A11y Owl is a free AI-powered website accessibility scanner that checks your site for ADA and WCAG 2.2 AA compliance issues. It uses vision AI and keyboard testing to find issues that traditional automated scanners miss, and provides exact code fixes for every problem found.

Yes. A11y Owl is completely free. Every scan includes a Compliance Risk Score, AIO Score, and sample issues on screen. The Full Report with AI-generated code fixes, DIY action items, and a priority roadmap for all issues is also free — delivered to your inbox as a PDF.

How is A11y Owl different from accessibility overlay widgets?

Unlike overlay widgets (such as accessiBe or UserWay), A11y Owl does not inject JavaScript into your website. Instead, it scans your actual source code using vision AI, identifies real accessibility issues, and provides exact code fixes. Overlay widgets were cited in 25% of 2024 ADA lawsuits as barriers to access, and the FTC fined accessiBe $1 million in January 2025 for false compliance claims.

Does my small business website need to be ADA compliant?

Yes. Under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, websites of businesses that serve the public must be accessible to people with disabilities. In 2024, over 4,000 ADA website lawsuits were filed, and 77% of those targeted businesses with under $25 million in revenue. The average settlement costs $25,000 or more, not including legal fees.

What does A11y Owl check for?

A11y Owl checks for WCAG 2.2 Level AA compliance issues including: missing alt text, low color contrast, keyboard traps, missing focus indicators, small touch targets, broken ARIA roles, form label issues, reading order problems, and missing skip navigation. It uses vision AI to catch visual issues that DOM-only scanners miss.

How long does an A11y Owl scan take?

An A11y Owl accessibility scan typically completes in under 60 seconds. Simply paste your website URL, click scan, and receive your Compliance Risk Score and issue summary. No signup or credit card required.

What is a Compliance Risk Score?

The Compliance Risk Score is A11y Owl's proprietary metric that measures your website's ADA and WCAG 2.2 AA lawsuit exposure on a scale of 0-100. It uses vision AI to test your page the way a screen reader user or plaintiff's attorney would. A higher score means lower lawsuit risk.

What is the AIO Score?

The AIO (AI Optimization) Score measures whether AI systems like ChatGPT, Google AI Overview, and Perplexity can find, understand, and cite your website content. It checks semantic landmarks, JSON-LD structured data, heading hierarchy, and Schema.org coverage. The AIO Score is included in every scan.

How much does an ADA lawsuit cost?

ADA website accessibility lawsuits typically settle for $5,000 to $75,000, with the average around $25,000. However, total costs including legal fees, remediation, and ongoing monitoring can exceed $40,000 to $90,000. In the first half of 2025 alone, over 2,000 ADA website lawsuits were filed -- a 37% increase over the same period in 2024.

Can I get professional help fixing accessibility issues?

Yes. A11y Owl's parent company, Logixtecs, provides professional accessibility remediation services. After receiving your A11y Owl report, you can contact Logixtecs at a11y@logixtecs.com to have their team implement all recommended fixes and verify compliance.

How A11y Owl Tests Your Website

A11y Owl combines real browser testing, vision AI analysis, and keyboard interaction checks to find accessibility issues that automated DOM-only scanners miss. Here is how it works.

1. How the Scan Works

When you submit a URL, A11y Owl performs a multi-step analysis of your page:

Real Browser Rendering

We load your page in a real Chromium browser using Playwright. This means we render JavaScript, execute dynamic content, and interact with your page exactly as a real visitor would. No static HTML parsing — we test the live page.

Screenshot Capture

We capture full-page screenshots of your site as rendered in the browser. These screenshots are analyzed by our vision AI to detect visual accessibility issues that cannot be found through DOM inspection alone, such as low-contrast text rendered on background images, small or unclear interactive elements, and visually confusing layouts.

Keyboard Interaction Testing

We simulate keyboard-only navigation through your page, testing tab order, focus indicators, keyboard traps, and interactive element accessibility. This replicates the experience of users who rely on keyboard navigation instead of a mouse.

Vision AI Analysis

Screenshots and page data are analyzed by Google Gemini vision AI, which evaluates the page from a visual and structural perspective. The AI identifies issues based on WCAG 2.2 criteria, maps each issue to specific elements, and generates actionable code fixes.

Report Generation

Results are compiled into a structured report with annotated screenshots, WCAG criterion references, severity ratings, and (in the Full Report) AI-generated code fixes for every issue found.

2. WCAG 2.2 Criteria We Check

A11y Owl tests against WCAG 2.2 Level AA success criteria. The following are the primary areas we evaluate:

Perceivable

1.1.1 Non-text Content (alt text)
1.3.1 Info and Relationships
1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence
1.4.1 Use of Color
1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)
1.4.4 Resize Text
1.4.11 Non-text Contrast
1.4.12 Text Spacing

Operable

2.1.1 Keyboard
2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap
2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (skip nav)
2.4.3 Focus Order
2.4.6 Headings and Labels
2.4.7 Focus Visible
2.5.5 Target Size
2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum)

Understandable

3.1.1 Language of Page
3.2.1 On Focus
3.2.2 On Input
3.3.1 Error Identification
3.3.2 Labels or Instructions

Robust

4.1.1 Parsing
4.1.2 Name, Role, Value
4.1.3 Status Messages

3. Compliance Risk Score

The Compliance Risk Score is a proprietary metric that rates your website's ADA and WCAG 2.2 AA lawsuit exposure on a scale of 0 to 100.

How the score is calculated

The Compliance Risk Score considers multiple weighted factors, including:

Number and severity of issues found (critical issues have a higher impact than low-severity issues)
Types of issues detected (keyboard traps and missing focus indicators are weighted more heavily because they disproportionately affect assistive technology users)
Coverage of key WCAG criteria tested
Presence or absence of essential accessibility features such as skip navigation, proper heading hierarchy, and form labels
Visual accessibility signals detected by vision AI, including contrast and touch target sizing

A higher score indicates lower lawsuit risk and better accessibility compliance. A score of 0 means significant accessibility barriers were detected; a score of 100 means no issues were found during the scan.

4. AIO Score (AI Search Visibility)

The AIO (AI Optimization) Score measures whether AI systems like ChatGPT, Google AI Overview, and Perplexity can find, understand, and cite your website content. It uses a 5-factor evaluation model:

Semantic Structure

Evaluates whether your page uses proper semantic HTML elements (header, nav, main, article, section, footer) instead of generic div elements.

JSON-LD Structured Data

Checks for the presence and quality of JSON-LD markup that helps AI systems understand your page content and relationships.

Heading Hierarchy

Analyzes whether your headings follow a logical H1, H2, H3 hierarchy that enables AI systems to parse content structure.

Answer-Ready Content

Evaluates whether your content is structured in a way that AI systems can extract direct answers from (clear definitions, lists, tables).

Schema.org Coverage

Checks for Schema.org markup that provides structured data about your business, products, services, and FAQs.

Each factor is scored individually and combined into an overall AIO Score from 0 to 100. A higher score means your content is more likely to be discovered and cited by AI systems.

5. Confidence Scoring

Because A11y Owl uses AI analysis, each identified issue includes a confidence indicator. This reflects how certain our system is that the issue is a genuine accessibility barrier.

High Confidence

The issue is clearly identifiable and well-defined. Examples: missing alt text on images, missing form labels, absence of skip navigation links.

Medium Confidence

The issue is likely present but may depend on context. Examples: color contrast that is close to the threshold, heading hierarchy that may be intentional.

Lower Confidence

The issue requires human review to confirm. Examples: reading order concerns based on visual layout, potential keyboard interaction issues that depend on custom JavaScript behavior.

6. Limitations

No automated tool can catch every accessibility issue. A11y Owl has the following known limitations:

What A11y Owl does not check

Multi-page user flows (we scan one page at a time)
Content behind authentication walls or login screens
Video captions and audio descriptions (WCAG 1.2.x)
Complex interactive widgets that require specific user input sequences to trigger
Cognitive accessibility issues that depend on subjective user experience assessment
Mobile-native app accessibility (we test web pages only)
Third-party embedded content (iframes, embedded widgets) may have limited analysis
Real assistive technology compatibility (we simulate, not test with actual screen readers)

According to the DHS/GovTech study, approximately 57% of WCAG issues require some form of manual testing. No automated scanner catches everything. A11y Owl catches more than DOM-only scanners because of vision AI, but a complete accessibility audit still benefits from manual expert review.

7. A11y Owl vs. Manual Audits

A11y Owl is designed as your first line of defense, not a replacement for manual audits. Here is how we compare:

	A11y Owl	Manual Audit
Speed	Under 60 seconds	1-4 weeks
Cost	Free (scan + full report)	$5,000 - $25,000+
Code fixes included	Yes (AI-generated)	Recommendations only
Vision-based testing	Yes	Yes
Keyboard testing	Yes (automated)	Yes (manual)
Multi-page flows	Single page per scan	Full site
Screen reader testing	Simulated	Real devices
Best for	Quick scan, ongoing checks	Full certification

We recommend using A11y Owl as your first step: scan your site, fix the issues found, and then pursue a manual audit if you need full certification or are responding to a legal demand. For ongoing compliance, regular A11y Owl scans help catch regressions before they become problems.

Need a full manual audit?

Our parent company, Logixtecs, provides professional accessibility audits and remediation services. Start with A11y Owl, then let our team handle the rest.

Scan Your Site Free Contact Logixtecs