5 Best WordPress Accessibility Plugins for Your Website

As a website owner, you want to ensure that your content is accessible to all users. Otherwise, you might lose a lot of potential conversions — or even end up in legal hot water. So you’re probably wondering if it’s worth learning more about WordPress accessibility plugins to avoid these problems.

The simple answer is yes! 😎 By using one of these plugins, you can improve WordPress accessibility for your visitors and create a better user experience (UX). Luckily, many WordPress tools are also very intuitive and beginner-friendly.

Why accessibility is important for WordPress sites

To make your website accessible, you need to make your content accessible to a wide variety of people, including users with disabilities. For example, people who cannot use a mouse should still be able to navigate your pages.

You also need to make sure your images contain alt text. This allows users who rely on screen readers to continue to understand the content of your photos.

While ensuring accessibility is important ℹ️ for increasing conversions, it can also help you avoid legal troubles. In the US, for example Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires all websites to be accessible to users with disabilities.

There are guidelines designed to help website owners make their websites more accessible. That Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Outline how to deal with physical and visual impairments. These recommendations include ensuring that there is clear contrast between the background and the text, and using large and easy-to-read fonts.

The five best WordPress accessibility plugins for your website

Ensuring that every page and element of your website is accessible can be tedious and time-consuming. Luckily, WordPress accessibility plugins can do some of the work for you, or at least point you in the right direction to troubleshoot problems yourself. Let’s look at some of the best options out there.

⚠ Note that using an accessibility plugin does not guarantee full compliance with ADA, WCAG and other similar regulations. As such, we also recommend using an accessibility testing tool and making changes as needed.

1. WP Accessibility
2. WP Accessibility Helper
3. Web Accessibility By accessiBe
4. AccessibleWP
5. accessibility test

1. WP Accessibility

WP Accessibility is designed to address common accessibility issues in WordPress themes. It contains various settings that you can enable or disable depending on your website needs:

It also includes suggestions for customizing your style sheets to make your site more accessible. For example, you may need to set custom styles for large fonts.

⚙️ main features:

• Test the contrast between two colors with the plugin’s Color Contrast Tester.
• Add skip links with custom destinations for easy page navigation.
• Quickly identify images on your site that don’t have alt attributes.
• Add labels to standard WordPress form fields.
• Prevent links from opening in new windows to minimize barriers for users with physical disabilities.

💵 pricing: WP Accessibility is available for free.

2. WP Accessibility Helper

WP Accessibility Helper can help you solve accessibility issues on your website. These can include issues with font sizes, contrast, alt text, and more.

All you have to do is use the toggle keys to activate your preferred settings. For example, you can enable keyboard navigation and contrast mode:

If you’re using the Pro version of WP Accessibility Helper, you can also choose a layout for your front-end accessibility sidebar. It allows users to easily select their preferred font sizes, colors, and other features.

⚙️ main features:

• Enable a skip links menu for easier navigation.
• Underline and highlight all links to make them more visible.
• Remove CSS animations from your website.
• Select an option to change the font size, e.g. B. Zoom in/out of the page or a script based resizing.
• Enable dark theme and grayscale images for visually impaired users.

💵 pricing: You can get started with the free plugin. When upgrading to the Pro version gives you access to features like an ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) helper and advanced letter spacing settings. Premium plans start at $199 per year.

3. Web Accessibility By accessiBe

Web Accessibility by accessiBe can help you achieve ADA and WCAG compliance. Once you have created an account and installed the plugin, you can configure the settings for the accessibility widget that will be displayed on the front end of your website:

The plugin uses two applications. The AI-powered tool automatically optimizes your website for screen readers and other assistive technologies. Meanwhile, the accessibility interface (or widget) handles design-related customizations on your website. It allows users to customize the look and feel of your website to suit their needs.

⚙️ main features:

• The AI ​​tool scans your content for accessibility issues every 24 hours.
• The plugin includes automatic screen reader customizations, including alt tags and ARIA attributes.
• Access automatic keyboard navigation changes in menus, popups, and forms.
• An accessibility interface called “accessWidget” helps provide an optimal user experience based on the needs of the user.
• An “Accessibility Statement & Certificate” shows users that your website is WCAG compliant and was designed with their individual needs in mind.

💵 pricing: Web Accessibility by accessiBe is a premium tool with plans from $49/month. A free seven-day trial is also available.

⚠ Note: Some accessibility advocates recommend avoiding these types of “one-click” overlay accessibility solutions – You can read more here. However, many larger companies use this approach, so there are pros and cons.

4. AccessibleWP

AccessibleWP adds an accessibility toolbar to the front end of your WordPress site. This allows users with visual or physical disabilities to make minor adjustments to your site’s design and navigation.

You can customize the style of this toolbar and choose what options you want to make available to your visitors:

For example, you can allow users to increase or decrease the font size. You can also allow navigation with keyboard arrows and the tab Key.

⚙️ main features:

• Add an accessibility toolbar that allows users to customize your site’s design elements.
• Enable keyboard navigation, high contrast, and human-readable fonts.
• Allow users to mark all links and titles and disable animations.
• Add a link to your accessibility statement.

💵 pricing: AccessibleWP is a free plugin. You can also download two more WordPress Accessibility plugins from the same developer: ALT Detector that helps you find images without alt text and skip links that allow users to easily navigate between main page sections.

5. accessibility test

Accessibility Checker is a freemium accessibility plugin from Equalize Digital, a WordPress agency specializing in helping businesses make their WordPress sites accessible.

The plugin scans your website when you publish a new post or page. Then it gives you real-time feedback on the accessibility of the content and flags any issues right on your screen.

You can choose the type of content you want to scan for accessibility issues along with other settings:

The plugin adds a “Simplified Summary Text” option to the Accessibility Checker metabox in the WordPress editor. It will remind you to provide a simplified summary of your post. You have the option to do this for each post or only if the reading level of the content is above 9th grade.

⚙️ main features:

• Scan an unlimited number of pages and posts for accessibility issues.
• Use readability analysis and automatic insertion of simplified summaries.
• Create an accessibility statement that you can customize and post on your website.
• Close errors and warnings that are already displayed.

💵 pricing: The free plugin comes with unlimited scans and all other features listed above. If you upgrade to the Pro version, you can scan additional post types, view all existing issues in one place, and more. Premium plans start at $12 per month.

Try these WordPress accessibility plugins 🔌

Ensuring that your website is accessible to all users is critical to your success. In some countries this is also required by law. Overall, people with disabilities should be able to navigate and consume your content with ease.

In this post, we’ve looked at some of the best WordPress accessibility plugins out there. 🐿️ If you are looking for an automated and comprehensive solution, you should go for Web Accessibility by accessiBe. In the meantime, if you prefer a tool that gives you more control over your accessibility settings, WP Accessibility Helper might be a better option.

For more ways to improve your site’s accessibility, check out 👉 our tips on making WordPress more accessible.