We published this post in July 2023 and put a plugin called Access Monitor on the list. Its developer had announced five weeks earlier he was done working on it. We missed the announcement. The recommendation sat on this page for three years.
Last updated August 2026. Originally published July 2023.
Here is the corrected list, rechecked in August 2026.
Where the rules stand right now
In April 2024 the Department of Justice set WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the standard for state and local government websites. In April 2026 the DOJ pushed those deadlines back a year, to April 26, 2027 for larger public entities and April 26, 2028 for smaller ones.
None of it applies to your business. Private companies fall under Title III of the ADA, and there is no federal web rule for Title III. There never has been one.
What there is instead: lawsuits. Title III plaintiffs filed more than 3,100 federal web accessibility cases in 2025, up 27 percent over the year before. Around 64 percent of those cases went after companies under $25 million in revenue. Courts keep pointing at WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the measuring stick, so WCAG 2.1 AA is your target even with no rule on the books.
No plugin makes your site compliant
A plugin finds problems and fixes a handful of them. The rest live in your content and your theme. Missing alt text. Gray text on a light gray button. Form fields with no label. Headings skipping from H2 to H4. A slider your keyboard gets stuck on.
Automated scans also miss the things a human sees in seconds. Whether your link text makes sense out of context. Whether a screen reader reads your menu in a sensible order. Whether a visitor using only a keyboard escapes your popup.
So install a scanner. Then do the work it hands you.
The plugins we install on client sites
| Plugin | What it does | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker | Scans posts and pages every time you save, 40 plus checks against WCAG 2.2 | Free, paid from about $129 a year | Almost every small business site |
| WP Accessibility | Fixes theme level problems, no scanning | Free | Running alongside a scanner |
| WP ADA Compliance Check Basic | Scans up to 15 pages, 81 error checks | Free, paid upgrade available | A second opinion |
| Ally Web Accessibility by Elementor | 5 URL scans, visitor widget, statement generator | Free tier, paid AI fixes | Elementor sites, for the scanner |
Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker
Free. It scans each post and page every time you hit update, then shows the problems in the editor right next to your content. More than 40 checks mapped to WCAG 2.2. Everything runs on your own server, so your content never leaves your site.
The paid version adds a full site scan you run on demand and reports across every page. Around $129 a year for a single site.
Install this one if you install nothing else.
WP Accessibility
Free, from Joe Dolson, who contributes to the WordPress core accessibility team. About 60,000 sites run it. It does no scanning at all. It repairs theme level problems: skip links, visible focus outlines, missing language attributes, and an alt text prompt in your media library.
Run it alongside Accessibility Checker. They do different jobs and they play well together.
WP ADA Compliance Check Basic
The free version scans up to 15 pages with 81 error checks against WCAG 2.2 A and AA. We use it as a second opinion when Accessibility Checker flags something odd and we want another read.
Ally Web Accessibility by Elementor
Worth a mention because we build in Elementor. This is the old One Click Accessibility plugin, bought by Elementor and renamed twice. The free tier gives you five URL scans, a visitor widget, and an accessibility statement generator, and it wants you to create an Elementor account.
Its WordPress.org rating sits near 2.9 stars. Most of the low reviews are about dashboard upsells rather than the scanning itself. Use the scanner. Read the next section before you switch on the widget.
Two plugins we removed from this list
Access Monitor. Development stopped on May 28, 2023. It ran on an outside service, Tenon.io, and Tenon stopped taking new subscribers. If it is still on your site, delete it.
Siteimprove. Pulled from the WordPress plugin directory in March 2024 and back now, and it does nothing without a paid Siteimprove subscription behind it. Built for universities and government teams with the budget for the whole platform.
About the little accessibility widget in the corner
Overlay widgets promise compliance from one line of JavaScript. The filings say otherwise.
In 2025, 1,416 companies with an accessibility widget already installed were sued anyway, up from 1,023 in 2024. In January 2025 the FTC settled with accessiBe for $1 million over how the company marketed its widget as a compliance guarantee.
An overlay sits on top of your code. Your code stays broken underneath it. Some visitors do like the font size and contrast controls, and there is nothing wrong with offering them. Treat a widget as a courtesy to visitors, never as protection.
Five things to do this week
- Install Accessibility Checker. Open your five busiest pages, hit update on each one, read the report. Twenty minutes.
- Fix the alt text on those five pages. Describe what the image shows. Leave alt empty on decorative graphics.
- Check your contrast. Body text needs 4.5 to 1 against its background. Buttons and light gray captions fail most often.
- Tab through your contact form with the keyboard and no mouse. Note where you get stuck.
- Publish an accessibility statement with a working email address on it, then answer the emails.
What this will not fix
Automated scans tell you nothing about whether a blind visitor finishes your checkout. If you sell online or take bookings, you want a manual audit from someone with certified accessibility training. We handle the WordPress side and send clients to Equalize Digital for the deep manual work.
A plugin also does nothing about a PDF menu with no text layer or a video with no captions. Those are separate jobs, and they show up in lawsuits too.
Your next step
Ask me for a free website health audit. I look at accessibility, speed, security and backups, then send you a short video walking through what I found. I explain it in simple terms, and it takes a day or two.
Contact Shift Web Studio through our contact page.
Questions people ask
Does a plugin make my WordPress site ADA compliant?
No. A plugin finds problems and repairs a few of them. Alt text, contrast, form labels, and keyboard order still need a person. Treat the plugin as a to-do list, not a certificate.
How do I check whether my website is ADA compliant?
Install Accessibility Checker, open your five busiest pages, and hit update on each one. Then tab through your forms with the keyboard and no mouse. Twenty minutes gets you an honest starting picture.
How do I make a WordPress website ADA compliant?
Aim at WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Fix alt text, color contrast, form labels, and heading order first, because those account for most of what scanners flag. Then get a manual audit for anything with a checkout or a booking step.
Do accessibility widgets stop lawsuits?
No. In 2025, 1,416 companies with a widget installed were sued anyway, and the FTC fined accessiBe $1 million over how it marketed its widget. A widget helps some visitors. It gives you no legal cover.