Web accessibility refers to making sure websites are accessible to users with disabilities. Installing a plugin might be the solution if you’re looking for a quick way to make WordPress more accessible.
There are a number of rules and regulations to adhere to regarding website accessibility. These include the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 508 for the US, and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. You can improve the compliance of your website with these standards by using WordPress accessibility plugins.
However, selecting the best WordPress plugin for your site may be challenging given the abundance of options. Read on as we examine seven of the top accessibility plugins for WordPress based on statistics like downloads, ratings, cost, and key features.
Why Web Accessibility Is Important
Here are a few justifications for why making your WordPress website more accessible is essential.
Establish Inclusivity
The internet has grown in importance as a tool in our daily lives. From employment to healthcare, people use it for a variety of purposes.
You can ensure that everyone has access to your WordPress site by making it accessible, including people with temporary impairments like those recovering from surgery and people who are disabled.
Increase Audience
Your audience may be expanded by developing an accessible website. More people will be able to read your content easily if you fix website accessibility issues. This might increase your site’s visibility and overall traffic. This increased traffic can consequently result in more conversions and sales on a business website.
Improve SEO Rankings
It’s critical to keep in mind that search engine crawlers mimic human user behaviour when implementing WordPress SEO tips. As a result, there is a large overlap between factors influencing SEO rank and those affecting accessibility.
For instance, adding descriptive alt text enhances accessibility because screen readers will read this text aloud to visually impaired users so they can learn more about the content of the image.
However, in order to understand the images and content on a web page, search engine crawlers also make use of alternative text. Your website will rank higher in search engine results if these bots can understand it better. Better web accessibility translates to better SEO results.
Top 7 WordPress Accessibility Plugins
We will highlight seven of the top WordPress accessibility plugins in this section. Our experts carefully considered factors like downloads, ratings, price, and key features before selecting these WordPress plugins.
1. One Click Accessibility
Plugin stats:
Downloads: 100,000+
Rating: 4.6/5
Price: free
The One Click Accessibility plugin was initially created for the Pojo themes, but it is now compatible with all WordPress themes. It takes very little time and effort to set up this free accessibility plugin, and no coding experience is required.
By giving users an intuitive toolbar, One Click Accessibility offers a number of features to increase the accessibility of your WordPress website. Links can be added to your Sitemap, Help, and Feedback pages using this accessibility toolbar. Visitors will find it easier to navigate the website and contact you about accessibility issues as a result.
Key Features
Customizable the accessibility toolbar display settings.
On a variety of gadgets, including computers, tablets, and phones, you can decide whether to display or hide the accessibility toolbar. The toolbar title can also be changed.
Resize fonts and readable font.
Allow users to alter the accessibility toolbar’s font size. Include a button that changes a stylized font into one that is easier to read for users with dyslexia.
High and negative contrast.
In order to create a clear distinction between the colours of the content and background, One Click Accessibility provides high and negative contrast tools in the sidebar. This makes text easier to read for users with poor vision and colorblindness.
Skip to the content link.
This is found at the top of the page and enables users of screen readers and keyboard navigation to skip menu items and go straight to the main content.
Outline focus.
You can give interactive elements the option of having an outline focus by using One Click Accessibility. This is to aid those who use the Tab key to navigate using a keyboard.
Link target attribute remover.
A new window will open when a user clicks on a link that contains the target attribute. Unfortunately, users with disabilities may find this feature confusing. The target attributes can be removed to give the user the option of opening a new window.
Link role adder.
Links serve a variety of functions. For instance, they can act as page navigation buttons or redirect users to other websites. Screen readers can use the ARIA link role to tell if a link is intended to create a hyperlink to an internal or external resource. All links on the page have the role=”link” added by this tool.
2. Accessibility Widget by UserWay
Plugin stats:
Downloads: 50,000+
Rating: 3.5/5
Price: freemium
One of the best accessibility plugins for WordPress is UserWay’s Accessibility Widget because of its many tools. Users don’t need to know any code to install the WordPress plugin in a matter of minutes.
Free and paid versions of this accessibility plugin are both available. The official WordPress website offers a free version, but it has few features. Additionally, it only offers up to 20% ADA compliance, as opposed to the paid version’s up to 90% compliance rate.
Small Site costs $49 per month, Medium Site is $129 per month, and Large Site is $329 per month. These are its three premium plans. It also provides a free 10-day trial period without requiring a credit card. The professional features include things like AI-generated image alt text and form validation.
Key Features
Large cursor.
It 400% enlarges the typical cursor size. This solves accessibility issues for users who are blind or visually impaired and makes sure they can always locate the pointer with ease.
Numerous text display options.
By changing the text display settings, you can make text easier to read for users who are blind or visually impaired. You could, for instance, offer various text sizes, alter text spacing, give users a text alignment tool, and alter line height.
Color inversion and desaturation.
By changing the text display settings, you can make text easier to read for users who are blind or visually impaired. You could, for instance, offer various text sizes, alter text spacing, give users a text alignment tool, and alter line height.
Reading guide.
This function transforms the cursor into a high contrast, horizontal reading aid. When reading, it helps users with dyslexia, cognitive impairments, or visual impairments focus their eyes, reducing eye strain.
Screen reader.
For readers who are blind or visually impaired, this tool reads page content aloud.
Live site translations.
Increase accessibility by translating your WordPress website into over 40 languages.
Reset All tool.
Visitors can customise the accessibility options for the website to suit their needs and store the configuration for subsequent visits. If the user needs to reset everything to default settings, this reset tool is also available.
3. WP Accessibility
Plugin Stats:
Downloads: 40,000+
Rating: 4.8/5
Price: free
Common accessibility problems in WordPress themes, website content, and core can be found and fixed with the aid of WP Accessibility. One of the best accessibility plugins to use is this one. All plugin features can be enabled or disabled by users as needed.
Although coding skills are not required to install this free accessibility plugin, advanced users can modify the style sheets in the theme directory to alter the feature styles.
Key Features
Language and text direction attribute adder.
Language and text direction attributes added by WP Accessibility specify the primary language and the default direction of text on a web page. This aids in proper word pronunciation for screen readers.
Skip navigation links.
Give users directional skip links to help them navigate the page. Additionally, the links can be customised in terms of appearance and can be directed to specific areas of the page.
Form labeling.
The standard WordPress form fields can be labelled using the tool provided by this free plugin. For users who cannot make the connection visually, labels allow assistive technologies to announce form control features such as radio buttons or checkboxes.
Accessible Read More links.
To make it easier for screen reader users to understand which post a link will take them to, WP Accessibility lets you add post titles to the Read More links.
Color contrast tester.
Verify that your website complies with the WCAG 2.1 standards for foreground-background contrast.
CSS problem checker.
Enable CSS diagnostics to identify accessibility problems that can be detected by CSS in the visual editor or the front end of your website.
4. WP Accessibility Helper
Plugin stats:
Downloads: 20,000+
Rating: 4.7/5
Price: freemium
Another WordPress accessibility plugin you can use to improve the accessibility of your website is WP Accessibility Helper (WAH). By using a Document Object Model (DOM) scanner to scan all site pages and posts for accessibility issues, this plugin assists in lowering access barriers.
Limited features are available in the free version. Four different plans are available for the paid version: WAH PRO, WAH PRO 2, WAH PRO 5, and WAH PRO 10, each priced at $1,819 per year. Pop-up windows that are accessible and the monochrome and sepia modes are two examples of pro accessibility features.
Key Features
Sidebar customization options.
Select whether to display the sidebar on the left or right side of the screen, and decide between a dark or light sidebar theme. Additionally, it has keyboard shortcuts for opening and closing the sidebar.
Readable font button.
The sidebar also has a readable font button that users can click to switch from a stylized font to a more straightforward one, like Times New Roman, Arial, or Tahoma, in addition to the option to resize fonts.
CSS unloader.
This programme removes all CSS files, allowing you to view the page as plain HTML. A great way to guarantee that the website content can still be understood without CSS element styles and colours is to disable CSS.
Link highlight.
All links on the page can be highlighted and underlined with the help of WP Accessibility Helper, making it easier for users to find them.
HTML5 landmark control center.
Use this feature to configure the HTML5 landmark elements. Landmarks could take the place of skip links for people who use assistive technology. This is so that assistive devices can use the HTML5 element to navigate to a particular section of a page.
CSS animation remover.
Site animations made with CSS are removed by this content accessibility tool. Although these animations might be aesthetically pleasing to some, some disabled users may experience vertigo or seizures as a result of them.
Contrast mode.
To increase contrast and readability, visitors can select a dark or light background by changing it to their preferred colour. Yellow, white, and black are a few options. For those who struggle with photosensitivity, this is especially helpful.
5. WP ADA Compliance Check Basic
Plugin stats:
Downloads: 4,000+
Rating: 5/5
Price: freemium
A WordPress accessibility plugin called WP ADA Compliance Check Basic assists websites in adhering to the WCAG 2.1 Level AA, Section 508, and other web accessibility standards. It accomplishes this by performing thorough scans of website pages and posts. Additionally, this plugin features built-in WAVE scanning that can be accessed from the WordPress dashboard.
Users are only permitted to scan 15 posts or pages with 52 error checks when using this free WordPress plugin. The premium plugin, in contrast to the free version, has no post limit, provides users with over 75 error checks, and can find accessibility problems in the WordPress theme files.
The WP ADA Compliance Check Basic plugin has four different premium licence types available: One site licence costs $179.99 with a year of support and updates, one site licence costs $565.99 with lifetime updates, five sites cost $849.99, and ten sites cost $1,399.99.
Key Features
Comprehensive error reports.
The WordPress accessibility plugin offers thorough reports on accessibility problems along with references to standards and simple instructions. By keyword, post, and error type, you can filter and search reports. You can also email or print reports using it.
Contrast ratio checker.
To see if the ratio already complies with the accessibility requirements, check your foreground and background colour values. According to WCAG 2.1, the contrast ratio for standard text should be 4.5:1 and for large text it should be 3:1.
Landmark checker.
This tool lets you know if your website has correctly incorporated and labelled the HTML5 landmark regions.
Language attribute checker.
This tool checks that the attribute for the primary language of the content has been added to assistive tools.
Heading order checker.
Visitors to websites can better understand the structure of web content by properly nesting headings according to their rankings. Additionally, it facilitates keyboard and screen reader navigation.
Missing alt text checker.
It looks to see if any of your images lack alternative text. It can also look for alternative text that uses filler words.
6. Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker
Plugin stats:
Downloads: 1,000+
Rating: 5/5
Price: freemium
Equalise Digital Accessibility Checker is a WordPress plugin developed by accessibility specialists for enhancing or ensuring ongoing compliance with web accessibility regulations. By automatically checking new or recently updated posts against more than 40 accessibility guidelines, it provides real-time feedback. Additionally, the tool offers error alerts within the post editor.
There are four options available: Personal is free, Professional is $144 per year, Small Business is $600 per year, and Agency is $1800 per year. Only paying users can access some beneficial accessibility features, such as bulk scanning of posts and a centralised list of open accessibility issues.
Key Features
Unlimited page scanning.
Even if you only choose the free version, you can still scan an unlimited number of posts or pages.
Readability analysis.
It provides a Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test to determine whether the text is not overly complex. A condensed summary may also be included to satisfy the WCAG 2.1 reading level requirement.
Ignore feature.
If, after manual evaluation, you’ve decided that error or warning notifications are unnecessary, close them. For each notification you ignore, you can also add notes, usernames, and the time and date.
Accessibility statement.
You can edit the draught accessibility statement it offers and post it on your website. Simply click to add this sentence to the site’s footer.
Detailed documentation.
You can learn more about accessibility issues and how to fix them with the help of the many articles and instructions provided by this WordPress accessibility plugin.
7. accessWidget by accessiBe
Plugin stats:
Downloads: 10,000+
Rating: 4.4/5
Price: plugin is free but must be used together with premium software
Consider accessWidget from accessiBe if you need a strong web accessibility solution and don’t mind paying for it. It is an AI-powered service that improves any site’s accessibility and offers regular analyses and scans to guarantee compliance. The software is also offered in 12 different languages.
The three primary accessWidget premium plans are Standard ($49/month), Large ($149/month), and Huge ($199/month). Additionally, for websites with more than 100,000 monthly visitors, the Enterprise plan is offered starting at $990/month. Ensure that the WordPress website hosting has sufficient bandwidth and storage for the plan you select.
Additionally, you can test it without cost since all plans of the WordPress accessibility plugin come with a 7-day free trial period. Users can only use the free accessiBe plugin in conjunction with the premium accessiBe software, despite the fact that it is available on the official WordPress directory.
In order to connect to the software and configure the installation without coding, developers created the plugin. As a result, the features of the accessWidget software rather than those of the free plugin will be listed below.
Key Features
Accessibility profiles.
AccessWidget provides accessibility profiles in addition to individual adjustments. These incorporate standard features for accessibility that cater to particular disabilities. For instance, all features that accommodate vision impairment will be active at the same time when users click the Vision Impaired profile.
Content display adjustments.
The accessibility options in this section of the user interface can be adjusted to make the text easier to read. Examples of features include the ability to highlight titles and links, change the font size, magnify text, space out letters, and align text.
Color and contrast settings.
For a more visually appealing browsing experience, users can adjust all the colour and contrast settings in this section. These accessibility options, such as contrast, saturation, and text and background colours, are a few examples.
Orientation options.
These accessibility options include distraction-reduction and eye-guiding features, which are excellent for people with vision, cognitive, or motor impairments. Examples include its sound muter, enlarged cursor, reading guide, and animation stopper.
Online dictionary.
For users who struggle with language comprehension or cognitive disabilities, it has an integrated dictionary that they can quickly access.
Computer Vision AI.
AccessWidget analyses images and produces alternative text for them automatically using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) AI technology.
Contextual Understanding AI.
This technology draws lessons from a variety of prior experiences to comprehend the function that particular site elements serve. After that, it modifies the website’s existing code to give screen reader users the best browsing experience possible and display the precise content of the page as the author intended.
Conclusion
WordPress plugins are a great way to increase accessibility on your website with little to no coding. Making your website more accessible is crucial because it promotes inclusivity, expands your audience, and raises your SEO rankings.
After reading our list of the top seven WordPress accessibility plugins, if you’re still unsure which plugin to select, take a look at our final suggestions.
We suggest One Click Accessibility and WP Accessibility to those looking for simple, free accessibility plugins for WordPress that cover the essentials.
The best accessibility WordPress plugins for you might be Accessibility Widget by UserWay and accessWidget by accessiBe if you’re aiming for a high level of WCAG conformance.
We hope that this article has given you some knowledge about the WordPress accessibility plugins so you can choose one to use to make your website more accessible.
