Browser Extensions
There are many browser extensions that can be useful in testing the accessibility of web pages. Here are a few of the better ones. Except where noted, these extensions are for the Chrome web browser.
- Access Assistant Community
- The free single page accessibility testing tool that can also be used in conjunction with the LevelAccess's paid site scanning tool, Accessibility Management Platform (AMP)
- ARC Toolkit
- A set of accessibility tools from The Paciello Group which aids developers in identifying accessibility problems and features for WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1, EN 301 549, and Section 508
- aXe
- A general accessibility testing tool which excels at not producing erroneous errors. As a result, it is not as comprehensive as other similar tools, but, depending on your purpose, this can be a good thing.
- Color Contrast Analyzer
- A visualization tool that helps you determine whether text that appears on top of pictures, gradients, or patterned backgrounds has sufficient contrast to be readable.
- ColorPick Eyedropper
- Lets you use an eyedropper to determine the color of individual pixels on the screen, which you may need in certain circumstances to know whether there is sufficient contrast between foreground and background colors.
- Font Blocker
- Disables web fonts, which can show you where your use of icon fonts for interface elements may have made things inaccessible.
- Lighthouse Audit panel in Chrome DevTools
- Not a Chrome extension, per se, but, rather, a limited accessibility auditing tool built into the Chrome browser.
- IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker
- The IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker is an open source tool for web developers and auditors that utilizes IBM's accessibility rule engine, which detects accessibility issues for web pages and web applications. The extension integrates into the browser development tools, providing an integrated checking experience, helping users quickly identify the source of accessibility issues and try fixes.
- SiteImprove Accessibility Checker
- Evaluates any web page for accessibility issues with intuitive, visual feedback about your content by highlighting detected issues right on the page.
- WAVE Evaluation Tool
- A comprehensive accessibility checker which inserts icons and other feedback in the scanned page to guide the user in identifying issues. (also available as the WAVE Firefox add-on)
- Web Developer
- Provides a number of tools that can useful in testing a page, for instance, displaying all the headings on a page, or the alternative text for images, or the ARIA landmarks, or hiding background images. (also available as the Web Developer Firefox add-on)