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 criteria. The following numerical scores and corresponding ratings are developed using best practices from accessibility experts:
- Weak: 0-49
- Average: 50-79
- Strong: 80-100
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 the VPAT framework. It measures accessibility of each criterion using findings by severity and assigning a status that has a corresponding score. The final conformance score is the average score of all tested criteria. There are three possible calculations for the conformance score:
- Default calculation: Uses the three default severity levels.
- Four severity levels: For customers that have one additional custom severity.
- Five severity levels: For customers with two additional custom severities.
Unless you have custom severities set up in the platform, the conformance score uses the default calculation. Learn more about custom severities.
Default calculation
The table below describes the conformance statuses and corresponding score based on three severity levels.
Status | Description | Score |
---|---|---|
Does not support (critical) | The criterion has one or more critical severity finding. | 0% |
Partially support (high) | The criterion has high severity or high and low severity findings. | 50% |
Partially support (low) | The criterion has low severity findings only. | 80% |
No findings (not applicable) | The criterion is not applicable to the evaluation. | 100% |
No findings (fully supported) | There are no findings for the criterion. | 100% |
Four severity levels
The table below describes the conformance statuses and corresponding score based on four severity levels.
Status | Description | Score |
---|---|---|
Does not support (critical) | The criterion has one or more critical severity finding. | 0% |
Partially support (high) | The criterion has high severity or high, custom, and low severity findings. | 40% |
Partially support (custom severity 1) | The criterion has findings with the custom severity 1 or custom and low severity findings. | 70% |
Partially support (low) | The criterion has low severity findings only. | 90% |
No findings (not applicable) | The criterion is not applicable to the evaluation. | 100% |
No findings (fully supported) | There are no findings for the criterion. | 100% |
Five severity levels
The table below describes the conformance statuses and corresponding score based on five severity levels.
Status | Description | Score |
---|---|---|
Does not support (critical) | The criterion has one or more critical severity finding. | 0% |
Partially support (high) | The criterion has high severity or high and low severity findings. | 35% |
Partially support (custom severity 2) | The criterion has findings with the custom severity 2 or custom severity 1, 2, and low severity findings. | 60% |
Partially support (custom severity 1) | The criterion has findings with the custom severity or custom and low severity findings. | 75% |
Partially support (low) | The criterion has low severity findings only. | 90% |
No findings (not applicable) | The criterion is not applicable to the evaluation. | 100% |
No findings (fully supported) | There are no findings for the criterion. | 100% |
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 tested criteria and finding severity. Because the conformance score is the average score of all tested criteria, it's best to focus on one criterion at a time and to fix findings in the order of severity, highest to lowest. Once you fix all findings under a single severity, the score for that criterion improves and impacts the overall conformance score.
Follow these best practices to see changes:
- Focus on one criterion at a time.
- Fix from highest severity to lowest.
- 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 not 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.
The table below describes the score increases for a single criterion when all findings at a given severity level are fixed.
Fixes by severity level | Three severity | Four severity levels | Five severity levels |
---|---|---|---|
All critical findings |
50% | 40% | 35% |
All high findings |
30% | 30% | 25% |
All findings for custom severity 1 |
N/A | 20% | 15% |
All findings for custom severity 2 |
N/A | N/A | 15% |
All low severity findings |
20% | 10% | 10% |
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 tested 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.
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