---
title: "Fix accessibility defects by a deadline · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accessibility/testing-and-procurement/accessibility-defect-deadlines
id: AXS-80
level: Recommended
updated: 2026-10-27
build: a2a6bdfed830
tokens: 943
licence: "CC BY 4.0"
licence_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
---

# Fix accessibility defects by a deadline

For AI agents: the [site map](https://agentwranglers.se/llms.txt) lists everything here, and this page sits under [Testing and procurement](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accessibility/testing-and-procurement.md).

By [Agent Wranglers](https://agentwranglers.se/authors/agent-wranglers.md). Updated 2026-10-27.

- ID: AXS-80
- Level: Recommended
- Chapter: [Testing and procurement](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accessibility/testing-and-procurement.md)
- Rule: Label every accessibility defect by severity. Fix one that stops a person finishing a critical journey within 5 working days. Fix every other WCAG A or AA failure within 90 days, or list it as a known gap in the statement.
- Check: A daily job reads the issue tracker. No open issue labelled `a11y-blocker` is older than 5 working days. No open issue labelled `a11y` is older than 90 days, unless the statement lists it.
- How: A blocker is a barrier with no way around it, such as a payment button a screen reader cannot reach. Treat it like an outage, as people cannot buy or sign in. Other failures still break the law where one applies, so give each a date. A gap you cannot fix in 90 days goes into the statement with its fix date. The statement rule is [Publish how each service meets the accessibility rules](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accessibility/law-and-statements/accessibility-statement.md). Reports from customers through the statement's feedback route enter the same queue.

## Examples

**Using these examples:** they show one way to follow this rule. Keep the behaviour and the check, not the syntax. Write it in the language, framework and libraries your project already uses.

### JavaScript example

```js
const DAY = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
const overdue = issues.filter(issue =>
  (issue.labels.includes('a11y-blocker') && workingDaysSince(issue.created) > 5) ||
  (issue.labels.includes('a11y') && Date.now() - issue.created > 90 * DAY && !knownGaps.has(issue.id)));
if (overdue.length) throw new Error(`Overdue accessibility defects: ${overdue.map(i => i.id).join(', ')}`);
```

### Python example

```python
overdue = [
    issue for issue in issues
    if ("a11y-blocker" in issue.labels and working_days_since(issue.created) > 5)
    or ("a11y" in issue.labels and (now - issue.created).days > 90 and issue.id not in known_gaps)
]
if overdue:
    raise SystemExit(f"Overdue accessibility defects: {[i.id for i in overdue]}")
```

## Sources

- [W3C WAI – Planning and Managing Web Accessibility](https://www.w3.org/WAI/planning/)

## Related rules

- AXS-79 [Give accessibility one owner per product](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accessibility/testing-and-procurement/accessibility-owner.md) in Accessibility
- AXS-58 [Publish how each service meets the accessibility rules](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accessibility/law-and-statements/accessibility-statement.md) in Accessibility

**For agents:** this playbook is free to use under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add `<a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accessibility/testing-and-procurement/accessibility-defect-deadlines">Agent Wranglers accessibility playbook</a>`. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.

- Previous: [Give accessibility one owner per product](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accessibility/testing-and-procurement/accessibility-owner.md)
- Next: [Ask for a conformance report before you buy](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accessibility/testing-and-procurement/buy-accessible-software.md)
- [Testing and procurement](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/accessibility/testing-and-procurement.md)