The 4 Best Tools for Testing Website Accessibility

In a first article called "Introduction to web accessibility: the issue of colors", I introduced the concept of a11y as well as some ways to improve web design in terms of colors.

But today we're going to get into the practical side of things, since I'm going to give you a list of tools that will let you carry out accessibility audits on the sites you develop, easily, and for free.

Do be careful though, not all checks can necessarily be performed automatically, but some of the tools presented will guide you in carrying out these checks that require a human eye.

All these tools are extensions for Google Chrome, some are available for other browsers, others are exclusive, but all of them are free!

1 - ChromeVox

This extension is simply a screen reader for people suffering from significant visual impairments, and lets you test the current state of your site's accessibility.

The tool doesn't allow you to perform an audit, but by browsing through your site you'll quickly be able to spot semantic issues or missing elements in the voice retranscription, allowing you to make the necessary changes.

Extension link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chromevox-classic-extensi/kgejglhpjiefppelpmljglcjbhoiplfn?hl=fr

2 - ChromeLens

This extension is directly related to my previous article, because it lets you simulate how your site displays under different visual conditions (poor vision at different levels, all types of color blindness) as well as showing statistics on each of these conditions across the world.

By choosing a condition and then refreshing the page, you'll see the elements change color or become more or less blurred depending on what you've chosen to test.

Note that the extension also offers an audit feature, though unfortunately it refuses to launch on my browser.

Extension link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chromelens/idikgljglpfilbhaboonnpnnincjhjkd

3 - IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker

This extension developed by IBM is very comprehensive and lets you run a full accessibility audit on each page of your site, checking, for example: the page's contrast rendering, CSS rules, ARIA tags, HTML standards compliance, etc.

The tool sorts the results into three categories: violations, things to check manually, and best-practice recommendations.

Extension link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ibm-equal-access-accessib/lkcagbfjnkomcinoddgooolagloogehp

4 - Google Lighthouse

This extension works similarly to the IBM tool mentioned above, but it also takes into account the site's performance issues.

Because yes, a site that's accessible to everyone must also be accessible to people with a weak or poor internet connection.

Extension link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lighthouse/blipmdconlkpinefehnmjammfjpmpbjk?hl=fr