MS Accessibility Insights

Accessibility Insights for Web

Accessibility Insights for Web is a free browser extension from Microsoft for Chrome and Edge. It was developed to detect barriers on websites early and document them in a structured way. The tool is suitable for use in the development process as well as for training and manual audits.

Features and Test Modes

Accessibility Insights offers two main modes that cover different needs:

FastPass

A quick automated test that identifies typical barriers, including:

Missing alternative texts
Insufficient color contrast
Faulty ARIA attributes
Non-focusable or unlabeled controls
Results are visually highlighted and summarized in a brief report

Assessment Mode

A structured, manual testing process along the WCAG

Divided into thematic areas such as:

Keyboard accessibility
Focus management
Semantics & structure
Visual information
Input aids and forms

Each section contains concrete instructions, examples, and evaluation aids

Advantages

Combination of automated initial testing and manual guidance
Intuitive user interface and clear language
Ideal for UX designers, developers, and test teams
Export function for results (HTML or JSON)
No registration required, fully usable locally

Limitations

Not designed for large-scale team projects with many pages
No integrated project management or role control

Usage Recommendation

Accessibility Insights is ideal for integration into development and design processes. It is well-suited for reviews of components, pages, or features in an early development stage. The tool is also helpful for training purposes as it guides step by step through typical accessibility requirements.

Example Use Case

A development team uses FastPass for weekly UI checks. Critical issues such as focus loss or missing labels are specifically documented in Assessment Mode and forwarded to the frontend team for bug fixing.

Category: Hybrid tool (automated + manual)

Further Information & Download

Accessibility Insights is part of a tool family that also offers suitable variants for Android (mobile) and Windows (desktop applications).