Accessibility Tool Buyer Checklist

A buyer checklist has one job: stop a sales call from deciding for you. Most accessibility tools sound alike in a demo, because every demo shows a clean report and a friendly panel. The differences appear only when you ask the same questions of every vendor and write the answers down. Use this checklist in order, and do not sign until every item has an answer in writing.

Print it, or copy it into a sheet with one column per vendor. Score each answer as clear, vague, or missing. A vendor with two vague answers on fix method or testing is not a cheaper option. It is an option whose cost will appear later, as rework, as a second tool, or as a report nobody can read beside a demand letter.

1. Fix method: what actually changes

Ask what changes when the tool runs: source code, or the page at run time in the visitor's browser. A code fix changes the HTML, the labels, the heading order, or the keyboard behaviour, and a second scan of the same code can show the change. A run-time change adjusts the page while a script loads, and ends when the script fails to load, is blocked, or is switched off.

Ask for one sample fix with old code and new code. For sites with a GitHub repository, Axeazy sends fixes as a real pull request with a visible code diff that the owner or developer reviews and merges. For WordPress sites, Axeazy's free plugin applies three render-time fixes: a skip navigation link, a page language attribute, and an alt text fallback, with no account needed. For Shopify stores and other sites with no repo, Axeazy scans the site and gives a guided checklist with computed fix values to apply by hand, rather than changing templates automatically. Colour contrast is handled with care in every case: the scan detects contrast problems and calculates a correct colour, but a visible colour change is never applied without owner approval.

Mark the answer vague if the vendor talks about a score or a panel and never names the change.

2. Testing: who tested, and with what

Ask which standard the vendor tests against, and which level. A clear answer names WCAG 2.2 AA, the current W3C Recommendation, with the pages and paths tested named. Ask what testing includes beyond an automated scan: keyboard testing, screen reader testing, and visual checks, with who does them named. The United States Department of Justice guidance backs this up: automated checkers can help, but a clean report does not mean everything is accessible, so pair a manual check with automated checks.

Ask what a retest after fixes includes, how many pages it covers, and what it costs. A retest that covers only the homepage after a fix to a checkout path proves little. Ask for a sample report with dates, showing findings, severity, fix steps, and the date of each scan. A report without a date cannot sit beside a site update or a letter.

3. Coverage: which pages, and which limits

Ask which pages and paths the plan covers: homepage only, or the whole site, including forms, product pages, and checkout or booking paths. Many barriers live on forms and checkout steps, not on the homepage. Ask for the page limit, the template count, and whether documents are included. Two limits are stated plainly for Axeazy: Axeazy does not scan PDFs, so document work needs a separate plan, and its Shopify path is a scan plus a guided checklist, not automatic template changes. A vendor that names no limits at all has not answered the question.

Ask how the product works on your platform: WordPress, Shopify, or a custom repo, with platform-specific detail. "It works everywhere" with no detail is a vague answer.

4. Price: the yearly total, not the monthly headline

Ask for the full price for your site for a year: page count, traffic, and site count included. Axeazy lists Starter at about $29 a month for one site with up to 500 pages, Pro at about $79 a month for three sites, and Agency at about $199 a month or $1,799 a year for up to ten client sites, with paid prices shown at checkout and an annual saving of 20 to 25 percent. Check those figures on Axeazy's pricing page on the day you buy, because prices can change.

Ask what moves the price up: traffic, pages, sites, or templates. For comparison, Accessible.org lists most manual audits at $1,250 to $2,750, at $100 to $250 per primary page and $25 to $100 per light page, checked October 31, 2026. A one-off audit and a monthly tool buy different things, so compare the method first and the price second.

5. Contract, monitoring, and exit

Ask the contract length, the renewal date, what happens to reports and records if you leave, and whether code fixes stay in your code after you cancel. Merged code fixes stay, because they are your code. A script product stops when the subscription stops. Ask what support includes: response times, whether support covers fix questions or only billing, and whether a developer can speak to a person who knows the code.

Ask how monitoring works after the first fixes: check frequency, pages covered, how old reports are kept, and who gets alerts. Axeazy runs weekly monitoring on paid plans. Monitoring with no frequency, no page list, and no alert owner is a vague answer. Ask what the vendor will show after 30 days: a dated second report, a list of fixes merged, and a list of open items with dates. Progress is a list of real changes with dates, not a single number moving up.

6. Evidence: the claim, and the source of the claim

Ask what evidence backs the main claim about what the product does: a sample report, a sample diff, or a retest report. Ask whether reviews shown on the vendor's pages come from paying customers, partners, staff, or paid writers, and whether that connection is disclosed on the page itself. The FTC record shows why this check matters: in January 2025 the FTC announced a proposed $1 million order settling allegations that accessiBe misrepresented its tool's ability to make any website conform to WCAG, and that third-party articles and reviews were formatted to look impartial without disclosing material connections. The final order was approved in April 2025. That record is about marketing claims and disclosure, described here factually.

How to use the checklist

Run the same questions past three vendors: one code fix tool, one audit firm, and one other route you are seriously considering. Score each answer clear, vague, or missing, and keep the sheet. The vendor with the most clear answers is rarely the one with the loudest demo. It is the one whose work you can check, whose price you can total for a year, and whose report you can read beside a dated record of fixes.

Related reading

For the ten checks behind this list, read how to choose an accessibility tool, and for twenty questions to take into a sales call, read questions to ask an accessibility vendor. For the evidence checks in section 6, read how to evaluate an accessibility vendor's claims.

• For an RFP template to send vendors, read accessibility software RFP: what to ask for.

FAQ

How long should the checklist take?

One sales call per vendor, plus an hour to compare the sheets. Most of the time goes to chasing vague answers into writing. That hour is the cheapest part of the purchase.

What if every vendor gives a vague answer on one item?

Treat that item as an open cost. Ask for it in writing by email, and do not sign until the answer arrives. If it never arrives, assume the work or the fee will appear after you pay.

Does the checklist replace legal advice?

No. It helps you buy a tool well. If you have received a demand letter or been sued, talk to a qualified attorney about the letter itself, and use the tool answers to give that attorney facts about what will be fixed and when.

Last checked: October 31, 2026 Sources: W3C WCAG 2.2; ADA.gov web guidance; Accessible.org pricing page; Axeazy capabilities and pricing pages; FTC January 2025 press release.

Start with a dated first read from Axeazy's free scan before you run this checklist past your shortlist.