Free WCAG Compliance Test

Many organizations delay accessibility work because they assume testing requires expensive tools or consultants. The truth is that a free automated WCAG test can reveal the majority of your site's machine-detectable accessibility issues in under 30 seconds. The WebAIM Million study consistently shows that the most common violations — insufficient color contrast (81% of homepages), missing alt text (54%), empty links (49%), and missing form labels (45%) — are all automatically detectable. A free test gives you a concrete, actionable starting point. You can identify your site's biggest accessibility gaps, estimate remediation effort, and build a business case for further investment — all before spending a dollar on tooling or consulting.

CompliScan's free WCAG test gives you more than most paid tools' basic tiers:

• Full single-page scan: Your URL is loaded in a real Chromium browser, JavaScript is executed, and the live DOM is tested against WCAG 2.1 AA criteria using the axe-core engine
• Compliance score: A percentage-based score showing how your page performs
• Complete violation list: Every detected issue with its WCAG criterion, impact level (critical/serious/moderate/minor), and affected HTML element
• AI fix suggestions: Claude-generated code changes specific to each violation — not generic advice, but actual code you can copy and apply
• No account required: Enter your URL and scan immediately. No email, no signup, no trial expiration

The free test is unlimited in depth (it checks all axe-core rules) but limited to one page per scan. Paid plans add multi-site monitoring, recurring scans, and PDF reports.

Automated WCAG testing catches approximately 30-40% of all WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria violations. Here is what falls on each side:

• Detected automatically: Missing or empty alt attributes, insufficient color contrast, missing form labels, improper heading hierarchy, duplicate IDs, missing document language, keyboard traps on standard elements, invalid ARIA roles/states/properties, missing skip-navigation links, auto-playing media
• Requires human review: Whether alt text is actually meaningful and accurate, whether tab order is logical, whether error messages are helpful, whether content makes sense without visual formatting, whether custom widgets are screen-reader accessible, cognitive accessibility concerns

A free automated test is an excellent first step, not a final answer. Use it to eliminate the bulk of objective violations, then supplement with manual keyboard and screen reader testing for full coverage.

A single free test establishes your baseline — but accessibility is not a one-time checkbox. Code changes, CMS updates, new content, and third-party widgets can all introduce regressions. CompliScan offers a path from free testing to continuous compliance:

• Free scan: Start here. Identify your current violations and fix the critical ones
• Shield ($49/mo): Monitor 3 sites with weekly automated scans. Get alerted when new violations appear. AI fix suggestions for every issue
• Shield Pro ($149/mo): 10 sites with daily scans. PDF compliance reports for stakeholders and legal documentation
• Agency ($299/mo): 50 sites, priority scanning, white-label reports for client-facing agencies

Every plan includes the same axe-core engine and AI fix suggestions. The difference is scale, frequency, and reporting.