How to Improve Your Ally Accessibility Score — Fast

As we continue to learn how Ally evaluates our sites for accessibility, we’ve identified a few key areas that make the biggest impact when fixed first. Focusing on these elements can help you improve your Ally score more quickly and efficiently.

One important thing to remember:
Fixing an issue that appears on many pages doesn’t always lead to a big score increase. Some issues simply carry more weight than others. Prioritizing the right fixes will give you better results faster.

Start with These High-Impact Items

The most effective issues to address first are:

• Broken links
• Incorrect or disordered headings
• Tables without proper headers
• Links with missing or unclear text
  
  

1. Fix All Broken Links

A link is considered broken when it points to a page that can’t be found; either because the page no longer exists or the URL is incorrect. This often happens when content is moved, removed, or renamed.

It’s important to:

• Test links when you create or update content
• Recheck links whenever a URL changes
• Watch external links carefully, since you don’t control those sites

Write Clear, Descriptive Link Text

Your link text should tell users what they’ll find when they click it.

✅ Good example:
“Learn how to apply for student housing.”

❌ Poor examples:

• “Click here”
• Displaying the full URL

Clear link text helps everyone, including screen reader users, understand where a link goes before selecting it.

2. Make Sure Headings Are in the Correct Order

Headings help users, and assistive technologies, understand the structure of your page. A common issue is skipping heading levels or using a heading just for visual styling.

Use headings to represent content hierarchy, not appearance.

If you need a refresher, check out our article on the Proper Use of Headings for more guidance.

3. Make Sure Your Tables Have Proper Headers

If you use tables, Ally for Web checks whether they are built correctly and are easy to understand for all users. This includes confirming that:

• Rows and columns are clearly labeled
• Proper header cells are used
• Captions or summaries are included when helpful

For instance, a table showing course grades should use headers like “Student Name” and “Final Score” so screen readers can read the data in context.

In HTML, table headers are added using the <th> element, usually in the first row of the table. These headers help assistive technologies explain how each data cell relates to the others.

An Easy Fix!

One quick way to resolve table issues is to copy your table into Copilot and ask it to make the table fully accessible. Once updated, paste the corrected table back into your page.

4. Fix Links With Missing Discernible Text

Every link needs text that clearly describes where it goes. When reviewing your pages, check the following:

• Is there text between the <a> and </a> tags?
• Is that text descriptive and meaningful?
• If an image is used as a link, does it have appropriate alternative text?

Links without clear, visible text can confuse users and stop screen readers from announcing links correctly.

Keep Testing and Improving

By building your pages carefully and using Ally regularly to review your content, you’ll catch and fix accessibility issues early. Addressing these common problem areas consistently will put you well on your way to creating a more accessible (and 100% compliant) website.