What is WAVE?
WAVE is a free automatic accessibility testing tool that can help find WCAG violations, potential issues, and provide remediation guidence for your website in real time.
No automatic accessibility scanner can find all accessibility issues on your website. This means that manual accessibility testing is required to make sure your content is compliant.
Getting started with WAVE
Use the website tool
Navigate to Wave - WebAIM and enter the URL of the site you want to test. A report will be generated with details about errors, features, and potential issues.
Use the browser extension
Install your preferred browser extension
After you install it, a small WAVE icon appears in your browser toolbar.
Once you install the WAVE extension, go into Manage Extensions (in Chrome, it’s the puzzle piece icon at the top right of your browser window). Then click the “pin” icon next to WAVE Evaluation Tool so the tool is in easy reach.
You should now see the WAVE icon in your browser toolbar. It's dark gray circle with a white W:
Click the icon to turn it off and on. Here’s what it will look like when you turn it on:
Click the tabs in the Summary section (left):
- In the Details section, you’ll find more information about any issues. Click on the “i” icon for more information about each element.
- In the Order section, review the numbers to make sure they start at the top left and move through the page in a logical order. This is the Tab order for keyboard-only users.