The tools, standards and learning resources I actually use in accessibility audits, collected in one place. Everything here is free unless marked otherwise.
Standards and guidelines
| Resource | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| WCAG 2.2 | The international standard for web accessibility. Level AA is the usual target. |
| How to Meet WCAG (Quick Reference) | Filterable list of every success criterion with techniques and failures. My most-used bookmark. |
| Understanding WCAG 2.2 | The intent behind each criterion, with examples. Read this before arguing about a finding. |
| ARIA Authoring Practices Guide | Patterns and keyboard behaviour for tabs, menus, dialogs, comboboxes and more. |
| EN 301 549 (ETSI) | The European ICT accessibility standard used for the EAA and public sector. |
| Section 508 ICT Standards | The US federal accessibility requirements, which incorporate WCAG. |
| European Accessibility Act | The full text of Directive (EU) 2019/882. |
Automated testing tools
Automated tools catch only part of the picture, but they find the obvious issues fast.
| Tool | Best for |
|---|---|
| axe DevTools | Browser extension with reliable rules and few false positives. Free version available; Pro is paid. |
| WAVE | Visual overlay of errors, alerts and structure directly on the page. Great for showing clients. |
| Accessibility Insights for Web | Automated checks plus guided manual tests and a tab-stop visualiser. |
| ANDI | Bookmarklet used in the DHS Trusted Tester process; excellent for inspecting accessible names. |
Colour and visual checks
| Tool | Best for |
|---|---|
| WebAIM Contrast Checker | Quick ratio check for two hex values. |
| TPGi Colour Contrast Analyser | Desktop eyedropper for text on images, gradients, icons and focus states. |
Screen readers
| Screen reader | Platform | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| NVDA | Windows | Free |
| JAWS | Windows | Paid (demo mode available) |
| VoiceOver | macOS and iOS | Built in |
| TalkBack | Android | Built in |
| Narrator | Windows | Built in |
New to screen readers? Start with my screen reader testing guide for beginners.
Documents and e-books
| Tool | Best for |
|---|---|
| PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker) | Checking tagged PDFs against PDF/UA. |
| Ace by DAISY | Automated EPUB accessibility checks. See my EPUB testing guide. |
Learning
| Resource | Why I recommend it |
|---|---|
| W3C WAI Tutorials | Clear, authoritative tutorials on images, forms, tables, menus and page structure. |
| WebAIM Articles | Practical, well-maintained articles on almost every topic. |
| The A11Y Project Checklist | A readable WCAG-based checklist for everyday work. |
| MDN Accessibility | Developer reference for semantic HTML and ARIA. |
| DHS Trusted Tester | Free US government training and certification in a repeatable Section 508 test process. |
| IAAP Certification | Professional certifications such as CPACC and WAS (paid). |
My guides by topic
- Foundations: What Is Digital Accessibility? · The Future of Web Accessibility
- Design and development: Keyboard and focus · Accessible forms · Colour contrast · Alt text · ARIA mistakes · Skip links · Audio-first design
- Testing: Screen reader testing · EPUB testing
Know a resource that should be here? Let me know.