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How to Check ADA Compliance with a Chrome Extension

·PageAuditors Team

How to Check ADA Compliance with a Chrome Extension

ADA web accessibility lawsuits hit a record high in 2025, with over 4,500 cases filed in the United States. The average settlement is $35,000, and small businesses are the most common targets. The good news: most violations are detectable and fixable with free tools.

A Chrome extension can scan any web page for ADA-related accessibility issues in seconds. Here is how to use one and what to do with the results.

What ADA Compliance Means for Websites

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses that serve the public to make their services accessible to people with disabilities. Courts have consistently ruled that websites count as "places of public accommodation" under Title III.

There is no official ADA standard for websites. Instead, courts reference WCAG 2.2 Level AA -- the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines published by the W3C -- as the benchmark. Meeting WCAG 2.2 AA is the closest thing to "ADA compliant" that exists.

For government websites, ADA Title II explicitly requires WCAG 2.2 Level AA compliance. State and local governments face a deadline of April 24, 2026 (or April 24, 2027 for small governments) to bring their websites into compliance.

Step-by-Step: Check ADA Compliance in Chrome

1. Install the Extension

Install Accessibility Checker -- ADA & WCAG Scanner from the Chrome Web Store. It is free, requires no account, and scans entirely within your browser.

2. Scan Your Website

Navigate to any page on your website and click the extension icon in your toolbar. The scan runs in 2-5 seconds.

3. Review Your Compliance Score

You will see:

  • Compliance score (0-100): A quick gauge of how accessible the page is. Higher is better.
  • Issues by severity: Critical, serious, moderate, and minor. Focus on critical and serious first -- these are the violations most likely to trigger legal action.
  • Plain-English descriptions: Each issue includes an explanation of what is wrong, why it matters, and how to fix it. No WCAG jargon.
  • Element highlighting: Click any issue to see the exact element on the page that needs to be fixed.

4. Fix Issues by Priority

Start with critical and serious issues. These are the violations that affect the most users and carry the highest legal risk:

Critical issues typically include:

  • Images with no alt text (screen readers cannot describe them)
  • Form fields with no labels (users cannot tell what to type)
  • Missing document language (screen readers do not know what language to use)

Serious issues typically include:

  • Insufficient color contrast (text is hard to read)
  • Links with no discernible text (screen readers announce "link" with no description)
  • Missing heading structure (users cannot navigate by headings)

5. Rescan After Fixing

After making changes, reload the page and run the scan again. Your compliance score should improve. Repeat until critical and serious issues are resolved.

What the Extension Checks

The extension uses axe-core -- the same accessibility testing engine used by Microsoft, Google, and the U.S. government. It tests for WCAG 2.2 Level AA criteria including:

  • Color contrast ratios
  • Alt text on images
  • Form labels and instructions
  • Keyboard navigation
  • ARIA roles and attributes
  • Heading structure
  • Link text quality
  • Document language

It also runs dark pattern detection based on FTC guidelines, checking for deceptive UI patterns like hidden costs, trick questions, and forced continuity.

For .gov and .mil domains, the extension automatically displays ADA Title II deadline alerts and compliance requirements.

Limitations of Extension-Based Checking

Chrome extensions scan one page at a time. This is perfect for spot-checking during development or reviewing key pages, but it has limitations:

  • No site-wide crawling. You need to manually visit each page.
  • No scheduled monitoring. You need to remember to re-scan periodically.
  • No PDF reports. Results are displayed in the extension popup.
  • No JavaScript-dependent states. The extension scans the page as currently rendered. Modals, tabs, and dynamic content need to be visible when you scan.

For comprehensive ADA compliance monitoring across your entire website, PageAuditors offers multi-page crawling, scheduled scans, PDF reports, and site-wide compliance tracking starting at $19/month.

Is My Website Legally Required to Be ADA Compliant?

If your business serves the public and has a website, courts are likely to consider your website covered under ADA Title III. This applies to:

  • E-commerce stores
  • Restaurants with online menus or ordering
  • Medical practices with patient portals
  • Banks with online banking
  • Hotels with online booking
  • Any business with an online presence that serves customers

Government websites (federal, state, and local) are explicitly covered under ADA Title II and have mandatory WCAG 2.2 compliance deadlines.

The safest approach: treat WCAG 2.2 Level AA as the baseline for any public-facing website. A free Chrome extension scan takes 10 seconds and can identify issues before they become lawsuits.

Install the Accessibility Checker extension and scan your first page now.