If your scan has finished and shows no score, nothing has gone wrong. Automated results never carry a score. A score comes from an Expert Manual Review, in which a specialist checks the scan by hand.
What automated testing cannot do
Automated accessibility checks are genuinely useful and genuinely limited. Depending on whose research you read, automation reliably catches somewhere around a third of the issues that affect real users. The rest need judgement.
Some examples of the difference:
- A tool can tell you an image has no alternative text. It cannot tell you that the alternative text reading "image123.jpg" is useless.
- A tool can tell you a link exists. It cannot tell you that "click here" means nothing to someone listening to a list of links out of context.
- A tool can measure the contrast of text. It cannot tell you that the important text is in a picture, where it never gets measured.
- A tool can confirm headings are present. It cannot tell you they describe the wrong things.
A report built only on automation gives you false confidence, and false confidence is worse than no report at all if you are relying on it for a legal or contractual obligation.
What the specialist does
They work through every WCAG 2.1 AA requirement for your scan, confirm what the automation found, and check the things automation cannot see, recording a pass, a fail or not applicable for each, with notes. Your score is the share of the requirements that apply to your pages which your pages pass.
How to get one
- On the scan's results page, in Expert Services, choose Request Manual Review.
- We send you a quote. You can approve it, ask for changes, or decline it.
- Once it is approved and paid, the specialist starts. The scan shows Under Expert Review.
- When they finish, it shows Expert Review Complete, with your score, risk band and full audit.
How long it takes
It is done by a person, so it is not instant, and your quote gives the timeline. If you have a deadline, request the review with room to spare rather than the week before.
Do you need one?
Not to start fixing things. Your automated results are complete and are what most teams work from day to day. A review is worth it when you need a certified result: for a client, a tender, a regulator, or to know for certain where you stand.
Why this matters when you share the report
When you hand a reviewed report to a client, a procurement team or a regulator, you are saying a qualified person looked at it. That is a different and much stronger claim than "we ran a tool".
Next
Once your score arrives, read Reading your score.