How I Limit Overwhelm When Auditing 

I’ve been a Junior Digital Accessibility Consultant for a year and now feels like a good time to reflect on my auditing process. I’m not going to lie, auditing can quickly become overwhelming, especially if you’re new to the field. WCAG guidelines and the myriad success criteria that belong to each one is confusing. With so many requirements swirling around your mind as soon as you open a page, it’s easy to feel stuck and not know where to begin. 

As a person with ADHD, I can get lost fast, and sometimes the pressure of “all the things” can freeze my brain entirely. In this blog, I want to share what my process is really like, no sugar-coating. It’s chaotic at times, but as I grow in this field, I know I will keep learning new skills and strategies that will help me be a better auditor. I’m also discovering ways to break my tasks into achievable steps, because auditing doesn’t have to feel chaotic. It can be streamlined and manageable, we just need the right tools and approaches. 

When Everything Feels Overwhelming 

There are days when I’ll start an audit and whiz through the pages. My brain scans quickly and fires off observations in rapid succession: “Colour contrast – check that.” “Is that bold text pretending to be a heading?”, “Did that tab stop skip an expected element?”, “Does that image have alt text?”, “Wait, is that an image of text!?”. 

For a long time, I tried writing everything down as fast as the thoughts came. But this usually left me with multiple pieces of paper covered in chaotic scribbles like “CHECK THAT ARIA ROLE” in all caps, as if yelling at my future self would magically provide context. 

Spoiler, it didn’t. 

The next day, I’d find these notes heading-less, title-less, and with absolutely no memory of what on earth I was referring to. Chaotic, right? I don’t love admitting it, but it was. (And truthfully… sometimes it still is.)  

What Helped Me Find Structure  

Talking to other auditors 

One of the most helpful things I did was reach out to other auditors on the team and ask them about their process. I learned so much just by hearing how others approach things, from which bookmarklets they prefer for outlining headings, to quicker ways of resizing screens for reflow testing. 

If you can, I highly recommend asking others in the field what helps them. A five-minute conversation can often save you hours of struggling alone. 

Creating my own tracking sheet 

We use tracking sheets internally to keep our progress clear to the rest of the team. I like creating my own version and adding extra components. 

For each page, I break the audit into simple columns with headings like: 

• Page title 

• Headings 

• Text contrast 

• Non-text contrast 

• Keyboard 

• Images 

• Reflow 

This lets me focus on one thing at a time, and when something is finished, I colour it green (I’m a big visual person so I love having a colour system). 

My simple visual system: 

• Green – Done 

• Yellow – In progress 

• Orange – Pending / I need to ask someone 

• Red – Not applicable 

Seeing progress laid out clearly in my tailored tracking sheets calms my mind and makes the work feel achievable rather than overwhelming. 

Tools and Strategies That Keep Me on Track 

Intopia’s WCAG 2.2 Map 

A quick, visual overview of WCAG that helps break down guidelines and success criteria into digestible chunks. It’s up on my wall and I use it daily.  

ARC Toolkit 

Great for quick automated testing and highlighting specific components like links or images. Just remember automation can’t catch everything. Some websites block automated tools, so human testing is always essential. 

Bookmarklets 

Bookmarklets that highlight headings, landmarks, links, lists or any other component are incredibly helpful. They give you an instant visual map of the page. 

(And if you want a great resource: Digital Accessibility Bookmarklets – Written by Taiyo Totsuka
https://intopia.digital/articles/digital-accessibility-bookmarklets/) 

Breaking tasks into smaller steps 

Whether you have ADHD or just deal with the natural cognitive load of auditing, smaller steps help. Instead of thinking “I need to audit this whole page,” I now think “I’m just looking at headings right now.” 

Small steps reduce overwhelm. Small steps build momentum. Small steps get audits done. Read that again… (more a note to myself). 

Final Thoughts 

If auditing feels overwhelming at times, you’re not alone. It’s detail-heavy work, and there’s a lot to hold in your mind at once. Having ADHD adds another layer to that, but the strategies I’ve learned aren’t just for ADHD brains; they can help anyone who needs structure when things feel too big. 

We all deserve to make our work easier on ourselves and to have workflows that support our brains, not fight against them. If even one of these tips helps you feel a little more grounded in your next audit, then this blog has done what I hoped it would.