# Accessibility Checker: WCAG 2.2, EAA & ADA Audit (axe-core) (`tidelane/accessibility-checker`) Actor

Check many web pages for accessibility problems with axe-core, the engine behind most WCAG tools. Lists every violation with impact, WCAG criterion, affected elements (selector and HTML) and how to fix it. WCAG 2.0-2.2 A/AA/AAA for European Accessibility Act (EAA), BFSG and ADA checks.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/tidelane/accessibility-checker.md
- **Developed by:** [Tidelane Data](https://apify.com/tidelane) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, SEO tools, Automation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.10 / 1,000 page checkeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Accessibility Checker: WCAG 2.2, EAA & ADA Audit (axe-core)

Check any number of web pages for **accessibility problems** with **axe-core**, the open-source engine used by most professional WCAG tools. For every page you get each **violation** with its impact, the **WCAG success criterion** (for example 1.4.3 contrast), the **affected elements** with CSS selector and HTML, and a plain **how to fix** text.

Since June 2025 the **European Accessibility Act (EAA)** applies to many online shops and services in the EU (in Germany the **BFSG**). This Actor gives you a fast first audit of your pages against WCAG 2.1 AA, the level the EAA's standard EN 301 549 uses.

- ✅ **WCAG 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2**, levels A, AA and AAA, plus optional best practices
- ✅ **Real browser**: pages are rendered with JavaScript, as visitors see them
- ✅ **Ready to fix**: selector and HTML of each affected element and the exact fix (for example the measured contrast ratio and the required one)
- ✅ **Prioritized**: issues sorted by impact (critical, serious, moderate, minor) and number of affected elements
- ✅ **"Needs review" list** for checks that need a human look
- ✅ **Bulk**: paste your sitemap URLs; pages run in parallel
- ✅ **Fair billing**: per checked page; pages that fail to load and pages excluded by robots.txt are free

### Input example

```json
{
    "urls": ["https://books.toscrape.com", "https://apify.com"],
    "standard": "wcag21aa",
    "includeBestPractices": false,
    "maxElementsPerIssue": 5
}
```

| Standard | Use it for |
|---|---|
| `wcag21aa` (default) | EAA, BFSG, EN 301 549, most EU and UK requirements |
| `wcag22aa` | The newest WCAG version |
| `wcag2aa` | ADA and Section 508 checks in the US |
| `wcag2a` | Only the most basic level |
| `wcag2aaa` | The strictest level |

### Output example

Real output from a test run (`elements` shortened to two):

```json
{
    "url": "https://books.toscrape.com/",
    "finalUrl": "https://books.toscrape.com/",
    "statusCode": 200,
    "title": "All products | Books to Scrape - Sandbox",
    "standard": "wcag21aa",
    "violationCount": 1,
    "affectedElements": 135,
    "impactCounts": { "critical": 0, "serious": 1, "moderate": 0, "minor": 0 },
    "passRate": 94,
    "violations": [
        {
            "id": "color-contrast",
            "impact": "serious",
            "help": "Elements must meet minimum color contrast ratio thresholds",
            "description": "Ensure the contrast between foreground and background colors meets WCAG 2 AA minimum contrast ratio thresholds",
            "wcag": ["1.4.3"],
            "levels": ["wcag2aa"],
            "helpUrl": "https://dequeuniversity.com/rules/axe/4.14/color-contrast?application=axeAPI",
            "elementCount": 135,
            "elements": [
                {
                    "selector": "small",
                    "html": "<small> We love being scraped!</small>",
                    "fix": "Fix any of the following: Element has insufficient color contrast of 3.85 (foreground color: #777777, background color: #eeeeee, font size: 14.7pt (19.565px), font weight: normal). Expected contrast ratio of 4.5:1"
                },
                {
                    "selector": "li:nth-child(1) > a[href=\"index.html\"]",
                    "html": "<a href=\"index.html\">Home</a>",
                    "fix": "Fix any of the following: Element has insufficient color contrast of 3.33 (foreground color: #428bca, background color: #f5f5f5, font size: 10.5pt (14px), font weight: normal). Expected contrast ratio of 4.5:1"
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "needsReview": [
        {
            "id": "link-in-text-block",
            "impact": "serious",
            "help": "Links must be distinguishable without relying on color",
            "wcag": ["1.4.1"],
            "levels": ["wcag2a"],
            "elementCount": 2
        }
    ],
    "rulesPassed": 16,
    "axeVersion": "4.14.0"
}
```

`passRate` is the share of applicable rules the page passes, a quick health number for comparing pages (not an official WCAG score).

### Pricing

A fixed price per checked page. In our test 3 pages took 26 seconds with the default 2 GB memory.

Paid Apify plans pay less: 10% off on Starter, 20% on Scale and 30% on Business and higher plans.

### FAQ

**Does a clean result mean my site is fully accessible?** No automated tool can prove that. Automated checks find a large share of common issues (missing alt texts, contrast, labels, ARIA errors); keyboard use, screen reader flow and content quality still need a manual review. Use the "needs review" list as a starting point.

**Is this legal advice for the EAA or BFSG?** No. It is a technical check against WCAG rules that helps you find and fix problems.

**Why is a page "blocked_by_robots"?** By default robots.txt is respected. Turn it off only for your own sites or with the owner's permission.

### More tools from Tidelane Data

- [Lighthouse Audit](https://apify.com/tidelane/lighthouse-audit): bulk PageSpeed, Core Web Vitals and SEO scores
- [SEO Audit](https://apify.com/tidelane/seo-audit): on-page SEO checks for any list of URLs
- [GDPR Cookie Scanner](https://apify.com/tidelane/gdpr-cookie-scanner): cookies, trackers and Google Fonts loaded before consent
- [Broken Link Checker](https://apify.com/tidelane/broken-link-checker): find 404s, redirects and dead links

All our tools: [apify.com/tidelane](https://apify.com/tidelane)

***

#### Impressum

Levi Griesinger, Tidelane Data\
Besigheimer Straße 18\
74369, Löchgau, Deutschland\
E-Mail: LeviGriesinger@gmail.com

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

Pages to check, one per line.

## `standard` (type: `string`):

Which WCAG rules to test. The European Accessibility Act (EAA) and the German BFSG refer to EN 301 549, which uses WCAG 2.1 AA.

## `includeBestPractices` (type: `boolean`):

Also run axe's best-practice rules (landmarks, heading order …) that are not strict WCAG requirements.

## `maxElementsPerIssue` (type: `integer`):

How many affected elements (selector, HTML, fix) to list per violation. The total count is always given.

## `respectRobotsTxt` (type: `boolean`):

Skip pages that robots.txt forbids. Turn off only for your own sites.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Pages checked at the same time.

## `timeoutSecs` (type: `integer`):

How long to wait for a page to load.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://apify.com"
  ],
  "standard": "wcag21aa",
  "includeBestPractices": false,
  "maxElementsPerIssue": 5,
  "respectRobotsTxt": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 3,
  "timeoutSecs": 45
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

All results of the run as dataset items.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Summary per input with status (ok, error and the reason).

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "urls": [
        "https://apify.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("tidelane/accessibility-checker").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "urls": ["https://apify.com"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("tidelane/accessibility-checker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "urls": [
    "https://apify.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call tidelane/accessibility-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,tidelane/accessibility-checker"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/6Rihah1rlnLG63dq3/builds/mKCqQLt1l7dcyQh4H/openapi.json