A11yInspect vs veraPDF

A11yInspect is a browser extension that works with the Inspect tool in DevTools to assess web-page accessibility against WCAG 2.2. Automated checks cover more than 600 issues across 30 Success Criteria, with a stated false-positive rate below 1%. Results classify findings as Fails, Validates, or Suggestions and map them to criteria and severity. Supported standards include WCAG, Section 508, EN 301 549, GIGW 3.0, and IS 17802. Manual review tools include bookmarklets for headings, tab order, grayscale, target size, text spacing, and forms, as well as a color contrast checker. The extension is available for Chrome, Edge, and Firefox and can examine a page or a specific element. Pages can be tested in any language, although the interface is English-only; the extension is for desktop browsers and cannot be used on mobile. The Free plan allows unlimited webpage testing without login or a credit card. Pro costs $120.00 per year and includes a 30-day trial without a card; users move to Free if they do not subscribe when it ends.

veraPDF is an open source validator for PDF/A and PDF/UA conformance. Its Implementation Checker validates all PDF/A parts and conformance levels, and performs machine checks for PDF/UA parts 1 and 2. The Policy Checker evaluates PDF Features Reports against institutional policy profiles. A Metadata Fixer makes a limited set of repairs, such as removing an incorrect PDF/A flag or repairing broken XMP when that is the only obstacle to a legitimate flag. The Reporter transforms machine-readable reports from the Implementation Checker, Policy Checker, and Metadata Fixer into other forms for downstream use. Developers can use the validation library as a Java archive through Maven, a desktop GUI, or a command-line application. Plugins can add third-party feature extraction tools to PDF Features Reports. The project describes digital preservationists and memory institutions as key users, and offers an API and test files for developers. Desktop installers are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux; these systems need Java 8 or later. veraPDF is dual licensed under GPLv3 or later and MPLv2 or later. Downloads include GPG signatures and instructions to check installer integrity. Development builds may contain bugs or missing features and come without support or guarantees. The validator costs nothing.