Answering the manual checks

An automated scan measures what can be measured: contrast, missing labels, operating the page with the Tab key. Whether an existing alternative text describes the image accurately, whether the focus order makes sense or whether videos have captions is beyond it. For these, the service asks you manual checks: short questions whose answers go into the accessibility statement.

Where to find the manual checks

In the scan report under “Your assessment is still needed” → “Answer the checks now”.
In the draft statement, as long as checks are open, via “To the manual checks”.

The page is called “Your assessment” and shows at the top how many checks are still open.

How to answer a manual check

Each check names the success criterion concerned, explains what to look for and asks “Is this requirement met?”. There are three possible answers:

Answer	When it fits	Effect on the statement
“met”	The requirement is met on your website.	no defect
“not met”	The requirement is not met.	listed as a known limitation
“not applicable”	Nothing on your website is covered by the requirement – for example, there are no videos.	no defect

The note field is public text: with “not met”, your note appears as the justification in the statement. Write what is not met and how people can still reach the content. “Withdraw answer” sets a check back to open.

Some checks also show what the scan has already found – for example on how many pages a search or a sitemap was detected. That supports your judgement; it does not replace it.

Answers carry over – with two exceptions

On the next scan of the same website, the service carries over your answers including notes. They are then marked “Carried over from the previous scan”. You do not answer the same question on every run.

You are asked again when

the page template has changed since your answer – the page then says “The page template has changed since your last answer. Please check again.”, or
a measurement in the new scan contradicts your earlier answer.

Why a new manual check can appear

Some questions are only asked when the scan finds a reason. The captions question, for example, only appears once there is a video on the scanned pages. If you add a video later, the question shows up in the next scan – and blocks the next publication until it is answered.

The other way round, an answered question stays even when its reason disappears, so your answer and justification are not lost.

Which questions are asked also depends on the jurisdiction: the question about explanations in German Sign Language and Easy Language only applies in Germany.

Manual checks and WordPress

The WordPress plugin only shows a published statement. Open manual checks prevent publication – so the shortcode shows no text until every check is answered and you have published the statement. The plugin itself does not show the manual checks; you answer them in the service. More: a notice instead of the statement in WordPress.

Not to be confused with “to review”

Uncertain results of the automated scan appear in the report in their own section. Those are individual occurrences, not questions. They do not block publication, but they do not count as passed either: Assessing uncertain results.

Does this replace a full audit?

No. The manual checks cover particularly common requirements, not all of them. Anything neither checked automatically nor asked about is listed in the statement as not evaluated – never as passed. The statement says explicitly that it is based on a self-assessment.