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South West-Based Service Provider
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South West-Based Service Provider

An audit that told the full story, not just the technical one.

RoleLead Auditor
TimelineOne Weekend
Tags
Performance AuditAccessibilityDue DiligenceWCAG 2.2
StatusCompleted

Project Context

This didn't start as client work. Before a potential business engagement with a South West-based service provider, a significant regional player backed by substantial private equity and government investment, I ran the same audit I'd run for any client. It's my process. Before I engage with any organisation in a meaningful capacity, I want to know what their digital foundation looks like. What came back wasn't just a list of technical problems.

Tags

Performance AuditAccessibilityDue DiligenceWCAG 2.2

What the Audit Found

The infrastructure is fine. Solid hosting, good uptime, reasonable server response. Everything above the infrastructure is a problem. By the numbers:

  • 14,447 broken internal and external links
  • 6,000+ accessibility failures
  • 2,947 images with missing alt text
  • ~30 technical errors per page average
  • No H1 heading structure across key pages
  • Missing Open Graph and meta tags throughout
  • Invalid schema markup and Core Web Vitals failures

Why It Matters

The site is built on WordPress, WooCommerce with Elementor as the page builder, a combination that produces div-heavy HTML that screen readers struggle to interpret, unless you know what you're doing. This isn't a minor housekeeping issue. Each failure category has a specific consequence:

  • Missing alt text at scale = WCAG 2.2 AA failure = Equality Act 2010 exposure
  • Broken links at volume = lost revenue pathways, degraded crawlability, AI search invisibility
  • No semantic structure = poor screen reader experience = the same digital exclusion they claim to be fighting in their marketing materials
  • Invalid schema and missing OG tags = invisible to AI-driven search, social sharing degraded, brand credibility eroded

What This Demonstrates

The audit numbers are one thread. But an audit is a starting point for questions, not just a score. A website audit isn't just a performance report. In the hands of someone who knows what they're looking at, it's a risk assessment, a compliance gap analysis, a due diligence tool, and a competitive intelligence piece.

  • Certification at Risk: This organisation is a certified B Corp facing mandatory recertification in 2026 under B Lab's revised standards. Under the new JEDI2.m requirement, B Corp recertification now requires companies to confirm their public website meets WCAG Level AA or AAA, verified through manual testing.
  • Accessibility Failures: A site carrying 6,000 accessibility failures is not a WCAG AA site. It isn't close. Automated scans won't pass that bar. A self-certification won't fly.
  • The Bigger Picture: The 14,447 broken links and 6,000+ accessibility failures don't exist in isolation. They exist inside a business with investors to satisfy, a certification to maintain, and competitors building cleaner, faster services.
  • The Cost of Ignorance: The value of knowing your site is carrying legal risk, failing a certification you've publicly committed to, and quietly handing your competitors an advantage?

For a paying client, a review of this scope would typically fall in the £200–£400 range.

Visual Highlights

South West-Based Service Provider

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