Client: Self-initiated
Site: spyroskonofaos.com
Tool: axe DevTools 4.11.4
Standard: WCAG 2.1 AA
Environment: Local development (localhost:8888)
Result: Zero issues at launch
Before I let anyone see my portfolio, I made sure it passed the same accessibility standards I'd apply to any professional engagement. Most developers launch first and fix accessibility later. I wanted to do it the other way around.
Accessibility failures are easy to miss during a build — especially inside a page builder like Elementor, where the generated markup isn't always what you'd write by hand. Before pushing my portfolio live I ran a full audit across every page to catch anything that would create barriers for screen reader users, keyboard navigators, or anyone relying on assistive technology.
Empty link text — The site logo in the header linked to the homepage but had no accessible text, aria-label, or title attribute. Screen readers had nothing to announce, leaving keyboard and assistive technology users with an unidentifiable link in the tab order. Four instances flagged. Impact: serious. WCAG 2.4.4.
Color contrast failure — A foreground color of #b07acd against a background of #69727d produced a contrast ratio of only 1.51:1 — far below the required 4.5:1 minimum for normal text. Impact: serious. WCAG 1.4.3.
Missing alt text on image links — Four linked images in the Case Studies section had no descriptive text. Each was completely invisible to screen readers. Impact: serious. WCAG 2.4.4.
Invalid semantic structure — A element on the About Me page existed outside of a or parent, breaking expected structure for assistive technologies. Impact: serious. WCAG 1.3.1.
Each issue was addressed directly before launch:
After fixes, axe DevTools returned zero automatic issues across all pages — zero critical, zero serious, zero moderate, zero minor — against the WCAG 2.1 AA standard. The site launched clean.
Accessibility isn't a final checklist item. It's a build discipline. Catching these issues before launch — rather than after real users encountered them — is exactly the kind of quality standard I bring to every project.