Accessibility maintenance in a CMS: What a long-term accessibility strategy really needs

Starting accessibility work in a CMS-based website

In June 2025, the new European legislation came into force, and companies spent the previous months making considerable efforts to gather resources and time to review the accessibility of their digital products. This work is carried out with more or less depth, depending on each organization’s capacity. However, starting to work on accessibility in an already consolidated product comes with its challenges.

For that reason, the recommended approach is to consider accessibility at the beginning of the project and in collaboration with all teams, in order to build a truly compliant product. How many times have we seen websites that, trying to fix things retrospectively, choose to use accessibility widgets that not only fail to correct most issues—leaving out necessary code adjustments—but are sometimes redundant compared to the features already provided by assistive navigation tools?

In practice, this means that when a team is starting a new website managed through a CMS, accessibility should already be part of the decision-making process. All teams should be involved in choosing the CMS that best meets accessibility requirements, as well as the tools and technologies used to build it. It’s much easier to build accessibility in from the start than to retrofit it later. Rather than treating accessibility as a last-minute fix with every new release, it should be embedded into the design and development process.

Long-term accessibility strategy after launch

Accessibility does not end once the website is launched. Let’s move to the phase where all the auditing has been completed and the necessary revisions and adjustments have been applied. Once the website starts functioning according to what was planned, it is important to continue monitoring it over time.

If your company website is managed through a CMS, it is vital that all CMS users have a good grasp of accessibility best practices. Depending on how the CMS is designed, configured, and administered, it can either facilitate or hinder overall accessibility. In other words, the CMS can be either an ally or a barrier.

To maintain consistency, effective governance is essential. Establishing accessibility policies, defining roles, and maintaining comprehensive documentation are key steps to prevent complications with updates. At the same time, investing in training content creators, developers, and designers on best practices—such as clear language, semantic HTML, and proper contrast ratios—helps integrate accessibility into everyday workflows.

There is a specific framework that helps clarify responsibilities, the ATAG (Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines) - Part B. These guidelines state that:

• automatic processes should produce accessible content by default
• authors should be supported in producing accessible content through tools that promote and integrate accessibility features.

This reinforces the idea that accessibility must be systemic, not accidental.

Common CMS accessibility challenges that break maintenance

Despite all efforts, maintaining accessibility in a CMS environment presents specific challenges. Since 2022, I have worked closely on implementing accessibility in content management systems, and the biggest challenge is consistently ensuring that components behave properly.

CMS platforms are known for being relatively easy to use and, for that reason, website editors may come from a wide variety of backgrounds and specializations. As a result, we cannot always guarantee that whoever is adding new content to the site does so with knowledge of accessibility standards. This can jeopardize all the work previously done by design and development teams.

More specifically, challenges related to authoring in a CMS include:

• Difficulty ensuring that third-party plugins and themes meet accessibility standards;
• Template-level issues, which include elements that the general CMS user cannot edit, such as the page header, footer, or module formatting;
• Content issues, which arise from the text, images, and other content that CMS users add to their site.
• Therefore, accessibility maintenance in CMS environments requires both structural control and continuous awareness.

Practical ways to make long-term accessibility maintenance easier

To address these challenges, it is important to ensure, on the one hand, that the chosen platform allows configurations that support accessible development and, on the other hand, that those editing the website receive proper training.

In addition, there are practical measures that help ensure accessibility is respected and maintained over time.

First, appoint responsible people—note the emphasis on plural. Accessibility must be a collaborative project; placing the responsibility on only one person is not sustainable. These individuals can influence the team, lead workshops, and empower the various teams responsible for editing the site.

Speaking more concretely about shared responsibility, each role contributes in a different but complementary way.

For content writers or people responsible for written or multimedia content:

• Use clear, plain language tailored to your audience’s technical literacy.
• Explain unfamiliar terms, spell out acronyms first, and provide definitions or a glossary when needed.
• Make sure all graphics have descriptive captions (if necessary) and that captions follow a consistent format and voice.
• Always add appropriate alt text to non-decorative images.
• Ensure all links have appropriate contextual information and create link text that is as specific as possible.
• Always prepare closed captions or transcripts for audio media.

For developers:

• When configuring component colors and shadows, or when placing text over images, ensure that CMS options respect accessibility by default instead of leaving this responsibility to the content author.
• Prepare the CMS so that content authors can add aria-descriptions and related tags associated with the specific context in which a component appears.
• Ensure the CMS allows content to be organized and structured so that it is easily consumed and navigated by screen reader technologies.
• Provide soft warnings if important fields are left blank.
• Require certain attributes (such as image alt text) before allowing content to be published.
• Ensure tables are correctly tagged and include appropriate WAI-ARIA attributes.
• Ensure CMS interfaces include structured titles and lists.
• Add helpful prompts such as “add alt text here,” semantic heading templates, and built-in contrast checkers.

In summary, if your company is choosing a new CMS, consider the following aspects:

• Choose a CMS with WCAG and ATAG support.
• Use accessible templates and UI components.
• Enable real-time accessibility checks.
• Support authors with contextual help.

Ultimately, the goal is simple: make it easier for content creators to focus on their main role—storytelling—without worrying about accessibility violations, while ensuring accessibility is maintained consistently over the long term.

FAQs
1. Why should accessibility be considered at the start of a CMS project?

Starting with accessibility from the beginning ensures it is built into the design and development process, making it easier, more cost-effective, and more reliable than fixing issues later.  

2. Does accessibility work end after a website is launched?

No. Accessibility is an ongoing effort that requires continuous monitoring, updates, and maintenance to ensure the site remains compliant as content evolves.

3. What are the biggest accessibility challenges in CMS environments?

Key challenges include inaccessible third-party plugins, uneditable template issues (like headers and footers), and content errors introduced by users unfamiliar with accessibility best practices.  

4. Why is training important for teams using a CMS?

Because CMS users often have different backgrounds, training ensures they understand accessibility best practices and can maintain the site’s accessibility when creating or updating content.  

5. How can organizations maintain accessibility over time?

By combining governance (policies, roles, documentation), ongoing training, and CMS configurations that enforce or guide accessible content creation.

6. What should companies look for when choosing an accessible CMS?

They should prioritize platforms that support accessibility standards (like WCAG and ATAG), offer accessible templates, include real-time checks, and provide guidance for content creators.

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References:

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MotoCMS. 2025. ‘Why Accessibility Should Be Built into Your CMS from Day One’. Available at: https://www.motocms.com/blog/en/why-accessibility-should-be-built-into-your-cms-from-day-one/ (Accessed: 12 February 2026).

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