Top 40 Accessibility Software Tools

The most widely used commercial screen reader for Windows. Used by blind and vision-impaired people to navigate the web, read documents, and operate desktop applications using synthesised speech and braille output.

A free, open-source screen reader for Windows. Used by blind and vision-impaired people as a full-featured alternative to JAWS, and by developers and testers to verify screen reader compatibility of websites and applications.

Apple's built-in screen reader on macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. Used by blind and vision-impaired people to operate iPhones, iPads, and Macs with gesture-based and keyboard navigation, and by developers to test accessibility on Apple platforms.

Google's built-in screen reader for Android devices. Used by blind and vision-impaired people to navigate Android phones and tablets using touch gestures and spoken feedback, and by developers testing mobile app accessibility.

A screen magnification and reading program for Windows. Used by people with low vision to enlarge on-screen content up to 60x, enhance colours and contrast, and have text read aloud while following along visually.

The leading speech recognition software. Used by people with motor disabilities, repetitive strain injuries, or limited hand mobility to control their computer, dictate text, navigate applications, and browse the web entirely by voice.

An accessibility testing browser extension by Deque Systems. Used by developers and QA testers to automatically detect WCAG violations on web pages, identify issues in the DOM, and get guided remediation suggestions.

A free web accessibility evaluation tool by WebAIM. Used by developers, designers, and content authors to visually identify accessibility issues on web pages, including missing alt text, contrast errors, and structural problems.

Google's open-source auditing tool built into Chrome DevTools. Used by developers to run automated accessibility audits alongside performance and SEO checks, generating scored reports with actionable recommendations.

A desktop application by TPGi. Used by designers and developers to check foreground and background colour combinations against WCAG contrast ratio requirements, with an eyedropper tool for sampling colours directly from the screen.

Microsoft's built-in screen reader for Windows. Used by blind and vision-impaired people as a no-cost screen reader option, and by developers for quick accessibility checks without installing additional software.

The built-in magnification tool in Windows. Used by people with low vision to enlarge portions of the screen in full-screen, lens, or docked mode, making text and interface elements easier to see without third-party software.

A feature on Android and iOS that lets people with severe motor disabilities operate their device using one or more switches instead of the touchscreen. Used to scan and select on-screen items for full device control.

A literacy support toolbar for desktop and web. Used by people with dyslexia, learning difficulties, and English as a second language to have text read aloud, get word prediction, use picture dictionaries, and simplify on-screen text.

Apple's built-in voice control system on macOS and iOS. Used by people with motor disabilities to operate their Mac, iPhone, or iPad entirely by voice - including clicking, scrolling, typing, and editing text without touching the device.

A free testing tool by Microsoft for web and Windows applications. Used by developers and testers to run automated checks, perform guided manual assessments for full WCAG compliance, and visualise tab order and heading structure.

A free tool for checking PDF accessibility against the PDF/UA standard. Used by document authors and remediation specialists to verify that tagged PDFs have correct structure, reading order, and alternative text for images.

An enterprise-level digital accessibility platform. Used by organisations to continuously monitor entire websites for WCAG compliance, track accessibility scores over time, prioritise issues, and generate compliance reports.

An automatic captioning feature built into Windows, Android, and Chrome. Used by deaf and hard-of-hearing people to get real-time captions for any audio playing on their device - including video calls, streaming media, and podcasts.

A free, open-source screen reader for Linux. Used by blind and vision-impaired people on Linux desktops to access applications and the web through speech synthesis and braille output, providing full desktop accessibility on the Linux platform.

An AI-powered accessibility testing platform that integrates into development workflows. Used by developers and QA teams to detect accessibility issues across web and mobile applications with automated scanning that fits into CI/CD pipelines.

An enterprise digital accessibility platform combining automated testing, manual expert auditing, and legal support. Used by organisations to achieve and maintain WCAG compliance with continuous monitoring, training, and managed remediation services.

A desktop validation tool that checks websites against WCAG accessibility guidelines, HTML standards, broken links, and spelling. Used by developers and content managers to run comprehensive site-wide checks from a single application.

An integrated accessibility platform with plugins for Figma, Sketch, and Adobe XD, plus browser extensions. Used by designers and developers to check contrast, simulate vision impairments, and run WCAG audits directly within their design and development tools.

The company behind the axe testing engine, offering enterprise accessibility services including axe Monitor for continuous site-wide scanning, expert auditing, managed testing, and training. Used by organisations for end-to-end accessibility programmes.

A digital accessibility company offering the ARC Platform for automated and guided manual testing, plus expert consulting and auditing services. Used by organisations to manage accessibility compliance at scale with dashboard reporting and issue tracking.

A cloud-based digital accessibility platform that combines AI-driven automated fixes with expert manual testing. Used by organisations to continuously monitor and remediate website accessibility issues with real-time reporting and compliance tracking.

A cloud-based website accessibility scanning platform built on the WAVE engine. Used by organisations, particularly in education and government, to scan entire websites at scale, track issues over time, and assign remediation tasks across teams.

A cloud-based accessibility testing API and platform by Level Access. Used by developers and organisations to integrate automated WCAG testing into build processes, content management systems, and custom workflows via a RESTful API.

An open-source, AI-assisted web accessibility monitoring tool. Used by developers and organisations to run automated WCAG scans at scale, generate fix suggestions with machine learning, and integrate accessibility checks into CI/CD workflows.

A cloud-based AI accessibility platform that provides automated remediation and monitoring. Used by organisations to apply real-time accessibility adjustments to websites, with compliance dashboards and reporting for WCAG and ADA requirements.

An automated accessibility testing tool for video and multimedia content. Used by content creators and media teams to check video players, captions, audio descriptions, and media controls against WCAG requirements for multimedia accessibility.

A suite of tools for creating and validating accessible PDF and Office documents. Used by document remediation specialists to tag, structure, and verify PDFs against PDF/UA and WCAG standards with detailed validation reporting.

A free accessibility testing bookmarklet developed by the U.S. Social Security Administration. Used by testers and developers to inspect accessible names, roles, and properties of page elements, check colour contrast, and review page structure.

An AI-powered web accessibility platform offering automated scanning, real-time remediation, and an accessibility widget. Used by organisations to monitor compliance, generate reports, and provide on-page accessibility adjustments for users.

An AI-driven web accessibility solution that provides automated scanning and remediation. Used by website owners to apply accessibility adjustments, though it is important to note that overlay-based solutions are not a substitute for proper accessible design and development.

A free, open-source accessibility quality assurance tool designed for content authors. Used by non-technical editors and content teams to check pages for common accessibility issues with plain-language warnings and tips directly on the page.

A free, open-source accessibility testing toolkit from IBM. Used by developers and testers to scan web pages for WCAG violations using the Accessibility Checker browser extension, with guided rule explanations and integration into CI/CD pipelines.

A free, open-source command-line accessibility testing tool. Used by developers and DevOps teams to run automated WCAG checks from the terminal, integrate accessibility tests into CI/CD pipelines, and monitor dashboards for ongoing compliance.

A cloud-based web governance platform with accessibility scanning built in. Used by organisations to continuously monitor websites for WCAG compliance, track issues over time, prioritise fixes by severity, and generate reports for stakeholders.