An Open-Source Web Accessibility Checker — The A11y Check Story
“We’re certified, so we should be fine.” It’s an easy thing to believe on the side that builds the website. Yet even on sites with a certification mark, it’s common for a screen reader user to fail to find the log-in button, or a low-vision user to be unable to read gray text on gray. Having been audited once, and being usable right now, are two different stories. The tool I built to shrink that gap is A11y Check. Put in a URL and it audits the accessibility automatically, then hands back a report and a fix guide. This article covers what A11y Check does, how it works, and why I opened the code. Let’s start with where it came from. ...