Beta: Conformance score

The conformance score is currently in beta. To learn more about joining the beta program, reach out to our team at beta@levelaccess.com.

Evaluations have a conformance score that you can find on the Evaluations report page. You'll only be able to view the conformance score once the evaluation is complete.

On this page:

• What is the conformance score?
• How is the conformance score calculated?
• How do I improve my conformance score?
• What's the difference between the conformance score and the accessibility health score?

What is the conformance score?

The conformance score is a measure of accessibility based on evaluations. On a scale of 0–100, or weak to strong, it shows the degree to which a webpage meets or violates the tested success criteria. Over time, the score can be a measure of relative change. Notice your scores improve as you fix accessibility issues.

Note: You'll only notice changes in your conformance score after validation testing from Level Access.

How is the conformance score calculated?

The conformance score is inspired by WCAG standards and the VPAT framework. It measures accessibility of each success criteria using findings by severity and assigning a status that has a corresponding score. The final conformance score is the average score of all tested success criteria.

The table below describes the conformance statuses and corresponding score.

How do I improve my conformance score?

Note: You'll only notice changes in your conformance score after validation testing from Level Access.

The conformance score is calculated in a way that gives you clear next steps to improve it based on success criteria and finding severity.

• Fix critical severity findings for a success criteria and you'll increase the score for that criteria by 50%.
• Fix high severity findings for a success criteria and you'll increase the score for that criteria by 30%.
• Fix low severity findings for a success criteria and you'll increase the score for that criteria by 20%.

When you're trying to improve your score, it's important to follow these best practices to see changes:

• Focus on one success criteria at a time.
• Focus on A and AA success criteria first, then shift your focus to AAA.
• Select your ideal prioritization option and follow the recommendations.

If you don't follow these best practices, your score may improve because it's calculated using an ordered framework based on finding severity. The framework also requires that every finding under a severity level to be fixed to notice score improvements. For example, if you fix 9/10 critical findings, your score won't improve. Whereas if you fix 10/10 critical findings, you'll notice a score improvement.

What's the difference between the conformance score and the accessibility health score?

The conformance score and accessibility health score are both measures of accessibility. At this time, the conformance score measures manual evaluations based on success criteria and the accessibility health score measures on-demand scans and monitoring using rules. Beyond just what they measure, the key difference is that the conformance score uses a structured framework that provides a clear path to improved accessibility.