FREE Web Accessibility Tools

Web Accessibility is fast becoming a necessity. Not only can it increase profits by reaching a wider client-base, we foresee that there will soon come a time when it will be mandated by many more countries as legistlations get established around WCAG put forth by the W3C and WAI. Businesses using technology shy away from it because there used to be a lack of awareness about accessibility. But that’s not the case anymore. Guidelines and information are available by the ton. A little reading will tell you what you need to do. And the best part is, you can take preliminary actions for accessibility compliance on your own. In this blog, we are listing out the FREE web accessibility tools available on the internet to check your digital accessibility.

These tools are great to guide you on your way if you are stumbling. You can do a lot of trial and error, and test your results using these tools. Some of the tools also show corrective actions, while others show a simple right / wrong analysis. Either way, you can at least jump start your accessibility activities.

Four Free Web Accessibility Tools and Extensions Available Online

1.    PEAT

Sudden or intense variations in color or multimedia content can sometimes cause seizures. This is applicable not only for those with vision impairments but also others who have cognitive drawbacks and cannot process such fluctuations on the screen. These photosensitive seizures can be caused by animations, GIFs, or fancy CSS effects that trigger rapid motions on the screen.

The Photosensitive Epilepsy Analysis Tool (PEAT) was developed to provide a free resource for Web designers and computer software developers. It was developed by students of the University of Maryland by the Trace Research & Development Center. It gives guidelines and performs corrective actions for your multimedia. 

Here are some guidelines to follow:

In general, web or computer content will not provoke seizures if either of the following is true:

1. There are not more than three general flashes and not more than three red flashes within any one-second period, or
2. The total screen area of flashes occurring at once occupies not more than a total of one quarter of any 341 x 256 pixel rectangle anywhere on the displayed screen area when the content is viewed at 1024 by 768 pixels.

(Source: PEAT)

Find more details and download resources on their official tools page.

2.    Color Contrast Analyzer

For vision-impaired people, the contrast of various elements on your content can be jarring. Color contrast needs to be fine-tuned for ease of reading. You especially need to perfect this because the contrast and color schemes you decide should not be off-putting for the visitors of your site who do not have vision impairments. There are several color contrast analyzers available in the market, but in this blog, we have mentioned the CCA tool by The Paciello Group.

TPG is a world-class accessibility consultancy. They help clients achieve end-to-end accessibility in their digital assets (websites, applications, documents, etc.), as well as assist in embedding accessibility into their processes and procedures.

Their CCA is a desktop application available for Windows and macOS.

CCA Features

1. WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.1 compliance indicators.
2. Color Settings: raw text entry (accepts any valid CSS color format), RGB sliders, color picker (Windows and macOS only).
3. Support for alpha transparency (gradients) on foreground colors.
4. Color blindness simulator.

Download CCA.

3.    ANDI

ANDI (Accessible Name & Description Inspector) is a free browser tool to test web content for accessibility. You can simply bookmark the ANDI tool link and it can then run on any page you initiate it for. It is supported for most of the current browsers.

What can ANDI do for you?

1. Provide automated detection of accessibility issues.
2. Reveal what a screen reader should say for interactive elements.
3. Give practical suggestions to improve accessibility and check 508 compliance.

Get the ANDI Inspection Tool bookmark link.

4.    Axe by Dequeu

Deque’s suite of axe tools offer full coverage for your testing and compliance needs. They have a browser extension that you can install for free. Deque products are powered by the world’s most popular accessibility rules engine, called axe-core. This library of rules was open-sourced in 2015 and has an active community of developers working towards aligning it with any changes in WCAG.

Chosen by giants like Microsoft and Google and several other accessibility development and testing teams, Axe is the world’s front-runner digital accessibility toolkit. They also offer demos for your specific, unique needs.

Get the Axe browser extension.

You can achieve basic accessibility compliance by using one or a combination of the above accessibility tools. However, there might be some complications that these tools may not be able to catch / solve. This is where you need the help of a technical expert. We at TekVision solve such custom needs for accessibility solutions. What’s more, if you think basic accessibility is too tedious a task, we will help you with that too. We provide accessibility services for the full range of your digital presence, from web pages to mobile apps to singular documents. Interested in working with us? Get in touch!