Identify the primary user task, success event, and doubts or access barriers that block it.
Walk the path from entry to success. Include navigation, forms, validation, loading, errors, confirmation, and return visits.
Audit decision clarity:
- what the user is choosing;
- cost and commitment;
- what happens next;
- evidence and risk;
- how to recover or leave.
Audit semantics and interaction: landmarks, headings, names, labels, descriptions, keyboard order, focus management, announcements, and pointer alternatives.
Audit visual access: contrast, text resize/reflow, focus visibility, target spacing, zoom, motion, and content hidden by sticky UI.
Replace vague or inflated copy with specific outcomes, constraints, examples, and next-step language.
Reduce form friction without removing necessary consent, security, or error prevention.
Place trust information where commitment increases. Keep terms, privacy, cancellation, and destructive effects visible.
Implement the highest-impact fixes first: blocked tasks, misleading decisions, keyboard failures, form failures, then visual polish.
Re-test the complete path on mobile and with keyboard-only navigation. Use automated checks as support, not as proof of conformance.

Ethical Guardrails

Do not add fake scarcity, hidden fees, confirmshaming, disguised ads, forced continuity, preselected consent, or obstructive cancellation.
Do not fabricate testimonials, metrics, security claims, or guarantees.
Do not trade away accessibility for a presumed conversion lift.
Do not claim WCAG conformance from automated tooling alone.
Preserve user input after recoverable errors and make destructive actions explicit.

Delivery Contract

Provide:

Primary path - entry -> decision -> action -> success.
Findings - severity, affected users, evidence, and relevant standard when known.
Prioritized fixes - impact versus effort.
Implementation - when changes are requested.
Verification - keyboard path, mobile path, form states, and automated/manual checks.
Honest limits - what still requires content, legal, analytics, or assistive-technology review.

Read references/a11y-conversion-checks.md for a practical WCAG 2.2 AA-oriented audit and ethical conversion checklist.