We’re seeing many trends this year with artisans considering building their own websites. I’m writing a series this year for Handmade Seller to share an often overlooked area of website technology- accessibility. This is a topic that many people don’t fully understand. This series will help you understand what’s behind the topic of accessibility, what different platforms have to offer to meet accessibility guidelines, and how to help you make the decisions that make the most sense for your business. This month, we are digging into the tools you can use to test your website’s accessbility.
When you’re focused on building your business, website accessibility might not be the first thing on your mind—especially if you’re not sure where to start. But ensuring your website is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities, isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s essential.
The good news? You don’t need to be a web expert to get started! There are a variety of tools available, from free to premium, you can easily test how accessible your website is (or isn’t).
Simple Tools to Test Website Accessibility
Free Accessibility Tools
PageSpeed Insights
Google’s PageSpeed Insights has several tools for website testing, one of which includes accessibility. Overall: This is where we recommend you start! PageSpeed Insight’s accessibility testing provides a high-level overview of critical issues, noting examples of your code structure where the issue is occurring. The key to remember when using this tool is that it’s a good, unbiased baseline that you can then compare against when using more advanced testing tools.
WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools
WAVE is a free, online tool that specifically focuses on finding errors based on current WCAG standards. Sure, the interface isn’t as sexy as the others, but the output of information is very detailed… And very helpful! It breaks down true errors, warnings/alerts, and even pinpoints contrast issues. The best part (or, at least our favorite) is that it shows an overlay of issues on top of your website so you know exactly where to look when fixing issues.
Freemium Accessibility Tools
More often than not, when you search for accessibility testing tools, you’ll find a lot of “freemium tools” which are tools that offer an introductory, freebie scan in trade for your business info—which is going to lead to an upsell to “unlock” more information on you accessibility assessment. We recommend using these tools in conjunction with the others mentioned here to get a well-rounded view of what changes you need to make to meet accessibility guidelines.
Accessibility Checker
Accessibility Checker lets you plug in your domain to give you a report of critical and passed audits, as well as recommendations. Note: You only get 2 free tests per day so use them sparingly unless you want to upgrade.
Userway
UserWay offers an accessibility checker to check to see if your website meets ADA and WCAG compliance standards. You simply enter your domain and start the scan to see where failure points may be. But, buyer beware, their goal is to sell you their accessibility overlay which comes with its own set of issues. (You can read more about the issue with accessibility overlays in our previous article.)
accessScan by Accessibee
accessScan by Accessibee is similar to UserWay in that the end goal is to upsell you on their overlay tool. However, what they do better is not present you with the upsell right away. Instead, they break down issues in a more educational way with example failure points directly from your website to make it easier to fix.
Another important note: accessScan found issues with Accessibility Checker’s website, and UserWay gave Accessibee’s website a 45% accessibility score 😅 These internal tests are a great reminder that these tools are not perfect, so it’s important to use multiple tools in your testing!
Paid Accessibility Tools
LambdaTest
LambdaTest provides automated, batch testing for website browsers and mobile devices. As a part of their testing toolkit they also offer accessibility testing using a browser extension with the DOM inspector to scan your site (or application) in real-time. Check out LambdaTest’s accessibility service.
Axe DevTools
Axe DevTools is very different from the aforementioned tools because it was built by Deque Systems who created the axe-core an open-source, automated testing library that helps identify accessibility issues in websites and other HTML-based user interfaces. (All of that is just nerd speak for the logic that drives accessibility testing in many different tool suites.) Deque’s suite of axe tools offers full coverage for your testing and compliance needs, including browser extensions and more enterprise-like solutions. Check out axe’s accessibility tools.
Simple Steps Toward Accessibility Includes Testing
Making your website accessible doesn’t have to be overwhelming, even if you’re not a tech expert. With the right tools, you can take meaningful steps to ensure your site is usable for all. Whether you start with a free tool or invest in a premium option, the important thing is to begin testing and improving. By doing so, you’ll not only make your website better for people with disabilities but also improve the overall experience for everyone.
Want to read the whole series? Check out these articles:
Part 1:How to improve accessibility for your website
Part 2: Improving website accessibility- who creates the standards?
Part 3: Semantic code- what is it, and why is it important for accessibility?
Part 4:Website accessibility in Popular Platforms
Part 5: The issue with website accessibility overlays
Part 6: Equal Access, Diverse Content: Navigating Accessibility in Media
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