WCAG accessibility test

What gets measured automatically

The accessibility check runs on axe-core, the engine behind most professional accessibility tooling, supplemented with our own checks. Every finding points at the WCAG success criterion being failed.

• Images without alt text, and alt text that is only a filename
• Buttons, links and form fields without an accessible name
• Text with insufficient contrast against its background
• Missing or invisible focus indicators during keyboard navigation
• Heading structure: missing H1, multiple H1s, skipped levels
• Form fields with no associated label
• The document's language setting

What an automated test cannot do

This is the part most accessibility tools keep quiet about: automated testing finds only a portion of the WCAG criteria. Estimates vary, but roughly a third to a half of problems are machine-detectable. The rest needs a person.

Whether alt text actually describes the image rather than reading 'photo123', whether the order in which a screen reader announces your page makes sense, whether an error message is comprehensible to somebody who did not expect it — no script can judge that. Where our checks touch on it, the report marks the finding as needing manual review instead of striking it off as passed.

So a green report means the machine-testable criteria are in order. It does not mean your site is accessible. Anyone promising you otherwise is selling false confidence — and that does not survive contact with a regulator or a complaint.

Where to start

If you are staring at a long list of findings, take the things that block a user outright before the things that merely annoy them. A button without an accessible name is simply 'button' to a screen reader user — that person cannot finish your checkout. Insufficient contrast bothers far more people, but rarely stops them completely.

Contrast and alt text are also the cheapest to fix and usually affect your whole site at once, because they come out of a component or a colour palette. One change in your design system then clears hundreds of findings.

Accessibility and SEO overlap

A correct heading structure, descriptive link text, a filled-in language attribute and images with alt text are simultaneously accessibility criteria and signals search engines lean on. Making your site accessible almost always improves its findability too — it is the same semantic structure, just read by a different reader.

Frequently asked questions

Does WCAG apply to my business?

Public sector bodies have been covered for some time. Since June 2025 the European Accessibility Act additionally reaches many commercial providers of digital services, with carve-outs for the smallest enterprises. Whether your organisation falls under it is a question for a lawyer, not a scan.

Which WCAG version is tested?

WCAG 2.2, level A and AA. That is the level regulation and procurement conditions typically point at.

Does this test produce an accessibility statement?

No. A statement requires an assessment in which the manual criteria have also been judged. This report is usable as supporting evidence and as a starting point, not as a replacement.