A variety of tools are available to assist with accessibility evaluation efforts. Most of the tools listed here perform automated checks on content created in a specific format. While these automated checks are useful and easy to administer, they do not report on all accessibility issues. For a full assessment, you should test the functionality of your site using manual tasks, keyboard testing, and other methods. 

The IT Accessibility group at Iowa maintains this list as a service to developers and other stakeholders; please contact ITAccessibility@uiowa.edu to make suggestions or report changes to items listed here.

View a model testing protocol.

Electronic Document Checkers

Electronic documents include word processing documents, slide presentations, spreadsheets, and other documents. Electronic document formats include Word (.DOCX), PowerPoint (.PPTX), Excel (.XLSX), Portable Document Format (.PDF), and other formats historically intended for printing.

Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker

CHECKS: Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote

The Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker can help you to create more accessible content in Microsoft Office applications. The Accessibility Checker checks for accessibility errors for critical issues, generates warnings for potential issues, and provide tips for making your content more accessible. The checker is built into many, but not all, Office apps.

Learn more about the Accessibility Checker at Microsoft.com

Acrobat Accessibility Checker

CHECKS: PDF Documents

The Acrobat Accessibility Checker lets you assess 32 accessibility factors of your PDF document and produces a report. You can also review the results in the accessibility pane. Accessibility Checker is one of nine tools that support accessibility checking and remediation in Adobe Acrobat.

Learn more about the Acrobat Accessibility Checker at Adobe.com

Siteimprove

Siteimprove Enterprise Tool

Checks: Public-Facing Websites

Siteimprove lets web contacts track the accessibility of their university web sites. Siteimprove conducts regular automated scans and produces actionable reports so that editors, contributors, and managers can easily identify and correct accessibility issues that map to the WCAG guidelines, ARIA, and other web best practices.

Siteimprove Login

Siteimprove Accessibility Extension

Checks:Web Pages in a Browser

Siteimprove also provides a browser extension for just-in-time accessibility checking. The Siteimprove Accessibility Checker extension lets you check the accessibility of a web page from your browser. The extension produces an on-the-spot accessibility report and offers tools to help you locate and correct any issues.

Learn more and Download the Siteimprove Accessibility Extension

Other Web Accessibility Checkers

There are numerous web accessibility checkers and services available on the Internet, many of them free. Checkers typically test against a library of rules intended to pass or fail compliance with WCAG; libraries are typically proprietary. This list comprises browser extensions, bookmarklets, and other tools used by Accessibility@IOWA. Note that some extensions may only work in some browsers.

WAVE Browser Extension

Checks:Web Pages in a Browser

AVAILABLE FOR: Chrome, Firefox, and Edge

The WAVE extensions allows you to evaluate web content for accessibility issues directly within your browser. The extension can check intranet, password-protected, dynamically generated, or sensitive web pages. WAVE extension evaluates the rendered version of your page, providing a precise evaluation for different dynamic page views.

Learn More and Download the WAVE Browser Extension

aXe Dev Tools Browser Extension

Checks:Web Pages in a Browser

AVAILABLE FOR: Chrome, Firefox, and Edge

Like other extensions, the aXe Dev Tools Browser Extension tests against a proprietary library of accessibility rules. The aXe extension is located in the DevTools sidebar of your browser; the free version allows full-page scans on demand.

Learn More and Download the aXe Dev Tools Browser Extension

ANDI Accessibility Bookmarklet

Checks:Web Pages in a Browser

AVAILABLE FOR: Chrome, Firefox, and Edge

ANDI (Accessible Name & Description Inspector) is a free accessibility testing tool used by the federal government to check 508 compliance. ANDI looks for a wide variety of issues across seven primary categories. ANDI is a bookmarklet or “favelet”; a Javascript item that you save and activate from your Bookmarks toolbar.

Learn More and Download the ANDI Accessible Name and Description Inspector

Other Tools for Checking Accessibility

Colour Contrast Analyzer

CHECKS: Contrast between foreground and background colors

AVAILABLE FOR: As a stand-alone utility, CCA works with anything displayed on the screen

The Colour Contrast Analyser (CCA) is a stand-alone tool that easily fits into any testing protocol. CCA lets you check for WCAG conformant color contrast between any two color values. Using the CCA, you can select foreground and background colors for an instant Pass/Fail result, or you can enter HEX, RGB, HSL, or HSV values by hand. CCA also calculates color combinations that use alpha channels for transparency. Because CCA is a stand-alone utility, it can check contrast values for any objects in any format or application.

Learn More and Download the Colour Contrast Analyzer from TPGi

Web Developer Toolbar

CHECKS: a broad spectrum of issues in a web page, including issues that pertain to accessibility. Recommended for developers and web contacts with an intermediate or advanced understanding of web accessibility.

AVAILABLE FOR: Chrome, Firefox, and Edge