Web Page Accessibility Validating with WebAim Wave Tool

Owned by Linda Ludlum
Last updated: Feb 26, 2024 by Susan Palmer
2 min read



The Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (WAVE) is tool to help web developers and content managers make their web content more accessible. WAVE cannot tell you if your web content is accessible. Only a human can determine true accessibility. But, WAVE can help you evaluate the accessibility of your web content.

WAVE is easy to use. It can be used at the WAVE website by entering the URL of a web page or by installing a browser plugin to Chrome or Firefox.

Using the WAVE Tool Online

  1. Visit http://wave.webaim.org/

  2. Copy and paste the URL for your web page address field in WAVE and press Enter or Return on your keyboard.

  3. WAVE produces a report of web accessibility problems (shown in red, yellow, and black) and features (shown in green, blue, and purple). 

Adding the WAVE Browser Extension to Chrome or Firefox

The WAVE Chrome and Firefox extensions allows you to evaluate web content for accessibility issues directly within Chrome and Firefox browsers.

  1. Visit http://wave.webaim.org/extension/ to download the extension for Chrome or Firefox.

  2. To run a WAVE report, simply click on the WAVE icon to the right of your browser address bar.

    Wave Extension Icon

     

  3. Click on the icon again or refresh the page to remove the WAVE interface.

Interpreting WAVE Results

WAVE will present your page with embedded icons and indicators. Each icon, box, and piece of information added by WAVE presents some information about the accessibility of your page. While WAVE is most effective when used by someone knowledgeable about web accessibility, people who are not web accessibility experts can also benefit from WAVE.

The report section at the top of the page indicates if WAVE detected any errors or not. The absence of errors DOES NOT mean your page is accessible. RED icons indicate accessibility errors. GREEN icons indicate accessibility features. The other icons and indicators indicate other elements that you should look at. WAVE brings the underlying accessibility information of a page to the fore-front so it can be easily evaluated in context.

You can view a brief overview of what each icon or indicator means by clicking it and viewing its documentation or by accessing the documentation panel.