Web accessibility is no longer optional: it is a necessity. As regulations become stricter and users more diverse, having free accessibility tools is essential to ensure that your site can be used by everyone, without barriers.
Whether you are a UX designer, developer, content creator or part of a compliance team, this list of tools will help you detect errors, improve the experience of users with disabilities and comply with the European Accessibility Act.
WebAIM Contrast Checker
What is it for?
Evaluates the contrast between two colors (text and background), ensuring that they meet WCAG levels AA or AAA.
Why use it?
Contrast problems are one of the most common errors in accessibility. This tool allows you to adjust colors in real time and see if they pass accessibility criteria.
WAVE – Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool
What does it do?
Analyzes any web page and points out accessibility errors visually, such as missing tags, structure problems, low contrast, etc.
Advantages:
- Available as an extension for Chrome and Firefox.
- Generate reports with clear suggestions.
Microsoft Office Accessibility Checker
What is it for?
Analyzes Word, Excel, PowerPoint documents and detects accessibility problems (such as alternative text, reading order, etc.).
Ideal for:
Teachers, educational institutions, public offices and anyone who works with digital documents.
Browser Accessibility Inspection Tools
Chrome: Accessibility Inspector
Access from DevTools → “Accessibility” tab.
Firefox: Accessibility Inspector
It offers a view of the accessibility tree, roles, ARIA tags and statuses.
Why use them?
They allow you to see how screen readers interpret your site. It is useful for detecting problems with semantic HTML, ARIA, or content structure.
Google Lighthouse
What is it?
An automated auditing tool built into Chrome. Evaluate performance, SEO and accessibility of any page.
What stands out?
- Specific accessibility score.
- Shows errors and how to fix them.
- Generates downloadable reports.
Ax DevTools (Free)
What does it do?
Browser extension that automatically analyzes WCAG errors. Similar to WAVE, but more detailed and professional.
Advantages:
- Technical reports for developers.
- Integration with testing flows.
NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access)
What is it for?
It is a free screen reader for Windows. Simulate how a visually impaired person navigates your website.
Why is it useful?
Testing your site with NVDA allows you to detect if elements are accessible and navigable only with a keyboard or screen reader.
How to choose the right tool?
It will depend on your role and your objectives:
- UX/UI Designers: Contrast Checker, WAVE, browser extensions.
- Developers: Ax DevTools, Lighthouse, native inspectors.
- Content creators: Office checker, screen readers.
- Audit and compliance: Combination of automated + manual review.
Conclusion
You don’t need to spend money to start creating more inclusive sites. With these 7 free accessibility tools, you can audit, correct and improve your website in just a few steps.
Start with a simple tool (like WAVE) and go deeper depending on your role and needs. Accessibility is not only a legal obligation; It is a commitment to a website for everyone.
