Buyer's guide
How to choose tools for digital accessibility
No single tool makes a website accessible. An automatic scanner finds some of the problems quickly. A widget lets visitors adjust the page. Developer tools catch errors before they are published, and an expert review assesses flows with assistive technology. Most organisations need a combination.
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Comparison
Four types of tools
Automatic scanner
- What it does
- Finds recurring technical problems in seconds and sorts them by severity
- What it does not do
- Does not assess flows, content or how the page works with assistive technology
- Right when
- You want a first picture or to follow up continuously
Accessibility widget
- What it does
- Lets visitors adjust text, contrast and reading
- What it does not do
- Does not fix errors in the code and does not replace fixing them
- Right when
- You want to support visitors while you fix things
Developer tools (API, integrations)
- What it does
- Catches errors in the development workflow before they are published
- What it does not do
- Does not cover content that is already published without an audit
- Right when
- You develop and release often
Expert review and user testing
- What it does
- An expert tests key pages and flows against WCAG with assistive technology
- What it does not do
- Does not take seconds and gives no continuous monitoring
- Right when
- You need to know how your most important flows work
8 criteria to compare
Use the list when you compare vendors, whatever type of tool you are looking at.
- 1
Measures against WCAG 2.1 AA and EN 301 549. Read Digg's explanation of EN 301 549 and WCAG (in Swedish)
- 2
Shows clearly what needs a manual check.
- 3
Ranks problems by severity and shows how to fix them.
- 4
Monitors continuously and keeps a history.
- 5
Connects to your CMS and development workflow.
- 6
Has reports for both developers and management.
- 7
Offers support and expert help in Swedish.
- 8
Has a clear pricing model. See what an accessibility audit costs
Questions to ask the vendor
The answers quickly show whether the tool suits you and what help you get.
- Which WCAG criteria does the tool test automatically, and which need a manual check?
- What does the report look like, and who in our organisation is it written for?
- How do we check that the problems actually get fixed?
- What is included in the price, and what does it cost to grow in number of pages or domains?
- Who helps us when the tool is not enough?
Common questions about accessibility tools
- Is an automatic tool enough?
- No. Automatic tests do not find every problem and need to be complemented by manual testing. A scan alone does not show that you meet the law.
- Read Digg's overview of automatic testing tools (in Swedish)
- Which standard should the tool measure against?
- EN 301 549, which builds on WCAG 2.1 level A and AA.
- Read PTS's questions and answers about the Accessibility Act (in Swedish)
- Can a widget be the whole solution?
- No. A widget can be a good complement that helps visitors make personal choices, improves keyboard navigation and makes things easier for screen readers by adapting the HTML for the visitor, but it does not fix errors in the source code. Make sure to test a widget manually and to compare vendors.
- Read about Selma's accessibility widget
- What do digital accessibility tools cost?
- It depends on the number of pages and flows and how much expert help you need.
- See the price guide for accessibility audits
- Where do we start?
- With a free scan that gives you a first picture and an action plan.
- Start the free scan