ADA Website Compliance Checker — Free Scan (WCAG 2.1 AA)
Updated May 2026 · 8 min read · By Accessalyze
If you're looking to check your website's ADA compliance, you're in the right place. This page explains what ADA compliance means for websites, which tools actually work, and how to run a free scan right now.
Check Your Website Now — Free
Instant WCAG 2.1 AA scan. See your accessibility score, every violation, and what to fix. No signup required.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that websites be accessible to people with disabilities — including those who are blind, deaf, have motor impairments, or cognitive disabilities. Courts have consistently ruled that websites are "places of public accommodation" under Title III of the ADA.
In practice, ADA compliance for websites means following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA — the technical standard referenced in federal regulations and cited in virtually every ADA website lawsuit.
Legal reality: ADA website lawsuits filed over 4,000 times in 2024 alone. Plaintiffs' attorneys actively scan for violations and send demand letters. A typical settlement costs $25,000–$100,000+.
Free ADA Compliance Checkers: What to Look For
Not all accessibility scanners are equal. Here's what matters when evaluating a free tool:
Runs against live pages (not just HTML pasted in)
Tests JavaScript-rendered content — most of the web runs on React, Vue, or similar
Shows specific violations with affected elements, not just pass/fail
Maps to WCAG 2.1 AA criteria — that's the legal standard
Provides fix guidance — knowing what's wrong is only half the battle
Accessalyze uses a headless Chromium browser (Puppeteer) to load your page exactly as a real visitor would — including JavaScript rendering. It then runs axe-core, the industry-standard accessibility testing engine, and processes the results with AI to generate specific fix code.
Here's what you get for free:
Accessibility score (0–100)
Full violation list with severity (critical, serious, moderate, minor)
WCAG 2.1 AA criterion for each violation
Affected HTML elements (CSS selectors and code snippets)
AI fix code for the first 3 violations
The $19 full report adds AI fix code for every violation, a multi-page crawl (up to 50 pages), and a formal WCAG 2.1 AA compliance checklist you can share with stakeholders.
What WCAG 2.1 AA Actually Tests
WCAG 2.1 AA has 50 success criteria across four principles. The automated scanner catches violations in these categories:
Perceivable
Images have descriptive alt text (1.1.1)
Color contrast meets 4.5:1 ratio for normal text (1.4.3)
Videos have captions (1.2.2)
Text can be resized to 200% without loss of content (1.4.4)
Operable
All functions work with keyboard only (2.1.1)
No keyboard traps — users can tab away from any component (2.1.2)
Focus is visible (2.4.7)
Pages have descriptive titles (2.4.2)
Understandable
Page language is set (3.1.1)
Form inputs have labels (3.3.2)
Error messages are descriptive (3.3.1)
Robust
HTML is valid and parseable (4.1.1)
All UI components have accessible names and roles (4.1.2)
Status messages are announced to screen readers (4.1.3)
Important: Automated tools catch ~30–40% of WCAG violations. The rest require human review (testing with a screen reader, checking keyboard navigation, reviewing documents and PDFs). The free scan is an essential first step, not a complete audit.
Review your score, violations, and fix recommendations
Share the report URL with your development team
For agencies and developers: You can also run Accessalyze from the command line: npx accessalyze scan https://yoursite.com. Integrate it into your CI/CD pipeline to catch regressions before they ship.
What Score Should You Aim For?
Accessalyze scores sites 0–100 based on severity and count of violations:
90–100: Excellent — no significant violations detected
70–89: Good — minor issues present
50–69: Needs Work — moderate violations that should be addressed
Of the 175+ sites we've scanned, the average score is 58/100. Government websites average around 45/100. Many Fortune 500 sites score below 60. There's significant room for improvement across the web.
After Your Scan: Next Steps
Once you have your violation list:
Fix critical and serious violations first — these are the most commonly cited in lawsuits
Create an accessibility statement — documents your commitment and current status
Schedule re-scans — violations can reappear as content changes; scan monthly
Get a manual audit for high-risk sites (e-commerce, healthcare, government)
Ready to Check Your Website?
Free WCAG 2.1 AA scan — see your score and every violation in under 60 seconds.