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Comprehensive accessibility checkers
These tools will help you find and fix accessibility issues. To make the best use of these tools, you should build them into your workflow when publishing a webpage or digital document.
Disclaimer: Reference on this page to any specific commercial product, process, or service, or any trade, firm, or corporation name is for information and convenience. It does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the City of Philadelphia.
Why it matters
There are many development and design factors that impact web accessibility. Comprehensive tools can help capture several issues at once, including issues that might involve multiple page components. This helps you see a real-time audit of a published page and catch errors that might have been missed during development.
What they do
Extensions scan a live webpage and flag accessibility issues directly in your web browser, from missing alternative text for images to incorrect heading structures.
How to use these tools
Install an extension and run it on your pages. Review the errors it reports and use the feedback to make corrections. Think of this as a “spell check” for accessibility.
Available tools
Best for beginners & quick checks
These tools are browser extensions that check for common accessibility issues. These are great for project managers, content creators, or anyone who prefers a high-level overview of their page’s accessibility issues without diving into code.
Use these tools when you want a quick and easy way to check for common problems like color contrast and missing alt text. They also have a color blindness simulator.
Best for developers
These tools integrate directly into the development workflow and provide detailed, code-level feedback for fixing complex issues.
- Lighthouse from Google This tool builds on Chrome’s developer tools. It audits your website for performance, accessibility, SEO, and more. Use it when you want a comprehensive audit of your website that covers more than just accessibility. It’s great for getting a holistic view of your site’s quality.
- axe DevTools for Google Chrome from Deque This is a browser extension that adds accessibility testing to your browser’s developer tools. Use it when you want to find and fix accessibility issues as you’re building a website. It offers both automated and guided tests to help you catch a wide range of problems.
For everyone
These tools have a low barrier to entry for beginners but also offer the detail that developers and accessibility specialists need.
- Website accessibility checker from Siteimprove This is a web-based tool that scans a single page of your website for accessibility issues. Use it when you want a quick, high-level accessibility check of a webpage without installing a browser extension.
- FastPass from Accessibility Insights: This is a browser extension from Microsoft that helps you find and fix accessibility issues. It offers a “FastPass” that finds most common accessibility issues in under five minutes, as well as a more comprehensive “Assessment” mode. Use it when you want a tool that can be used for both quick checks and in-depth accessibility audits.
- WAVE from WebAIM: This is a browser extension that provides visual feedback about the accessibility of your web content by overlaying icons and indicators on top of your page. Use it when you want a highly visual way to find accessibility issues. It’s a great tool for both beginners and experts.