How to use the accessibility checker

The accessibility checker opens every page of the site in a real browser, at desktop and phone size. It looks for the problems that stop people using a screen reader, a keyboard or a phone from using the site, gives the site a score, and tells you how to fix each one. It's free. Run it before a launch, after big design changes, or when a client asks about ADA or WCAG.

How to run a check

1. Open the site in the editor, click SEO/AEO, then Accessibility under Compliance. The same check is also in the editor under Settings → Accessibility. Agency people can also ask Zeus to "check accessibility".
2. Next to Check, choose The draft (unpublished changes too) or The live site. The live site option is grayed out until the site is published.
3. Click Run check (or Check again if it has run before). A progress bar shows each page as it's checked, like "Checking /about (3 of 12)".
4. You can close the dashboard. The check keeps going, and the results are here when you come back.
5. Read the score and Fix these first, the worst problems across the site.
6. Click a page to open its problems. Each one says what's wrong, How to fix:, how many times it happens, and whether it shows on desktop, phone or both.
7. Use the buttons under each item to fix it (see below).
8. Run the check again to see the new score, then publish.

Reading the results

• Score: out of 100, with Good (90 or more), Needs work (70 to 89) or Poor (below 70).
• Checked N pages of the draft / live site: when it ran. Every page is checked at desktop and phone size.
• Fix these first: up to 8 problems, each with how many pages and items it affects.
• Pages: one row per page with its address, how many problems it has and its own score. Click to open.
• Couldn’t check: pages that wouldn't load, with the reason.
• If nothing is wrong, you see No problems found on any page.

Fix buttons

• Go to element: opens the page in the editor with the element selected.
• Write alt text with Zeus: for images without alt text. Zeus describes the image, you edit the text, then click Save alt text. Agency people only.
• Image Alt Text: opens the Image Alt Text screen for that site.
• Make it H2 (or another level): fixes a heading that skips a level, a page with no main heading, or a page with more than one.
• Use this text: replaces link text like "click here" with words that say where the link goes. The box starts with the linked page's title; edit it before you click.
• Fix with the readability pass: makes hard-to-read text in that section readable, the same way Create with Zeus does. Works on page sections; header and footer text is fixed in the editor.

Fixes are saved to the draft. Run the check again to see the new score, and publish to put them live.

What it checks

• Images: images without alt text, images marked as decorative that may need a description, icons and image buttons without a description, image map areas and embedded objects without text.
• Text that’s hard to read: measured on the real pixels, including text over photos, against WCAG AA.
• Headings: no main heading (H1), more than one H1, headings that skip a level, and empty headings.
• Links: links without text, and links that don't say where they go, such as "click here" or "read more".
• Buttons and forms: buttons, form buttons, fields, dropdowns, toggles and custom controls without a label.
• Page basics: page language not set or not valid, and pages with no title.
• Keyboard: links and buttons with no visible outline when you move through the page with the Tab key, hidden content that can still be reached with Tab, and scrolling boxes keyboards can't reach.
• Media: video or audio that plays with sound and no controls, and audio that plays by itself. Muted background videos are fine.
• Phones: tap targets smaller than 24 × 24 pixels and too close together, and pages that block zooming.
• Code problems: embeds without a title, invalid or missing ARIA attributes, controls inside controls, badly built lists and duplicate IDs. These usually come from custom code or pasted HTML.

The checks use a widely used open-source accessibility engine together with the platform's own readability measurement.

Examples

• A dentist asks if the site is ADA-friendly: run the check on the draft, fix everything under Fix these first, run it again, then publish and show them the score.
• A hero with white text over a bright photo: the checker flags Text that’s hard to read. Click Fix with the readability pass on that section.
• A services page with five "Learn more" buttons: the checker flags Links that don’t say where they go. Edit each suggestion, like "See our boiler repair prices", and click Use this text.
• Show the score to a client: turn on Accessibility score on their websites in the client's Client Access → Dashboard settings. It's off by default.

Limits and what it can't do

• One check runs at a time per site. Starting another while one is running shows the running one.
• It checks every page, every live collection page and every blog post. Folders and hidden page types are skipped.
• The score is the weighted share of checks each page passes, averaged over the pages. A check that fails at either size fails for that page.
• Each problem lists up to 25 items, then "…and N more".
• The live site only works once the site is published.
• Some things can't be fixed automatically, such as text from custom code or a widget setting. Open those in the editor.
• An automated check can't find everything. For full compliance, also test with a keyboard and a screen reader.
• Starting a check is limited to 20 a minute and 300 a day per agency.
• The Site Audit shows the latest score under Accessibility Compliance, and the site dashboard's Highlights shows it on the Compliance card.

Credits

Free. Running checks, the fix buttons and Zeus alt text here cost no credits.

Who can use it

• Agency people with the Mount Olympus tool can run checks and use every fix button.
• Client people with the Site Audit or SEO settings permission can run checks and see the results. The fix buttons only show for people with the Editor permission; without it they see "You can run the check and see the problems. Fixing them here needs the Editor permission — ask your agency to add it." The Image Alt Text link needs SEO settings. Write alt text with Zeus is agency only.
• Settings → Accessibility is only in the editor's Settings menu for people who can open Settings.

Troubleshooting

• "The site isn’t live yet — check the draft instead.": choose The draft (unpublished changes too).
• "No live pages to check." or "The site has no pages yet.": publish some pages, or add pages first.
• "You're going too fast — try again in …": you've started too many checks. Wait the time shown.
• "The last check didn’t finish: …": something stopped it. Click Check again.
• The check seems stuck: leave it. It carries on in the background and the results appear when you come back.
• "That part of the page has changed since the check — run it again.": you edited the page after the check. Run it again, then fix.
• "Your agency locked this element." or "Your agency locked this section.": ask your agency to fix it.
• "We couldn’t change this one automatically (it may come from custom code or a widget setting) — open it in the editor.": use Go to element and fix it by hand.
• "The readability pass found nothing it can change here (the colors may come from custom CSS) — open the section in the editor.": change the colors in the editor or in your custom CSS.
• "Header and footer text is fixed in the editor (Header / Footer design).": open the header or footer in the editor and change the colors there.
• "This image isn’t one the editor manages (it may come from custom code) — add its alt text where it was added.": the image is in custom code. Add the alt text in that code.
• "Zeus couldn’t describe this image — write the alt text in Image Alt Text": type it yourself on the Image Alt Text screen.
• No fix buttons, and a note that fixing needs the Editor permission: you're a client person without Editor. Ask your agency to add it, or to make the fix.