thereadscope

AccessIQ is a free WordPress accessibility plugin that combines three tools most sites pay separately for — a full WCAG 2.1 & 2.2 accessibility scanner, a self-hosted click heatmap engine, and behavior analytics — all inside a single dark-themed dashboard, with no data ever leaving your server.
No API keys. No subscriptions. No third-party services for core features.
🔬 <a href="https://accessiq.thereadscope.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">Live Demo</a> | 📖 <a href="https://accessiq.thereadscope.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">Documentation</a> | 💬 <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/accessiq/" rel="ugc">Support Forum</a>
<h4>Why WordPress Sites Need an Accessibility Scanner</h4>
ADA and EAA lawsuits are rising. Any publicly accessible website can be targeted — and “we didn’t know” is not a legal defense. WCAG 2.1 compliance is increasingly required by law across the US, EU, and UK.
Inaccessible sites lose real users. 1 in 4 adults has a disability that affects how they use the web. An inaccessible checkout button or unlabeled form field directly costs you conversions.
Most tools only tell you there’s a problem. AccessIQ shows you exactly which element failed, why it failed, and what to fix.
<h4>What You Get — 100% Free</h4>
♿ WCAG 2.1 & 2.2 Accessibility Scanner 
Run unlimited scans on any page or post URL. Get a 0–100 compliance score, severity-ranked violations with element selectors, full scan history, and one-click rescans. Supports Level A, AA, and AAA.
🔥 Self-Hosted Click Heatmap Engine 
See exactly where your visitors click, overlaid on your live site inside a macOS-style browser frame. All click data stays in your own database — no Hotjar, no external service required.
📈 Behavior Analytics 
Track sessions, bounce rates, average time on page, and device splits. Animated Chart.js dashboards that rival tools costing $50/month — built right into WordPress.
🧩 Accessibility Profiles 
Five one-click preset configurations — Vision Impaired, ADHD Friendly, Seizure Safe, Dyslexia, and Keyboard Only — that apply multiple accessibility settings instantly. The fastest way for visitors to get the experience they need.
🔡 Frontend Accessibility Widget 
A fully redesigned floating toolbar with 15 accessibility tools, grouped accordion layout, Lucide SVG icons, Dark/Light/System theme switching, adjustable panel width and height, and mobile bottom-sheet support.
📊 Score History Chart 
Track how your accessibility score changes over time for any scanned URL. See compliance progress at a glance.
📋 Accessibility Statement Generator 
One-click publish of a WCAG-compliant accessibility statement page. Auto-fills last scan date and top violations, with a live preview and an embeddable <code>[accessiq_badge]</code> shortcode.
🔧 Auto-Fix Engine 
Automatically apply frontend fixes for common violations — Skip Link, Focus Outline, HTML Lang Attribute, and Decorative Image Alt — with no code required.
<h4>Who Uses AccessIQ</h4>
Developers & Agencies — Audit client sites before launch. Deliver professional WCAG compliance reports that build trust and justify ongoing maintenance retainers.
Business Owners — ADA and EAA lawsuits are rising fast. AccessIQ keeps you compliant and documents your remediation efforts — which matters in court.
E-commerce Stores — Heatmaps reveal exactly which product page elements get clicked and which get ignored. Fix what matters for conversions.
Bloggers & Content Creators — Understand where readers engage without handing your data to Google Analytics.
UX Designers — Validate design decisions with real click data. Measure the impact of layout changes with before/after score tracking.
SEO Professionals — Google uses accessibility signals as ranking factors. Accessible, well-structured content with proper headings and alt text ranks better. AccessIQ catches both.
<h4>🔬 WCAG Scanner — Full Feature List</h4>
<ul>
<li>Compliance Score (0–100): Animated score ring with grade label (Excellent / Good / Fair / Poor)</li>
<li>WCAG 2.1 & 2.2 Level A, AA, AAA: Choose your target compliance level per scan</li>
<li>Violations by Category: Visual bar chart — Images, Contrast, Headings, ARIA, Forms</li>
<li>Severity Labels: Critical / Serious / Moderate issue classification</li>
<li>Element Selector: The exact HTML element that caused the violation</li>
<li>Fix Suggestions: Actionable guidance for each violation type</li>
<li>Scan History: Full history with date, score, issue count, and WCAG level per URL</li>
<li>Score History Chart: Line chart showing compliance progress over time</li>
<li>One-click Rescan: Re-run any scan instantly from the reports page</li>
<li>Print Reports: Print scan reports directly from the browser</li>
<li>Unlimited Scans: No limits, no paywalls, no scan credits</li>
<li>Single Report View: Detailed breakdown with back navigation and print option</li>
<li>Perfect Score Celebration: Special screen when a page scores 100/100</li>
<li>WCAG 2.2 Checks: Focus Not Obscured (2.4.11), Dragging Movements (2.5.7), Target Size Minimum (2.5.8)</li>
</ul>
<h4>🔥 Heatmap Engine — Full Feature List</h4>
<ul>
<li>Live Click Heatmap: Intensity overlay on your live site — see hot and cold spots instantly</li>
<li>In-Dashboard Preview: View heatmaps inside WP Admin — no external app needed</li>
<li>macOS-style Browser Chrome: Professional browser frame with URL bar and LIVE PREVIEW badge</li>
<li>Top Clicked Elements: Ranked table with element selector, click count, and % of total</li>
<li>Gold / Silver / Bronze Rankings: Visual rank indicators for top 3 elements</li>
<li>Date Range Filter: 7 days / 30 days / 90 days</li>
<li>Device Filter: All Devices / Desktop / Mobile / Tablet</li>
<li>Page Dropdown: Select any tracked page from the dropdown</li>
<li>Peak Activity Hour: Discover when your visitors are most active</li>
<li>Self-Hosted: 100% — all click data lives in your WordPress database</li>
<li>Lightweight Tracker: Under 3KB, loads asynchronously, zero impact on Core Web Vitals</li>
</ul>
<h4>📈 Behavior Analytics — Full Feature List</h4>
<ul>
<li>Session Tracking: Total sessions, average time on page, bounce rate</li>
<li>Daily Sessions Chart: Chart.js line chart with gradient fill and hover tooltips</li>
<li>Device Breakdown: Animated donut chart — Desktop / Mobile / Tablet split</li>
<li>Top Pages Performance: Sessions, avg time, bounce rate, and top device per page</li>
<li>Date Range Filter: 7 / 30 / 90 day periods</li>
<li>Bounce Rate Alerts: Color-coded — red (high), amber (medium), green (low)</li>
<li>Privacy-First: No cookies, no third-party scripts, no Google Analytics dependency</li>
</ul>
<h4>♿ Accessibility Widget — Full Feature List</h4>
Text & Reading
<ul>
<li>Font Size Control: Adjust text from 80% to 150% with A−/A+ controls</li>
<li>Letter Spacing: Range slider 0–5px for improved character readability</li>
<li>Line Height: 3-level slider — Default / Comfortable / Spacious</li>
<li>Dyslexia-Friendly Font: Apply Lexend for easier reading</li>
<li>Reading Line: Teal horizontal line that follows the cursor to help track text</li>
<li>Reading Mask: Dual overlay spotlight window for focused reading</li>
</ul>
Color & Vision
<ul>
<li>High Contrast Mode: One-click high-contrast color scheme</li>
<li>Monochrome: Full grayscale filter for color-sensitive users</li>
<li>Saturation: 3-state selector — Low / Normal / High</li>
<li>Highlight Links: Teal outline and underline on all anchor elements</li>
<li>Highlight Titles: Teal left-border accent on all h1–h6 headings</li>
</ul>
Motion & Navigation
<ul>
<li>Stop Animations: Disables all CSS animations, transitions, and smooth scroll</li>
<li>Big Cursor: Enlarged cursor with 4 color variants (White / Black / Teal / Red)</li>
<li>Keyboard Navigation: Highlight keyboard focus indicators sitewide</li>
<li>Screen Reader Optimize: Optimize page structure for screen readers</li>
</ul>
Accessibility Profiles
<ul>
<li>Vision Impaired: Font Size 130% + High Contrast + Highlight Links</li>
<li>ADHD Friendly: Stop Animations + Reading Mask + Dyslexia Font</li>
<li>Seizure Safe: Stop Animations + Monochrome + Low Saturation</li>
<li>Dyslexia: Dyslexia Font + Letter Spacing 2px + Line Height Spacious</li>
<li>Keyboard Only: Keyboard Navigation + Highlight Links</li>
</ul>
Widget Customisation
<ul>
<li>Brand Color: 9 preset swatches + custom color picker + hex input</li>
<li>Widget Position: Top Left / Top Right / Bottom Left / Bottom Right</li>
<li>Panel Width: Compact (260px) / Normal (300px) / Wide (340px)</li>
<li>Panel Height: Auto / Fixed 400px / Fixed 500px / Full Screen</li>
<li>Theme: Dark / Light / System (follows OS preference)</li>
<li>Mobile Bottom Sheet: Slides up from bottom on screens under 480px</li>
<li>Show on Mobile: Show or hide widget on mobile devices</li>
<li>Floating Toolbar Toggle: Enable or disable the widget entirely</li>
</ul>
<h4>📋 Accessibility Statement</h4>
<ul>
<li>Statement Generator: Auto-fills organisation name, last scan date, and top violations from your AccessIQ data</li>
<li>Live Preview: See the formatted statement before publishing</li>
<li>One-click Publish: Creates or updates a WordPress page automatically</li>
<li><code>[accessiq_badge]</code> Shortcode: Embed a WCAG compliance badge (dark or light variant) anywhere on your site</li>
<li>Widget Footer Link: Shows “Accessibility Statement” link in the widget when a statement page exists</li>
</ul>
<h4>🔧 Auto-Fix Engine</h4>
<ul>
<li>Skip Link: Adds a “Skip to content” link as the first focusable element</li>
<li>Focus Outline: Injects a visible teal focus ring on all focusable elements</li>
<li>HTML Lang Attribute: Auto-adds the lang attribute to the <code><html></code> tag</li>
<li>Decorative Image Alt: Sets empty alt=”” on images with no alt attribute</li>
</ul>
<h4>AccessIQ Pro</h4>
The free plugin is fully featured for most sites. AccessIQ Pro adds agency-grade tools:
<ul>
<li>PDF Compliance Reports — Generate branded WCAG compliance reports in PDF format. White-label with your logo, company name, and accent color.</li>
<li>AI Alt Text Generator — Automatically generate descriptive alt text for images using AI. Bulk-apply to your media library. Supports OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Groq, and more.</li>
<li>Scheduled Scan Email Delivery — Automatically email PDF reports after each scheduled scan. Regression alerts when score drops.</li>
<li>Multi-Site Hub Dashboard — Agency dashboard to monitor 25+ client sites in one view. Compliance score, violations, and last scan date per site.</li>
<li>White-label Widget — Customize the accessibility widget with your agency’s branding.</li>
<li>Priority Support — Direct email support with fast response times.</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://accessiq.thereadscope.com/#pricing" rel="nofollow ugc">Upgrade to AccessIQ Pro →</a>
<h4>Privacy & Data</h4>
AccessIQ stores all data in your own WordPress database. No scan results, click events, or session data are sent to external servers.
The WCAG scanner runs client-side in your browser — it loads your page locally and sends results via AJAX to your own database. Nothing leaves your server.
The plugin loads fonts from Google Fonts (DM Sans, DM Mono for admin; Lexend for the frontend widget). See the External Services section for details.
<h3>External Services</h3>
This plugin does not send scan, click, or session data to external servers. All data is stored in your WordPress database.
<h4>Google Fonts</h4>
AccessIQ loads typefaces from Google Fonts (fonts.googleapis.com):
<ol>
<li>Admin screens — DM Sans and DM Mono load on AccessIQ admin pages.</li>
<li>Frontend widget — Lexend loads on public pages when the accessibility toolbar is enabled.</li>
</ol>
When fonts are requested, the visitor’s browser sends a standard HTTP request to Google servers, which may include the visitor’s IP address, browser user-agent, and referring page URL.
<ul>
<li>Provider: Google LLC</li>
<li>Terms: https://policies.google.com/terms</li>
<li>Privacy: https://policies.google.com/privacy</li>
</ul>
<h3>Privacy Policy</h3>
AccessIQ stores the following data in your WordPress database only:
Click Events (Heatmap): X/Y coordinates, CSS element selector, page URL, timestamp, device type.
Sessions (Behavior Analytics): Page URL, session duration, device type, timestamp, bounce status.
Scan Results: Page URL, WCAG violations, compliance score, scan timestamp, WCAG level.
What we do NOT collect: IP addresses, usernames, email addresses, cookies, or any personally identifiable information (PII).
No data is sent to third-party servers. The WordPress admin loads fonts from Google Fonts (see External Services). You can delete all AccessIQ data by deactivating and deleting the plugin.
For heatmap and analytics tracking, we recommend adding a disclosure to your site’s privacy policy informing visitors that anonymous click and session data is collected for site improvement.
<h3>Development Source</h3>
Unminified source code available at: https://gitlab.com/thereadscope/accessiq

AccessIQ — WCAG Accessibility Scanner, Heatmap & Behavior Analytics

Free WCAG 2.1 & 2.2 accessibility scanner + self-hosted click heatmaps + behavior analytics. One plugin. One dashboard. Zero subscriptions.

John Jameson

Jason Partyka

Editoria11y (“editorial accessibility ally”) is a quality assurance tool built for an author’s workflow:
<ol>
<li>It provides instant feedback in the post and page editors. Authors do not need to remember to press a button or visit a dashboard to check their work.</li>
<li>It checks in context on pages, not just within the post editor, allowing it to test content edited in widgets or theme features.</li>
<li>It focuses exclusively on content issues: assisting authors at improving the things that are their responsibility.</li>
</ol>
This plugin is the WordPress adaptation of the open-source <a href="https://editoria11y.princeton.edu" rel="nofollow ugc">Editoria11y library</a>. Tests run in the browser and findings are stored in your own database; nothing is sent to any third party. It is meant to supplement, not replace, <a href="https://webaim.org/resources/evalquickref/" rel="nofollow ugc">testing your code and visual design</a> with developer-focused tools and testing practices.
<h3>The authoring experience</h3>
Check out a <a href="https://editoria11y.princeton.edu/next" rel="nofollow ugc">demo of the checker itself</a>.
<ul>
<li>When logged-in authors and editors are viewing pages, Editoria11y inserts tooltips marking any issues present on the current page. Issues are also highlighted while editing in the Block Editor (Gutenberg) and Classic Editor (TinyMCE).</li>
<li>Tooltips explain each problem and what actions are needed to resolve it. Some issues are “manual checks,” which have buttons to ignore the check or mark the content as OK.</li>
<li>Clicking the main toggle shows and hides the tooltips.</li>
<li>The main toggle also allows authors to jump to the next issue, restore previously dismissed alerts, visualize text alternatives for images on the page (“alts”), view the document’s heading outline, and view site-wide detection lists.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The admin experience</h3>
<ul>
<li>Filterable reports let you explore recent issues, which pages have the most issues, which issues are most common, and which issues have been dismissed. These populate and update when published content is viewed by logged-in authors.</li>
<li>Various settings are available to constrain checks to specific parts of the page and tweak the sensitivity of several tests.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The tests</h3>
<ul>
<li>Text alternatives for visual content
<ul>
<li>Images with no alt text</li>
<li>Images with a filename as alt text</li>
<li>Images with very long alt text</li>
<li>Images with fake alt text to get around field validation (e.g. “TBD”)</li>
<li>Alt text that contains redundant text like “image of” or “photo of”</li>
<li>Images in links with alt text that appears to be describing the image instead of the link destination</li>
<li>Embedded visualizations that usually require a text alternative</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Meaningful links
<ul>
<li>Links with no text</li>
<li>Links titled with a filename</li>
<li>Links only titled with generic text: “click here,” “learn more,” “download,” etc.</li>
<li>Links that open in a new window without warning</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Document outline and structure
<ul>
<li>Skipped heading levels</li>
<li>Empty headings</li>
<li>Very long headings</li>
<li>Suspiciously short blockquotes that may actually be headings</li>
<li>All-bold paragraphs with no punctuation that may actually be headings</li>
<li>Suspicious formatting that should probably be converted to a list (sequences of sentences that start with asterisks, emoji or incrementing numbers/letters)</li>
<li>Tables without headers</li>
<li>Empty table header cells</li>
<li>Tables with document headers (“Header 3”) instead of table headers</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>General quality assurance
<ul>
<li>LARGE QUANTITIES OF CAPS LOCK TEXT</li>
<li>Links to PDFs and other documents, reminding the user to test the download for accessibility or provide an alternate, accessible format</li>
<li>Video embeds, reminding the user to add closed captions</li>
<li>Audio embeds, reminding the user to provide a transcript</li>
<li>Social media embeds, reminding the user to provide alt attributes</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="https://editoria11y.princeton.edu/configuration/#customtests" rel="nofollow ugc">Custom results</a> provided by your JS</li>
</ul>
<h3>Credit</h3>
Editoria11y’s WordPress plugin is maintained by Princeton University’s <a href="https://wds.princeton.edu/" rel="nofollow ugc">Web Development Services</a> team:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/itmaybejj" rel="nofollow ugc">John Jameson</a>: Editoria11y JS and CMS integrations</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/jasonpartyka" rel="nofollow ugc">Jason Partyka</a>: Devops</li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/bkosborne" rel="nofollow ugc">Brian Osborne</a>: Code review</li>
<li><a href="https://www.drupal.org/u/notmike" rel="nofollow ugc">Michael Muzzie</a>: Wapuu photos</li>
</ul>
Editoria11y began as a fork of the Toronto Metropolitan University’s <a href="https://sa11y.netlify.app/" rel="nofollow ugc">Sa11y Accessibility Checker</a>, and our teams regularly pass new code and ideas back and forth.

Editoria11y Accessibility Checker


My agency has been installing the Editoria11y javascript as part of a custom theme on every client site for months. I was delighted to discover it's now available as an official plugin in the repository. We build sites and train clients on how to enter and update content. Editoria11y Accessibility Checker is a fantastic training tool - it helps content editors see where accessibility problems exist in their content, and helps them figure out solutions and alternatives. Using the plugin is a no-brainer; editors see the alerts right in the web page next to the problem.



Even if you're not concerned about accessibility (you should be), you can use this plugin to highlight issues that affect SEO, since accessibility is closely related to SEO. We're going to be using this plugin on every site for the foreseeable future.  Thanks for building this!


A great tool for content editors


I've experimented with installing similar tools like Tota11y, Sa11y, and the Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker, but this is the tool that has stuck for me because it feels the most approachable to less-experienced editors and it provides suggestions for fixing things.



The errors are helpfully focused on issues that editors can actually do something about, and I think it mostly gets the right balance of making errors appear urgent but not overwhelming.



Each error includes an explanation of why the issue is important and how to resolve it, so that editors can actually take action. And the ability to track issue resolutions overtime in the dashboard is fabulous!


Great tool for helping editors

Content accessibility checker written to be intuitive and useful for non-technical authors and editors.

AccessIQ — WCAG Accessibility Scanner, Heatmap & Behavior Analytics vs Editoria11y Accessibility Checker