Accessibility testing helps identify barriers that may prevent people with disabilities from accessing digital content. Use the tools and resources below to evaluate websites, documents, applications, and other digital materials. For the best results, combine automated tools, manual testing, and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
A note on procurement policies
While these applications have been approved in some capacity, BPM 12004 and campus procurement policies must still be followed before any application is used or purchased. To request installation or purchase of any app, please contact campus IT support.
Evaluation Guides and Checklists
Checklists and guides offer practical steps to evaluate and improve accessibility.
- WebAIM Word and PowerPoint Guide
- W3C WAI Easy Checks: A First Review of Web Accessibility
- WebAIM WCAG Checklist
- AAArdvark Accessibility: WCAG in Plain English
- Deque Web Accessibility Checklist
- Intopia Accessibility Guidance Tool
Accessibility Testing Tools
Automated tools can help identify accessibility issues, but manual testing is essential for a complete accessibility review.
Note for faculty: For tools to help with accessible course materials, please visit the Mizzou Online website.
Document Accessibility
- Microsoft Office Accessibility Assistant
- Built-in accessibility checker for Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
- PDF Accessibility Checker (PAC)
- Free PDF accessibility checker with a screen reader preview.
- Adobe Acrobat Pro Accessibility Checker
- Built-in accessibility checker for PDF documents.
Color Contrast
Ensure your content meets minimum contrast requirements for readability. Try these tools:
- WebAIM Color Contrast Checker
- Deque Color Contrast Analyzer
- WebAIM Link Contrast Checker
- Vispero’s Free Colour Contrast Analyzer (Desktop color contrast analyzer for Windows and Mac.)
Web Accessibility Tools
- DubBot
- Helps content editors identify and fix accessibility, quality assurance, and content issues on websites.
- Editoria11y Accessibility Checker
- Helps content editors identify common accessibility issues.
- Sa11y
- Visual accessibility and content quality checker for content editors.
- HeadingsMap
- Browser extension for viewing and evaluating webpage heading structure.
- WAVE
- Visual feedback on issues, errors, and features.
- axe DevTools
- Browser extension for automated accessibility testing.
- Accessibility Insights
- Automated testing and guided manual accessibility assessments.
- ANDI
- Accessibility inspection tool developed by the U.S. Social Security Administration.
- Chrome DevTools Inspect Mode
- Inspect page elements, accessibility properties, and color contrast.
- TabA11y
- Visualize keyboard focus order and tab navigation on webpages.
- DigitalA11Y Tublets
- Bookmarklets for inspecting headings, landmarks, forms, tables, images, and ARIA markup.
- Paul J. Adam Accessibility Bookmarklets
- Bookmarklets for inspecting page structure, forms, focus order, and other accessibility features.
- Photosensitive Epilepsy Analysis Tool (PEAT)
- Ensures content avoids flicker/seizure risks.
For a complete list of checkers, visit Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools.
Continue Your Accessibility Testing Journey
Automated tools can identify many common accessibility issues, but they cannot detect every barrier. To gain a more complete understanding of accessibility, incorporate manual testing into your review process.
For questions or assistance, contact itaccessibility@missouri.edu.