Web Accessibility Checkers, Resources, & Tools For Every Organization

Web pages, documents, videos, presentations, or course materials are essential for all types of industries. However, making them accessible has not been a universal standard. Luckily, there are a variety of accessibility checkers and tools to help easily make your content available to everyone.

The following checkers are all free to use and solve a variety of accessibility concerns, such as scanning PDFs, some specifically for developers, or general WCAG 2.0 requirements. To get a full breakdown of the FCC closed captioning requirements, visit this link. While these sites are great resources for making online content more accessible, it’s important to still have people with disabilities test your content to determine the true level of accessibility.

For websites:

1. WAVE Accessibility Checker

WAVE is a free tool made by WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind) to help developers make their web content more accessible. WAVE presents your page with embedded icons and indicators. Each icon, box, and piece of information added by WAVE shows some information about the level of web accessibility for that page.

While WAVE is most effective when used by someone knowledgeable about web accessibility, people who are not experts can also get benefits from WAVE.

Access WAVE here.

Download the Chrome extension here.

2. AChecker

AChecker evaluates HTML content for web accessibility problems by entering the location of a web page, uploading an HTML file, or pasting the complete HTML source code from a website.

AChecker produces a report of all web accessibility problems for your selected guidelines for the following three problems:

• Known problems: These are problems that have been identified with certainty as accessibility barriers. You must modify your page to fix these problems.
• Likely problems: These are problems that have been identified as probable barriers, but require a human to make a decision. You will likely need to modify your page to fix these problems.
• Potential problems: These are problems that AChecker cannot identify, that require a human decision. You may have to modify your page for these problems, but in many cases, you will just need to confirm that the problem described is not present.

Access AChecker here.

3. SortSite Accessibility Checker and Validator

SortSite checks sites for W3C and WCAG accessibility standards and compliance with Section 508 of the

Rehabilitation Act. It can examine HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PDF, GIF, and Flash.

Checks include:

• WCAG 2.0 – 118 tests covering A, AA, and AAA guidelines
• WCAG 1.0 – 86 tests covering A, AA, and AAA guidelines
• Section 508 – 55 tests covering 15 guidelines

Check the first 10 pages of a website for free here.

See plans and pricing here.

4. Accessibility Color Wheel

The Web Accessibility Color Wheel is a free online tool that helps you choose a color pair for text & background to use on a web page. It simulates three kinds of color blindness and it shows the result of W3C algorithms that reveal if the colors are accessible.

Access the Color Wheel here.

5. Automated Web Accessibility Testing Tool (AATT)

AATT is an open-source web accessibility checker that tests web applications for WCAG 2.0 compliance. AATT provides an accessibility API and custom web application for the HTML CodeSniffer, Axe, and Chrome developer tools. Using the AATT web application, you can configure test server configurations inside the firewall and test individual pages.

AATT includes Express and PhantomJS, which runs on Node.

For node applications, it can be integrated into NemoJS testing framework to run accessibility testing during automated unit testing. For Nemo framework use [Nemo-Accessibility plugin] (https://github.com/paypal/nemo-accessibility)

Read the setup instruction here.

6. DYNO Mapper

DYNO Mapper is a visual sitemap generator that offers web accessibility checker and testing. It will evaluate a website’s HTML content for existing accessibility problems by testing against published guidelines. The web accessibility tool displays are known, likely, and potential problems by page. Review each page’s web accessibility issues to identify and resolve issues. 

See plans and pricing here.

For education:

7. UDOIT: Universal Design Online Inspection Tool

UDOIT (pronounced, “You Do It”) enables faculty to identify web accessibility issues in Webcourses@UCF. It will scan a course, generate a report, and provide resources on how to address the identified web accessibility issues.

While UDOIT was developed for faculty at UCF, the source code is available to the public under the GPL V3 open-source license. You can download the source code at UDOIT’s GitHub page. This means UDOIT is free for use not only at UCF but also at any institution that uses Canvas by Instructure.

For Microsoft Word:

8. Document Accessibility Toolbar (DAT)

DAT is a dedicated accessibility ribbon menu for Microsoft Word that makes it quick and easy to create accessible documents. It is free to download and features a range of hand-picked and custom-built functions to optimize and validate a document for accessibility.

Download a Single User License here.

Download a Multi-User Licence here.

For PDFs:

9. CommonLook PDF Accessibility Software

CommonLook offers a variety of accessibility checkers and programs for developers, authors, and testers to use.

Tools include:

• CommonLook PDF Validator: completely tests a document against Section 508, WCAG 2.0 AA, PDF/UA, and HHS (U.S. Health and Human Services) standards. Download for free here.
• CommonLook Office GlobalAccess makes it easy to create accessible PDF documents directly from Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Learn more here. Request Trial here.
• CommonLook PDF GlobalAccess is ideal for businesses, educational institutions, government agencies, and other enterprises and individuals that need to ensure their PDF files are accessible and conform to compliance standards such as WCAG and Section 508. Learn more here. Request more info here.
• CommonLook Clarity GlobalAccess provides a comprehensive enterprise-wide solution for monitoring compliance with accessibility standards. Learn more here.
• CommonLook Dynamic gives enterprise organizations a customizable solution for ensuring that dynamically generated documents are accessible and meet compliance requirements. Learn more here.

An extension for Google Chrome:

10. Tenon

Tenon.io offers a free online web accessibility checker, a Google Chrome extension, and a comprehensive API that can be integrated with your existing toolset. They have it all! Tenon identifies 508 and WCAG 2.0 issues in any situation and helps you correct them.

Access the free online checker here.

Download the Tenon Check Chrome extension here.

Start a free trial here to use the Tenon API.

Accessibility is important. Utilize these tools to create quick and easy accessible content at no additional cost. For education, developing a well-executed accessibility strategy not only aids your students’ learning needs, but also maximizes video investments, student performance, and online video libraries. For business, accessible content increases your audience reach, engagements, and overall brand strength. Every organization benefits from making their content accessible. 

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