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Accessibility Testing Tools

This page contains a compiled list of tools and resources that support the creation and assessment of universally designed materials. All browser extensions are tied to Google Chrome. Comparable extensions or tools may also be available in other web browsers.

Departmental technical assistance may be required to install these tools.

Recommended Testing Tools

The following Google Chrome extensions and webpage tools are recommended for anyone getting started with accessibility testing. They are all free and require minimum technical knowledge to use.

When testing a webpage, we recommend you run WAVE Evaluation Tool and Lighthouse first. Then use the other tools in this section to address any remaining accessibility issues.

Recommended Google Chrome Extensions and Tools

  • WAVE Evaluation Tool – Identifies many WCAG errors and offers suggestions.
  • Lighthouse – Open-source, automated tool for improving the performance, quality, and correctness of webpages.
  • Window Resizer – Alters the viewport size and orientation (e.g., “mobile” or “tablet” views, low-resolution displays).
  • Image Alt Text Viewer – Shows alternative text (alt text) for each image on the page.
  • H-tag – Shows all headings (H1, H2, etc.) on the webpage.
  • WebAIM Contrast Checker – Analyzes the color contrast ratio between two colors.

Optional Testing Tools

Optional Google Chrome Extensions and Tools

  • ARC Toolkit – Set of accessibility tools from TPGi which aids developers in identifying accessibility problems.
  • axe DevTools – Developer-centric toolset of unit testing and integration testing capabilities.
  • Grayscale the Web – Allows you to turn on grayscale (only shades of gray) for pages.
  • Siteimprove Accessibility Checker – Checks the accessibility of any webpage, including WCAG and ARIA. (This tool is separate from the Siteimprove website.)
  • ANDI (Accessible Name & Description Inspector) – Provides automated detection of accessibility issues and reveals what a screen reader should say for interactive elements (the accessible name computation).

Siteimprove

Siteimprove is a Software as a Service (SaaS) Texas A&M System members use to improve the quality assurance, accessibility, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) of our web content (including PDFs). Approximately every five days, Siteimprove “crawls” each website and compiles the data into graphs, charts, and other useful reports, located on the Siteimprove web platform. Examples of issues include broken links, misspellings, insufficient color contrast, and images with missing alt text. To access Siteimprove, contact your member’s web team.

Screen Readers

Screen readers are assistive technology (AT) that convert content on a webpage (text, images, videos, etc.) into audio speech or braille. They are used primarily by individuals with vision impairments and learning disabilities.

Screen Magnifiers

  • ZoomText (screen magnifier, Windows only)

Grayscale and Color Mode Testing

Built-in Accessibility Checkers

External Resources