expensive option and the most likely to have deep assistive-technology testing capability. Worth approaching if your exposure is significant or you are under a demand letter.
- Web agencies with genuine in-house capability
- The middle of the market, and the widest quality range. Some have certified practitioners and a real testing process; many have added "ADA compliant" to a services page. This is where verification matters most — apply the criteria before the conversation gets far.
- Government contracting vehicles, for Section 508 work
- If you are a federal agency or a contractor selling into one, your procurement route usually constrains the vendor list before preference does. Section 508 work also requires conformance documentation that commercial engagements often skip.Section 508 and VPAT requirements
- Your own sector
- Universities, hospital systems and public agencies have often already run a procurement for this and will frequently tell you who they used and how it went. A peer who has been through it is better signal than any listing, including ours.
What drives the cost
Templates, custom components and document count — not page count. Two sites with 500 pages each can differ by an order of magnitude if one is six templates and the other is sixty. A bespoke component library built without keyboard support, a checkout flow, or a large archive of untagged PDFs are each capable of dominating a budget on their own.
This is the practical argument for auditing first: it converts an unknown into a defect list that every candidate prices the same way, which is the only basis on which quotes are actually comparable.
Listed agencies offering accessible web design
Apply the verification criteria to anyone here, including us.
Frequently asked questions
How do I hire an accessible web designer?
Audit first, scope second. Commission a manual WCAG 2.2 AA audit so you are pricing against a real defect list rather than a guess, then decide whether you are buying remediation, a new accessible build, or ongoing maintenance — vendors quote very differently across the three. Shortlist on evidence that has a document behind it: named IAAP-certified staff, a redacted findings report, a conformance report, and a documented anti-overlay position. Then put the standard, the testing method, the handover deliverable and the post-launch defect responsibility into the contract.
Where can I hire accessible web designers?
Four practical routes: the IAAP member and certificant directories, which let you verify a certification claim rather than trust it; specialist accessibility consultancies, which are the most expensive and usually the deepest; general web agencies with genuine in-house capability, which is the widest quality range and where verification matters most; and — for federal or contractor work — your existing procurement vehicle. Peers in your own sector who have already run this procurement are often the best signal of all.
What are the best platforms to hire accessible web designers?
General freelance marketplaces are a poor fit for this work. Accessibility conformance depends on manual assistive-technology testing and documented process, and marketplace listings rarely evidence either — you cannot verify a CPACC or WAS credential from a profile badge. Start from the IAAP directories, which are tied to actual certification records, and verify from there. If you do hire through a marketplace, require the certification number and check it independently.
What does it cost to hire an accessible web designer?
Cost is driven by templates, custom components and document count — not by page count. Two 500-page sites can differ by an order of magnitude if one is six templates and the other is sixty. That is why the audit comes first: it converts an unknown into a defect list everyone prices the same way. Small businesses should also check whether the IRS Section 44 credit applies, which can offset up to $5,000 of eligible accessibility spend.
Can my current web agency make my site ADA compliant?
Sometimes, and it is worth asking before you go elsewhere — they already know your codebase, which is real value. Ask three questions: does anyone on the team hold a CPACC or WAS credential, do they test with screen readers manually as standard, and will they produce a conformance report. If the answers are no, no and no, the honest position is that they are learning on your budget and your legal exposure. A specialist audit plus your existing team doing the remediation is often the best-value combination.
How long does it take?
It depends far more on what the audit finds than on the size of the site. A handful of template-level defects — contrast, focus states, form labels — resolves quickly. Structural problems such as a custom component library built without keyboard support, an inaccessible checkout flow, or a large archive of untagged PDFs are a different order of work. Ask any vendor to break their timeline down by defect class rather than quoting a single duration, and treat a confident schedule offered before the audit as a warning sign.
Next step
If you have not audited yet, that is the thing to do before talking to anyone about budget. If you have, the verification checklist is what turns a shortlist into a decision.