IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker vs Open Scans
IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker
ibm.comOpen Scans
mgifford.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker | Open Scans |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Website Accessibility Tools | 9.0 (#6) | 8.2 (#38) |
| CI/CD integration | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy | The project wiki says web data remains local, with rules and engine downloaded and run locally rather than sent to servers. | Scan results are published publicly to GitHub Pages, and the documentation says not to submit URLs that should remain private. |
| Purpose | The checker automates accessibility checking of web content and applications for web developers and accessibility auditors. | Open Scans checks websites for accessibility issues using multiple WCAG 2.2 scanning engines. |
| Reports | XLSX output is included automatically, and JSON and other report formats can be configured. | Interactive HTML reports are published to GitHub Pages, and the reports page lists links to HTML, Markdown, CSV, and JSON reports. |
| Scan scope | page | site |
| Support | The project Wiki directs users to submit bugs, questions, and suggestions through GitHub issues. | The project directs users who need help to workflow run logs and troubleshooting guidance in its repository documentation. |
| WCAG version | wcag 2.2 | wcag 2.2 |
| What it does | IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker automates accessibility checks in browsers and continuous-development environments. | Open Scans is a free, open-source tool for scanning websites for accessibility issues with multiple WCAG 2.2 engines. |
Plans
IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker
- Free and open sourceFree
- Free/open-source toolkitFree
In their own words
IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker
IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker automates accessibility checks for web content and applications, with tools aimed at web developers and accessibility auditors. Its rule engine connects checks to accessibility standards, including WCAG 2.2, and scans at page level. Results can identify the issue type, applicable WCAG success criteria, affected element, XPath, progression level, and a help link. Browser extensions are available for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. They work in browser DevTools and include a visualization mode for keyboard checking. For CI/CD workflows, packages are available for Node, Cypress, and Java; the project Wiki also lists a Karma plugin and names Selenium, Puppeteer, Playwright, and Zombie as testing or parsing engines. The extension can combine up to 50 stored scans into a Microsoft Excel report. The Wiki says web data, rules, and the engine stay local rather than sending web data to servers or third parties. The tool is free at free. IBM cautions that automated checks cover only part of its accessibility requirements, so manual and screen reader testing should follow.
Open Scans
Open Scans has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.