IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker vs Total Validator
IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker
ibm.com
Total Validator
totalvalidator.comSide by side
| Figure | IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker | Total Validator |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 4 |
| Spec score · Accessibility Testing Software | 9.0 (#7) | 9.1 (#6) |
| Spec score · Website Accessibility Tools | 9.0 (#6) | 9.0 (#10) |
| Browser extension | The Chrome extension runs inside Developer Tools and helps locate accessibility problems and possible fixes. | Yes |
| CI/CD integration | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy | The project wiki says web data remains local, with rules and engine downloaded and run locally rather than sent to servers. | The privacy policy says the company does not track website visitors, regularly purges logs, and does not sell, trade, or rent collected information. |
| Purpose | The checker automates accessibility checking of web content and applications for web developers and accessibility auditors. | Total Validator checks website accessibility, HTML, CSS, broken links, and spelling. |
| Support | The project Wiki directs users to submit bugs, questions, and suggestions through GitHub issues. | The maker offers a contact form for product issues and questions and recommends checking the FAQ for common issues. |
Plans
IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker
- Free and open sourceFree
- Free/open-source toolkitFree
Total Validator
- TestFree
- Basic$10, paid once
- CI$39, paid once
- Pro$39, paid once
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.
Total Validator
Total Validator is a freemium tool for checking website accessibility, HTML, CSS, broken links and spelling. Automated accessibility checks cover WCAG 2.2, 2.1 and 2.0, US Section 508 and ARIA standards. It validates HTML and XHTML against W3C and WHATWG standards, and CSS against W3C standards. The product runs through web, Windows, macOS, Linux, an API and a browser extension, with CI/CD integration. Jenkins, Team City and Selenium can call the CI version, which also provides a Web API. Remediation guidance is included. Pro can test authenticated pages, intranets, private websites and JavaScript-generated DOMs through browser extensions, while returning results locally for security. The free Test version shows only a one-page issue summary. Basic handles one page at a time; whole-site and multiple-site validation are Pro features. Manual review tools and mobile testing are not provided.