Ensuring digital products are accessible is essential for creating an inclusive and user-friendly experience for everyone. Accessibility tools are vital for UX designers and developers, helping them identify and address barriers that could prevent people from fully engaging with a product. To help you get started, we’ve put together a list of our top tools for assessing accessibility in user experience. Some are browser extensions, others are websites, and many work across multiple platforms.
According to this Deque study, automated testing can find up to 57% of accessibility issues, so you’ll still need to complete a manual accessibility audit. Our free accessibility checklist can help guide you through that audit.
Browser extensions are small software programs you can install on your web browser to add or enhance its functionality. You can download them from your browser’s web store, like the Chrome Store or Firefox Add-ons.
There are lots of automated accessibility-checking browser extensions available. Below are a few of our favorites.
Axe is an open-source accessibility testing toolkit that integrates with various browsers and integrated development environments (IDEs).
Key features:
Axe is highly efficient for automated accessibility testing, and its integration capabilities make it ideal for continuous development environments.
The IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker is a browser extension that helps identify accessibility issues in web applications and provides recommendations for fixing them.
Key features:
This tool is beneficial for developers and designers looking for a comprehensive and easy-to-use solution for identifying and resolving accessibility issues in their web applications.
Developed by Microsoft, Accessibility Insights is a suite of tools for developers to find and fix accessibility issues
Key features:
Note: The audit opens in a new screen and highlights each issue on a different screen.
Accessibility Insights is user-friendly and comprehensive, offering both quick checks and in-depth assessments, making it a versatile tool for UX designers and developers.
Web apps, or web applications, are online tools or software programs that run in a web browser via a URL. You access them just like you would go to a website. Like browser extensions, there are many web apps available to help automatically check accessibility. Some of most popular ones are listed below.
Accessibility Checker is a comprehensive online tool that evaluates websites for accessibility issues and provides detailed reports on compliance with various standards.
Key features:
Accessibility Checker is an excellent resource for designers and developers seeking an in-depth understanding of their website’s accessibility status, offering clear guidance on how to address identified issues.
AEL Data provides a comprehensive suite of accessibility testing services and tools aimed at ensuring digital content meets accessibility standards.
Key features:
Note: You must complete a contact form to access to full report.
AEL Data’s services are beneficial for organizations looking for expert analysis and recommendations to ensure their digital content is accessible to all users, providing a thorough approach to accessibility compliance.
Squidler is an accessibility testing tool designed to help identify and resolve accessibility issues in web applications through a user-friendly interface. This website took the longest to show the result of the audit but while the test is running you can see a preview of each of the sections that is analyzing at the moment.
Key features:
Note: Registration is required to access the full audit.
Squidler is ideal for UX designers and developers looking for a straightforward and effective tool to ensure their web applications meet accessibility standards, providing clear guidance on how to fix identified issues.
Some tools have both a browser extension and a web app available. These versatile tools are great at flagging potential accessibility issues.
Lighthouse is an open-source, automated tool by Google that audits web pages for performance, accessibility, SEO, and more.
Key features:
Lighthouse provides a holistic view of a website’s accessibility and other performance metrics, making it a valuable tool for UX designers focused on overall user experience.
WAVE is a free tool developed by WebAIM that provides visual feedback about the accessibility of your web content by injecting icons and indicators into your page.
Key features:
WAVE is particularly useful for visualizing accessibility issues directly on the web page, making it easier for designers to understand and address the problems.
Compare each tool with the key features of each accessibility tool, helping you to select the right tool based on your specific needs and requirements.
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AXE |
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IBM Equal Accessibility |
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Accessibility Insights |
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Accessibility Checker |
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AEL Data |
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Squidler |
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Google Lighthouse |
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Wave |
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Various tools are available for automatically accessing the accessibility of digital products and websites. While they don’t catch everything, they are great tools to have in your arsenal as you ensure your products and experiences are inclusive and accessible for everyone. Once you’ve gone through reports generated by one or more of these tools, your next step is to complete a full manual audit. Our free accessibility checklist can help you through that process.
