GitHub Accessibility Scanner vs WAVE

GitHub Accessibility Scanner is a free, MIT-licensed GitHub Action for finding accessibility barriers in websites, repositories, and dynamic content. It checks against WCAG 2.2, using Axe by default, and also supports AccessLint and plugins. Findings can be filed as GitHub issues and tracked between runs to prevent duplicates; issues can also be closed when a finding no longer appears. Copilot is optional: without it, the scanner still files issues, while Copilot can be assigned an issue to suggest a fix and create a pull request. Users can configure scan URLs, authentication, screenshots, issue grouping, experimental and best-practice findings, and selectors for individual URLs. It works with public and private repositories and supports GitHub Enterprise Cloud. Setup requires GitHub Actions and Issues to be enabled, available Actions minutes, and a fine-grained personal access token with write permissions. The project is in public preview, with ongoing feature development, and suggested fixes are not guaranteed to be fully accessible. It does not scan mobile apps, desktop applications, documents, email templates, or PDFs. Support requests and bug reports are handled through GitHub Issues.

WAVE is a web accessibility tool that identifies many accessibility and WCAG errors and provides tools for human evaluation of web content. Its browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge can examine password-protected, locally stored, and highly dynamic pages. The service supports page scans, scheduled site audits, intranet pages with most authentication types, and custom viewport sizes for checking responsive breakpoints. Stand-alone tools can integrate with continuous-integration systems including Selenium and Puppeteer. The API returns JSON or XML; basic analysis uses one credit, while advanced features may use two or three. New accounts receive 100 free API credits. Subscription API access has a 250-credit minimum purchase for $10 a month. Stand-alone API licenses cost $4,000 a year for Basic, $8,000 a year for Expanded, and $12,000 a year for Unlimited. The stand-alone API runs on Linux, Mac, or Windows web servers with PHP and Node installed; minimum requirements are 1 CPU, 1 GB memory, and 100 MB storage.