Web Accessibility Checker - WCAG 2.1 Compliance Testing Tool
Free online web accessibility checker that audits WCAG 2.1 compliance. Detect color contrast, ARIA labels, keyboard navigation issues with detailed fix recommendations.
What is Web Accessibility?
Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. More specifically, web accessibility ensures that all people can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the web, contributing to the web in return.
Accessibility benefits everyone, including people with visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities. It also improves the experience for older users with changing abilities due to aging.
WCAG 2.1 Guidelines
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 is the international standard for web accessibility. It defines three conformance levels:
- Level A: Minimum level of conformance
- Level AA: The target level for most content (recommended)
- Level AAA: The highest level of conformance
WCAG 2.1 is organized around four principles, often called POUR:
- Perceivable: Information and UI components must be presentable in ways users can perceive
- Operable: UI components and navigation must be operable
- Understandable: Information and UI operation must be understandable
- Robust: Content must be robust enough for various user agents and assistive technologies
What Our Checker Tests
Our accessibility checker performs comprehensive audits including:
- Color Contrast: Checks text and background color ratios against WCAG 2.1 AA/AAA standards
- ARIA Labels: Verifies proper use of ARIA roles, states, and properties
- Keyboard Navigation: Ensures all interactive elements are keyboard accessible
- Semantic HTML: Checks for proper heading structure, landmarks, and semantic elements
- Image Alt Text: Verifies all images have descriptive alt attributes
- Form Labels: Ensures all form inputs have associated labels
- Link Text: Checks for descriptive link text (not just "click here")
- Focus Indicators: Verifies visible focus indicators for keyboard users
- Page Language: Checks for proper lang attribute declaration
- Page Title: Verifies descriptive page titles
Why Accessibility Matters
- Legal Compliance: ADA, Section 508, EU Accessibility Act require accessible websites
- Wider Audience: 15% of the world population has disabilities
- Better SEO: Accessible sites often rank better in search results
- Improved UX: Accessibility improvements benefit all users
- Brand Reputation: Demonstrates commitment to inclusivity and social responsibility
How to Use This Tool
- Enter your website URL or paste HTML code
- Click "Start Audit" to begin the accessibility check
- Review the results organized by WCAG principle and conformance level
- Each issue includes a description, affected elements, and fix recommendations
- Fix the issues and re-run the audit to verify compliance
Common Accessibility Issues
Insufficient Color Contrast
Text must have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background (3:1 for large text). Use our color contrast checker to verify compliance.
Missing Alt Text
All images must have alt attributes describing their content. Decorative images should have empty alt attributes (alt="") to be ignored by screen readers.
Poor Heading Structure
Headings should follow a logical hierarchy (h1 → h2 → h3). Don't skip heading levels, and ensure each page has exactly one h1.
Inaccessible Forms
All form inputs must have associated labels. Use the label element with the for attribute matching the input's id, or wrap the input inside the label element.
Related Tools
- Color Contrast Checker - Verify color contrast ratios
- HTML Validator - Check HTML syntax and structure
- CSS Validator - Validate CSS code
- Website SEO Analyzer - Comprehensive SEO audit