Pa11y
Your automated accessibility testing pal.
Overview
Pa11y is a free and open-source accessibility testing tool that runs from the command line. It's designed for developers and QA teams to automate the process of finding accessibility issues. Pa11y can test web pages against standards like WCAG, and it can be easily integrated into continuous integration (CI/CD) pipelines, making it a powerful tool for preventing accessibility regressions.
✨ Key Features
- Command-line interface for scripting and automation
- Tests against WCAG 2.1, WCAG 2.0, and Section 508 standards
- Can run tests using different runners (HTML CodeSniffer, axe)
- Configurable reports in various formats (JSON, CSV, HTML)
- Pa11y CI tool for testing multiple URLs
- Pa11y Dashboard for a web-based interface
🎯 Key Differentiators
- Highly configurable and extensible.
- Includes a dashboard for visualizing results over time.
- Strong community support as an open-source project.
Unique Value: Provides a free, powerful, and flexible way to automate accessibility testing and integrate it directly into the development and deployment pipeline, catching issues automatically.
🎯 Use Cases (4)
✅ Best For
- Running automated accessibility checks against a list of URLs as part of a build process.
💡 Check With Vendor
Verify these considerations match your specific requirements:
- Users who are not comfortable with the command line.
- Manual, exploratory accessibility testing.
- Testing that requires user interaction (e.g., filling out forms).
🏆 Alternatives
While tools like Lighthouse CI are also for automation, Pa11y is more singularly focused on accessibility and offers more configuration options and reporting formats specifically for that purpose.
💻 Platforms
✅ Offline Mode Available
🔌 Integrations
🔒 Compliance & Security
💰 Pricing
Free tier: Pa11y is completely free and open source.
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