AccessLens – Accessibility Checker for WCAG 2.2 & EAA
Accessibility checker for WCAG 2.2 barriers. Scan your site, prioritize fixes, and generate your EAA Accessibility Statement.
Use with caution
AccessLens works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. Was last updated 2 months ago, and scores 55/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (<10 active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where AccessLens stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| accessibility | >100 |
| accessibility checker | #54 |
| audit | >100 |
| european accessibility act | #61 |
| wcag | >100 |
About AccessLens
From the official readme · v0.2.0Description
AccessLens is an accessibility checker for WordPress that scans your pages against WCAG 2.2 success
criteria and shows you exactly what to fix. It is built for site owners and agencies who need to work towards
the requirements of the European Accessibility Act (EAA), in force in the EU since June 2025.
The plugin is free and fully functional. It sends the page(s) you choose to the external AccessLens engine,
which renders each one in a real browser and runs an automated accessibility analysis (axe-core), then
displays the results in your WordPress dashboard: a severity summary and a detailed violations table with
suggested fixes.
The interface is available in English and Spanish.
What you get (Free)
- Scan your site in single-page or sitemap mode (up to 10 pages per scan).
- WCAG 2.2 violations listed per page, classified by severity: critical, serious, moderate, minor.
- A severity summary panel and a printable results view.
- A short, informational questionnaire to help you understand whether your organisation falls under EAA scope.
- An Accessibility Statement report (PDF) generated from your scan data.
- No account or credit card required for the free tier.
AccessLens Pro
AccessLens Pro is a paid subscription (149 EUR/year) to the external AccessLens service – not locked code
inside this plugin:
- Full-site crawl of up to 25 pages per scan.
- AI-extended detection: finds issues automated scanners cannot, such as unhelpful alt text, ambiguous link
text, non-descriptive headings, and poor form labels. Clearly labeled as AI-detected heuristics that require
human confirmation. - AI-assisted PDF report: issues prioritized by impact, suggested fixes per WCAG criterion, and alternative-text
suggestions for images. - An AI-enhanced Accessibility Statement covering the 9 fields organisations affected by the EAA are typically
expected to publish. - Higher daily scan and report quotas.
About the European Accessibility Act (EAA)
The European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) requires many digital products and services sold or
offered in the EU – e-commerce, banking, transport, and communication services among them – to be accessible.
Member States have been applying it since 28 June 2025. AccessLens helps you prepare for the EAA and
generate the documentation it asks for; it does not, and cannot, certify legal compliance on your behalf.
Automated scanning has real limits – and we say so
Independent research puts the coverage of automated accessibility testing at roughly 25-40% of WCAG success
criteria. The rest – screen reader behaviour, real keyboard navigation, cognitive load, meaningful reading
order – requires manual testing by a person. AccessLens states this openly in every report instead of hiding
it, which is also why it does not work like an “accessibility overlay” widget: those products have been
publicly criticized by disability advocacy organisations and regulators for creating a false sense of legal
security. AccessLens does not guarantee or certify conformance with the EAA, WCAG, or any other regulation,
and does not provide legal advice.
External services
Scanning a page requires rendering it in a real, headless browser, which cannot run inside WordPress itself.
For that reason, this plugin sends requests to an external service, the AccessLens engine (hosted on
Google Cloud Run):
- What it is: an audit engine that loads the URL(s) you provide and runs an accessibility analysis
(axe-core) to detect WCAG violations. - When it is used: only when you, as an administrator, start a scan or generate a report from the
dashboard. - Data sent: the URL(s) you choose to audit, your site address (used to restrict scans to your own
domain), and, when generating a report, the site metadata you enter in the form (site name, contact
email/URL, entity type). No visitor data or WordPress user data is sent. - AI processing (Pro tier only): when you request a Pro report, the engine may send fragments of page HTML
and image URLs to Anthropic (https://www.anthropic.com/legal/privacy) to generate alternative-text
suggestions and prioritized fix recommendations. This only happens with an active Pro subscription and only
when you request a report. - Endpoint: https://eaa-audit-engine-26367529082.europe-southwest1.run.app (fixed by design; scans are
restricted to your own site’s domain). - Terms of service: https://accesslens-27h.pages.dev/terminos
- Privacy policy: https://accesslens-27h.pages.dev/privacidad
Installation
- Upload the
accesslensfolder to the/wp-content/plugins/directory, or install it via Plugins > Add
New by searching for “AccessLens”. - Activate the plugin from the “Plugins” menu in WordPress.
- Open AccessLens in the admin menu and run your first scan.
Frequently asked questions
What is the European Accessibility Act (EAA)?
The EAA (Directive (EU) 2019/882) is an EU law requiring many digital products and services – e-commerce, banking, transport apps, e-books, and more – to meet accessibility requirements. It has applied since 28 June 2025 across EU Member States.
Does AccessLens make my website WCAG or EAA compliant?
No. No automated tool can do that, and any plugin claiming otherwise is not being honest with you. AccessLens detects a meaningful subset of WCAG 2.2 issues automatically (roughly 25-40% of success criteria) and helps you prepare the documentation the EAA asks for, but full conformance requires manual testing by a qualified accessibility expert.
Is automated accessibility testing enough on its own?
No. Automated scanning is a strong starting point that catches contrast, missing alt text, form labelling, heading structure, and similar technical issues quickly and consistently. It cannot evaluate things like screen reader usability, real keyboard-only navigation, or whether content is genuinely understandable – those need a human reviewer.
What is an Accessibility Statement, and why do I need one?
An Accessibility Statement is a public document describing your site’s conformance status, known limitations, and how users can request help or file a complaint. It is one of the core pieces of documentation organisations affected by the EAA are expected to publish. AccessLens generates a statement structured around the 9 typically required fields; the Pro tier enhances it with AI analysis of your full-site crawl.
Does AccessLens work with Elementor, WooCommerce, or any WordPress theme?
Yes. AccessLens scans the rendered HTML output of your pages in a real browser, so it works regardless of the page builder, theme, or e-commerce plugin you use, including Elementor and WooCommerce.
Can I scan any website with it?
No. Scans are restricted to the domain of the WordPress site where the plugin is installed. This keeps the shared scanning service fast and fair for everyone.
What data is sent to the AccessLens service, and is this GDPR-relevant?
The plugin sends the URL(s) you choose to scan, your site address, and, when you generate a report, the metadata you type into the form (site name, contact details, entity type). It does not send visitor data or WordPress user data. See the “External services” section and the linked privacy policy for full detail.
How is AccessLens different from accessibility overlay widgets?
Overlay widgets inject a script that claims to “fix” accessibility on the fly, without changing your site’s actual code. AccessLens does the opposite: it audits your real markup, tells you exactly what’s wrong and where in plain language, and gives you a report and a statement you can act on. It changes nothing on your site automatically.
What is the difference between the Free and Pro versions?
These are tiers of the external AccessLens service, not gated code inside the plugin. Free covers single-page and sitemap scans (up to 10 pages) plus a report generated from your scan data. Pro (149 EUR/year) adds full-site crawl up to 25 pages, an AI-assisted PDF report with prioritized fixes and alt-text suggestions, and higher daily quotas. The plugin itself works fully on the free tier.
Are there usage limits?
Yes. To keep the shared service stable, the free tier includes a daily scan and report quota per site, and the Pro tier includes a substantially higher one. The dashboard shows your current usage after each scan.
Who needs to comply with the European Accessibility Act?
Primarily businesses above certain size thresholds that offer digital products or services in the EU, across sectors like e-commerce, banking, and transport. Micro-enterprises may have exemptions in some cases; always confirm your specific obligations with a qualified legal advisor.
Changelog
Recommended update: more reliable scans and PDF downloads, security hardening, persistent results, and an English + Spanish interface. No breaking changes.
0.2.0
- The engine URL is now fixed by design (serviceware model) instead of an editable setting; the Settings page has been removed.
- The scan target and report site are now always restricted to the site’s own domain, both client-side and via the engine.
- Clear, actionable error messages for quota limits, rate limits, Pro-only features (with an upgrade link) and a busy engine, instead of raw HTTP errors.
- Scan progress polling is now more resilient to temporary network failures and has a maximum wait time.
- PDF report download is now proxied reliably with progress feedback, instead of a plain form submission.
- Added defense-in-depth host validation and consistent nonce/capability checks on every AJAX handler.
- The last scan result is now persisted and shown when you return to the dashboard.
- New severity summary panel, printable results view, and an Accessibility Statement explainer.
- Per-site daily quotas with usage shown in the dashboard, to keep the free tier stable for everyone.
- The interface is now fully translatable; English source strings with a complete Spanish (es_ES) translation.
- Uninstall cleanup is now multisite-aware.
0.1.0
- First public release.
- Single, sitemap and full crawl scan modes.
- Informational EAA scope questionnaire.
- AJAX polling every 3 seconds with a results table.
- Accessibility Statement report (PDF) via the AccessLens service.
Screenshots
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FAQ
AccessLens: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 4, 2026
Is AccessLens free?
Yes. AccessLens is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is AccessLens safe to use in 2026?
AccessLens works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. Was last updated 2 months ago, and scores 55/100 on our health check.
How many websites use AccessLens?
AccessLens is active on <10 WordPress websites and has been downloaded 304 times since it launched in June 2026. It was downloaded 68 times in the last 30 days.
Does AccessLens work with WordPress 7.1?
AccessLens is officially tested up to WordPress 7.0.6, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
What PHP version does AccessLens need?
AccessLens requires PHP 8.0 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was AccessLens last updated?
The latest version, 0.2.0, was released on July 24, 2026 (2 months ago).
Who makes AccessLens?
AccessLens is developed and maintained by manitosdevs.
What are the best alternatives to AccessLens?
The most popular alternatives to AccessLens are Web Accessibility (formally… (500K+ installs), Auto Image Attributes From… (100K+ installs) and Accessibility by UserWay (80K+ installs).
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