Web Accessibility Monitoring: Continuous Compliance

Accessibility isn't a one-time project. Every code change, every content update, every third-party integration can introduce new accessibility barriers. Without continuous monitoring, you're flying blind.

Accessibility monitoring software provides ongoing visibility into your site's accessibility status. It catches regressions early, tracks improvement over time, and generates evidence of compliance efforts.

This guide covers how to set up effective accessibility monitoring – from choosing metrics to configuring alerts to building dashboards.

Why continuous monitoring matters

Think about everything that changes on a website:

Without monitoring, problems accumulate. What was compliant last quarter may have dozens of new issues today.

The alternative is scary:

Annual audits find problems after they've existed for months. Customers have struggled. Regulatory risk has accumulated. Fixing is more expensive because code has changed.

Continuous monitoring:

A study showed that websites lose an average of 3% of their accessibility score per month without active monitoring.

What to monitor

Not all metrics are equally useful. Focus on what drives action:

Primary metrics (dashboard headlines):

Secondary metrics (deeper analysis):

What NOT to focus on:

Setting up monitoring

Step 1: Choose your tool

Options range from free (scheduling Lighthouse CI) to enterprise (Siteimprove). Xrayd sits in the middle – powerful enough for serious monitoring, accessible pricing for teams and agencies.

Step 2: Configure scan scope

Step 3: Set scan frequency

Step 4: Establish baselines

Run initial scans to understand current state. This becomes your baseline for measuring improvement.

Step 5: Set targets

Effective alerting

Alerts should warn about things requiring immediate attention – not every change.

Good alerts:

Bad alerts (alert fatigue):

Alert channels:

Escalation:

If critical issue isn't addressed within 48 hours, escalate to product owner or tech lead.

Dashboards and reporting

Different stakeholders need different views:

For leadership:

For development team:

For content team:

Dashboard layout example:

Row 1: Key numbers (critical, serious, total, trend arrow)

Row 2: Trend chart (issues over time)

Row 3: Breakdown (by type, by page)

Row 4: Action items (unresolved critical issues with age)

Reporting cadence:

Weekly: Technical team review

Monthly: Management summary

Quarterly: Executive report with trends