How Much Does a Shopify Accessibility Audit Cost?

A Shopify accessibility audit can cost anywhere from nothing to several thousand dollars, depending on what you are actually buying. A free automated scan, a one-time documentation bundle at $249, a monthly subscription from $29 to $149, and a full manual review by a specialist firm sit at four distinct tiers, each with real value and real limits. This article is informational, not legal advice.

Tier 1: Free automated scan ($0)

Paperfort offers a free automated WCAG 2.2 AA scan at /scan/ with no account required. You enter your Shopify store URL, and the scanner runs axe-core against your storefront and returns a report of the machine-detectable issues it found: missing alt text, low color contrast, unlabeled form fields, certain ARIA errors, and similar findings.

What it does not give you is documentation you can show a buyer, a lawyer, or a regulator. No hosted accessibility statement goes live on your domain. No timestamped report is generated for your records. No VPAT 2.5Rev is produced. The free scan is a diagnostic: it shows you where the machine-detectable problems are so you can prioritize fixes. Think of it as the first pass before you decide how much further to go.

The honest limit to name upfront: automated scans detect only a portion of WCAG issues. Deque's automated accessibility coverage research and industry experience broadly put automated coverage at roughly a third to half of WCAG criteria. The rest require human judgment. That ceiling applies to every automated tool, including Paperfort's free scan.

Tier 2: Automated audit with documentation ($249 one-time, or $29–$149/mo)

The next tier adds formal documentation to the automated scan. Paperfort's $249 one-time audit bundle delivers three artifacts:

• A timestamped WCAG 2.2 AA audit report showing what axe-core found on a specific date, with a prioritized remediation plan for your developer.
• A hosted accessibility statement published on your own domain, with a real feedback channel for visitors.
• A VPAT 2.5Rev conformance report in the standardized ITI format that procurement teams and enterprise buyers request.

The monthly subscription plans add continuous monitoring, re-scans when your theme or Shopify updates, and a persistent statement page that stays current. Starter is $29 per month, Pro is $79, and Agency is $149 (covering multiple stores).

This tier is the right call if you need a dated record on file, are fielding a procurement request, want an accessible-statement page live on your domain, or need a VPAT 2.5Rev for a buyer. The same automation limits apply: the reports document what the machine-detectable scan found, not a full human review. Paperfort does not claim to produce documentation equivalent to a manual audit, and it does not claim to make your store ADA compliant. No automated tool can certify compliance.

Tier 3: Full manual audit by a specialist firm (typically thousands)

A comprehensive manual accessibility audit is conducted by human evaluators, often certified testers using real assistive technology: screen readers like JAWS and NVDA, keyboard-only navigation, voice control, and mobile accessibility tools. These engagements scope to your specific storefront, test criteria that automation cannot reach, and deliver findings with remediation guidance that goes substantially deeper than any scanner.

Prices vary widely by firm, scope, and store complexity, and Paperfort is not the right source for a quote on specialist manual testing. What is fair to say is that thorough manual audits from credible accessibility firms typically run into the thousands, and a scoped engagement for a mid-complexity Shopify store is not a $99 transaction. Some firms bundle remediation support; others deliver a report only. Get several quotes and ask specifically what criteria get tested and how findings are verified.

This tier is appropriate when you need evidence of conformance at a depth that satisfies a demanding institutional buyer or legal context, when you are remediating after a demand letter with counsel involved, or when you are building a serious procurement case for a government or enterprise contract.

Tier 4: The cost of doing nothing

There is a fourth number in this conversation that does not appear on any pricing page. Website accessibility litigation under ADA Title III has been rising: Seyfarth Shaw's annual report counted approximately 3,117 federal ADA Title III website lawsuits in 2025, up roughly 27 percent year over year. UsableNet's tracker found that around 70 percent of targets are e-commerce sites, which is the category most Shopify merchants occupy.

Demand letters, which precede many suits, are sent in far larger numbers than the lawsuits themselves. Many website-accessibility claims settle, and while settlement amounts vary and individual cases depend on specific facts, the process involves legal fees regardless of outcome.

None of this is a prediction about what happens to any specific store, and Paperfort documentation does not prevent lawsuits or guarantee any legal outcome. What it is: the litigation backdrop is real, it concentrates on e-commerce, and the trend has been upward. That context is relevant when weighing a $249 investment in dated documentation against the alternative of having nothing on file.

How to choose

Run the free scan first to see your machine-detectable baseline. If the findings are significant, that tells you where to start remediation. If you need a dated record, a hosted statement, or a VPAT for a buyer, the one-time bundle or a monthly plan is the next step. If you are facing a demand letter, working with counsel on a procurement requirement, or need deep conformance evidence, a qualified manual auditor is the appropriate investment, and a lawyer should be involved on anything with legal stakes.

The categories are not mutually exclusive. A $249 automated documentation bundle and a manual review from a specialist firm serve different purposes and many merchants use both. The automated bundle gives you a dated machine-detectable record and a VPAT quickly. The manual review gives you the human-judgment layer that automation cannot reach.

Ready to start with the free scan or get the full documentation bundle? See what the $249 audit includes, or run a free scan on your store now.