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This page highlights the accessibility tools UGA has acquired for campus-wide use, along with additional testing tools recommended by the U.S. Department of Education through the federal Section 508 website. These tools help you identify accessibility barriers, test your work, and verify compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA standards. Many are free. All are valuable for building and maintaining accessible digital content. Which tools you use depends on what you’re testing and your technical skill level.

Why this matters

Testing and validation tools are essential for accessibility work. They help you catch common mistakes, verify that your improvements are effective, and ensure your content meets standards. While automated tools alone aren’t enough – manual testing and real user feedback matter too – they’re a critical part of your accessibility toolkit.

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About these tools

UGA is approved to share two categories of accessibility tools:

  • Anthology Ally for eLC and Ally for Web: the institutional tools UGA has acquired for course content (eLC) and public-facing websites.
  • Section 508 testing tools: a curated list of accessibility testing tools maintained by the U.S. General Services Administration at Section 508 Tools for Testing ICT. This list is referenced by the U.S. Department of Education and widely used across higher education. For videos and detailed descriptions of each tool, see section508.gov.

What tools can and can’t do:

  • Automated tools (scanners, checkers) find common, rule-based issues like missing alt text, low color contrast, or missing headings. They catch maybe 30-40% of real accessibility problems.
  • Manual testing (keyboard navigation, screen reader testing, user testing) finds issues that automated tools miss, like confusing instructions, unclear labels, or bad focus management. This is equally important.
  • No tool replaces user testing with real people with disabilities. Tools are a starting point, not the finish line.

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Ally for eLC

Anthology Ally for eLC is integrated into UGA’s learning management system (eLC). Ally automatically checks course files and content for common accessibility issues, provides instructors with guidance on how to improve them, and generates alternative formats, such as tagged PDF, HTML, ePub, electronic braille, and audio, that students can download on demand.

For instructors, Ally for eLC can:

  • Show an accessibility score on each uploaded file, with specific feedback about what to fix.
  • Provide step-by-step guidance to correct issues such as missing alt text, untagged PDFs, and low color contrast.
  • Generate a course-level accessibility report showing trends across all uploaded content.

For students, Ally for eLC can:

  • Offer alternative formats next to every course file, giving students flexible ways to access the same content.
  • Support multiple reading preferences, including audio, ePub, and electronic braille.

Ally for eLC is available to every UGA instructor teaching in eLC.

Learn more about Ally for eLC.

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Ally for Web

Anthology Ally for Web extends the same accessibility checking and alternative formats to UGA’s public-facing websites. Ally for Web crawls approved sites, identifies accessibility issues on each page, and provides site owners with prioritized, actionable feedback for remediation.

For site owners and web editors, Ally for Web can:

  • Provide an institution-wide accessibility dashboard showing score trends over time.
  • Let you drill down to individual pages to see exactly which issues need attention.
  • Offer site visitors the option to download alternative formats of page content.

Ally for Web is being rolled out across UGA sites in coordination with site owners. Contact DASH at [email protected] to learn how Ally for Web can be enabled for your site.

Learn more about Ally for Web.

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Automated accessibility scanners

These tools automatically scan websites or documents for common accessibility issues.

  • WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool): Browser extension and online tool. Highlights accessibility issues on web pages with visual markers. Free. Good for beginners.
  • Axe DevTools: Browser extension for Chrome and Firefox. More advanced automated scanning. Free version available; paid for teams. Highly detailed reports.
  • Lighthouse: Built into Chrome DevTools. Tests accessibility, performance, and best practices. Free. Good for web developers.
  • ANDI (Accessible Name & Description Inspector): Free bookmarklet from the Social Security Administration. Inspects the accessible name, role, and description of elements on any web page.

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Color contrast checkers

Use these to verify that text and graphics have sufficient contrast against backgrounds (WCAG AA requirement: 4.5:1 for text, 3:1 for graphics and large text).

Learn more about color contrast requirements.

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Screen readers

Screen readers are assistive technology used by people who are blind or have low vision. They read digital content aloud. Testing your content with a screen reader is essential for accessibility.

Free screen readers:

How to use screen readers for testing:

  • Download and install a free screen reader like NVDA.
  • Activate it and navigate through your website or document using only keyboard.
  • Listen for meaningful page structure, clear headings, descriptive links, and alt text for images.
  • If something is confusing to a screen reader user, it probably needs to be fixed.

Important: Using a screen reader takes practice. You won’t become an expert quickly. Consider partnering with someone who uses a screen reader to test your work.

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Built-in browser developer tools

At UGA, most browser extensions are blocked on managed devices, so this section focuses on accessibility tools that are built into every major browser. These tools are available out of the box (no installation or approval required) and cover the majority of what you need to inspect the accessibility tree, run automated audits, and test color contrast directly in the DOM.

To open developer tools in any browser, right-click a page and choose Inspect, or press F12 (Windows) or Option + Command + I (macOS).

  • Chrome DevTools Accessibility pane: In the Elements panel, the Accessibility sidebar shows the computed accessible name, role, and properties for any selected element, as well as the ARIA attributes and the accessibility tree. Use this to verify that elements are exposed correctly to assistive technology.
  • Chrome DevTools Lighthouse panel: Built-in automated accessibility audit. Open DevTools, select the Lighthouse tab, check “Accessibility,” and click “Analyze page load” for a report of axe-powered accessibility findings.
  • Chrome DevTools color contrast checker: Hover over any text element in the Elements panel or use the color picker in Styles to see the computed contrast ratio with pass/fail indicators for WCAG AA and AAA.
  • Microsoft Edge DevTools: Includes the same Accessibility pane, Lighthouse audits, and contrast checker as Chrome, plus an Issues panel that surfaces accessibility problems as you browse.
  • Firefox Accessibility Inspector: Dedicated Accessibility tab in Firefox DevTools. Shows the accessibility tree, simulates color-blindness and contrast-loss conditions, and can check for text-contrast issues across the entire page in one click.
  • Safari Web Inspector Audit tab: Runs an accessibility audit on the current page and reports issues such as missing alt text, low contrast, and incorrect heading structure. Enable the Develop menu in Safari preferences to access it.

Bookmarklets as an alternative: Bookmarklets are small pieces of JavaScript saved as browser bookmarks. They run on demand without requiring an extension. ANDI (Accessible Name & Description Inspector) is a free, widely-used bookmarklet from the Social Security Administration that works in every major browser without installation.

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Document accessibility checkers

Use these tools to test Word documents, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, and other files.

  • Microsoft Word Accessibility Checker: Built into Word. Review > Check Accessibility. Automatically flags issues like missing alt text, poor heading structure, and accessibility warnings.
  • Microsoft PowerPoint Accessibility Checker: Built into PowerPoint. Review > Check Accessibility. Tests slide structure, images, and readability.
  • Google Docs Accessibility Checker: Built into Google Docs. Tools > Accessibility. Shows accessibility issues in real time as you work.
  • PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker): Free standalone tool from access-for-all.ch for testing PDFs. The current version (PAC 2026) evaluates PDFs against PDF/UA-1, PDF/UA-2, and WCAG 2.1 and provides a detailed tag-tree view, screen-reader preview, and logical-structure report. This is the most comprehensive free PDF accessibility checker available.
  • Adobe Acrobat Pro: Built-in accessibility checker for PDFs. Paid, but powerful for identifying and fixing PDF accessibility issues, including tag structure, reading order, and form-field labels.

How to use these tools:

  • Open your document in the appropriate application (Word, PowerPoint, Google Docs, or PDF reader).
  • Run the built-in accessibility checker.
  • Review the results. Most tools explain what each issue is and how to fix it.
  • Address flagged issues. Don’t just dismiss warnings.

Learn more about document accessibility.

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Captioning and transcription tools

These tools help you create captions and transcripts for videos and audio.

  • Zoom: Built-in live caption feature. Automatic transcription of meetings and recordings. Free with most Zoom accounts.
  • YouTube: Automatic captions (often need editing). Built-in transcript tool. Free if hosting videos on YouTube.
  • Kaltura (Video Everywhere in eLC/D2L): Built-in captioning tool. Automatic transcription with manual editing. Check with your institution for access.

Best practice: Use automatic captions as a starting point, then edit them for accuracy. Automated captions are never 100% accurate, especially for technical terms, names, or accents.

Learn more about captions.

Learn more about transcripts.

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Keyboard navigation testing

Many accessibility issues can be found by simply testing with a keyboard. No tools needed, just your keyboard.

How to test:

  • Disconnect your mouse or trackpad (or just don’t use it).
  • Use only the Tab key to navigate through links and form fields.
  • Use Shift + Tab to go backward.
  • Use Enter to click links and activate buttons.
  • Use arrow keys to navigate within form elements like dropdowns and radio buttons.

What to check:

  • Can you reach every interactive element using Tab?
  • Is the focus indicator visible (a box or highlight showing which element is active)?
  • Does focus move in a logical order (left to right, top to bottom)?
  • Can you activate all buttons, links, and form fields with the keyboard?
  • Can you submit forms and close dialogs with the keyboard?

If anything doesn’t work, it needs to be fixed. Keyboard accessibility is not optional.

Learn more about keyboard accessibility.

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Common mistakes

  • Relying only on automated testing without manual testing and user feedback
  • Not testing with actual keyboard navigation to verify functionality
  • Skipping screen reader testing because automated tools don’t catch those issues
  • Testing only the homepage instead of checking multiple pages and user flows
  • Not testing with real assistive technology users to validate your improvements
  • Ignoring tool results that seem minor or assuming they don’t affect usability
  • Using only one testing tool and thinking you’ve covered all issues (different tools find different problems)

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Getting help

UGA’s Digital Accessibility Services Hub (DASH) is here to support you. Whether you need guidance on making your content accessible, help troubleshooting an issue, or training for your team, we are ready to help.

Accessibility is a shared responsibility, and every step you take makes UGA’s digital environment more inclusive.

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Learn More About Digital Accessibility

Learn about the new federal rules regarding web accessibility from the U.S. Department of Justice and web content accessibility guidelines.

DOJ Web Accessibility Rule WCAG 2.1 Guidelines