WordPress plugin
A free WordPress accessibility plugin that checks your pages
AuditRush Accessibility Checker is a free WordPress accessibility plugin that finds problems for you to fix. Most checkers for WordPress look at what you wrote, inside the editor. This one reads each page the way your server actually sends it to a visitor, so it sees your theme, your navigation, your footer, your widgets and whatever your page builder put there. An author can have a perfectly clean post sitting on a failing page and never find out; this is the check that finds out.
Which kind of accessibility plugin you need
WordPress accessibility plugins do different jobs, and it helps to know which one you are installing.
- Toolbar plugins add a button that lets visitors change text size, contrast or fonts. They leave the page code as it was, so a screen reader user still meets the same barriers. More on this in accessibility widgets and lawsuits.
- Fixer plugins add things many themes lack, such as a skip link or underlined links, and change a few common patterns. They help, but they fix only what they were written for.
- Checker plugins find problems and show you where they are, so you or your developer can fix them in the theme or the content. This plugin is a checker.
What it checks
Eighteen things that can be decided with certainty, each reported with the element it is about, among them:
- images a screen reader cannot describe, and alt text that is only a file name
- form controls with no label, and buttons and links that announce nothing
- pages with no title, no language, or a language that is not a real code
- a viewport setting that stops a phone zooming in
- empty headings, and headings that skip a level in the outline
- embedded frames with no name, identifiers used more than once, and labels that point at nothing
- elements that jump the keyboard order, and data tables with no header cells
It also lists the images in your media library that have no alt text, which is usually the largest and cheapest thing to fix on any site. What to write in them is in our image alt text guide.
What it does not do, and why that is written down
These checks cover roughly a third of WCAG 2.1 A and AA. That is the limit of what any automated tool can decide. Nothing here can tell you whether your alt text says anything useful, whether somebody can complete your checkout using only a keyboard, whether focus order makes sense, or whether your colours have enough contrast, which cannot be worked out from markup at all. So the plugin never tells you that your site is accessible. It tells you a list of specific things that are wrong.
Nothing leaves your site
Every check runs on your own server, against your own pages, over your own loopback connection. You need no account, key or signup, and no data is sent anywhere. If your host blocks a site from requesting itself, the plugin says so plainly rather than showing an empty result that looks like good news.
Install it
- In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins, Add New and search for AuditRush, or download it from its page in the WordPress plugin directory.
- Activate it and open Accessibility in the admin menu.
- Press Check now on any page, or publish something: an update queues a check automatically a few seconds later.
When you need more than the machine layer
The two thirds the plugin cannot decide are where an audit comes in. The automated audit ($149, 24 hours) covers every page with evidence and the fix for each finding, and the signed audit ($490, 48-72 hours) adds a certified accessibility specialist's review and signature, which is what a lawyer or a customer asks for. For a theme or store, the WooCommerce guide covers where WordPress shops tend to break.
Common questions
Is it free?
Yes, completely, with no limits on how many pages it checks. There is one link to our site, at the bottom of one screen you chose to open.
Will it slow my site down?
No. It adds nothing to the pages your visitors load. Checks run in the admin, one page at a time, when you ask or after you publish.
Can a plugin make my WordPress site ADA compliant?
No plugin can do that on its own. There is no official ADA certification for websites. What exists is a standard, WCAG 2.1 level AA, that US courts and the Department of Justice reference. A checker finds the part of WCAG a machine can decide, and the rest needs a person testing with a keyboard and a screen reader. A good start is a theme with the Accessibility Ready tag in the WordPress theme directory. That tag means the theme passed a volunteer review, and the review team says it does not mean WCAG AA. Then fix what this plugin finds, and work through the ADA compliance checklist.
What is the best WordPress accessibility plugin?
The one that does the job you need. To find problems in your pages, use a checker. To add a skip link and patch some common theme problems, use a fixer next to it. A toolbar alone fixes nothing in the page code.
Does an accessibility overlay do the same job?
No. Overlays repaint the surface and leave the page underneath as it was, and sites running them keep getting sued (accessibility widgets and lawsuits). This plugin points at the markup to fix in the page itself.