Transparency note: we make Accessilo, one of the plugins in this comparison. We have tried to be fair: features and prices come from each vendor’s own website and public plugin listings, checked in October 2026. Prices change, so always confirm on the vendor’s site before you buy.
Searching for an “accessibility plugin” for WordPress returns hundreds of results, and they don’t all do the same job. Some add a menu that lets visitors adapt your pages. Some scan your content against WCAG and tell you what to fix. Some quietly repair common problems in your theme. A few try to do everything.
This guide compares the most popular options side by side, explains the differences in plain language and helps you pick the right combination for your site, your clients and your budget.
The short answer
- Want a visitor menu plus a WCAG scanner in one self-hosted plugin? Look at Accessilo or Ally by Elementor.
- Want the most detailed in-editor checker? Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker is built for that.
- Want free fixes for common theme problems? WP Accessibility by Joe Dolson is a long-standing favourite.
- Only need a free visitor toolbar? OneTap and AccessiYes are popular choices.
- Considering a SaaS overlay such as UserWay or accessiBe? Read the section on overlays first.
Whatever you choose, remember: no plugin can make a website fully compliant on its own. Plugins are a great start and a great everyday helper, but accessible content, design and a bit of manual testing still matter.
Three kinds of accessibility plugins
Before comparing products, it helps to know the three jobs these plugins do:
- Visitor widgets (toolbars) add a button and a menu on the front end. Visitors can enlarge text, switch to high contrast, use a dyslexia-friendly font, stop animations and more. They help people adapt your site to their needs, but they don’t change the underlying code.
- Checkers (scanners) analyse your pages against WCAG success criteria and list the issues, such as missing alternative text, low contrast or empty links, so you can fix them at the source.
- Fixers apply automatic improvements across the site, for example a skip link, visible keyboard focus or warnings on links that open a new tab.
The best setup usually combines a checker with real fixes, and adds a visitor widget as a helpful extra.
Comparison at a glance
| Plugin | Visitor widget | WCAG checker | Site-wide fixes | Runs on | Free version | Paid plans (from) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accessilo | ✔ 8 profiles, 26 tools | ✔ 38 checks, front end + whole site | ✔ | Your server | — | €29/year or €79 lifetime (1 site) |
| Ally by Elementor | ✔ | ✔ 180+ checks | ✔ (Pro) | Your server + Elementor account for scans/AI | ✔ 1 site, 5 URL scans | Paid plans on elementor.com |
| Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker | — | ✔ 40+ checks, in the editor | ✔ 12 free / 16 Pro | Your server | ✔ posts and pages | $190/year (1 site) |
| WP Accessibility (Joe Dolson) | Optional basic toolbar | — | ✔ | Your server | ✔ fully free | Free (donations) |
| OneTap | ✔ | — | — | Your server | ✔ | Pro sold as a lifetime licence |
| AccessiYes (CookieYes) | ✔ | — | — | Your server | ✔ fully free | No paid tier |
| UserWay | ✔ | See vendor | — | Vendor cloud (SaaS) | See vendor | $490/year (up to 100K page views/month) |
| accessiBe | ✔ | Automated (vendor) | Automated (vendor) | Vendor cloud (SaaS) | 7-day trial | $490/year (up to 5,000 visits/month) |
The plugins in detail
Accessilo
Accessilo combines a visitor menu with a WCAG checker and site-wide fixes in a single self-hosted plugin. The menu offers 8 one-click profiles (such as Dyslexia, ADHD friendly and Older adults) and 26 tools including read aloud, reading mode and page structure. Administrators can check any page right on the front end or scan up to 1,000 pages per run from the dashboard, with a how-to-fix tip for every issue.
- Best for: site owners and agencies who want visitor tools and a checker in one place, without a SaaS account.
- Good to know: no cookies, no external requests, 8 languages, white label on Agency and Unlimited plans, and an MCP connection for AI agents.
- Pricing: Personal €29/year, Agency (10 sites) €79/year, Unlimited €149/year, or lifetime licences from €79. There is no free version, but every plan has a 15-day money-back guarantee.
Ally by Elementor
Ally, from the team behind Elementor, is one of the most installed accessibility plugins on WordPress.org. It includes a usability widget, an accessibility assistant that scans pages against 180+ WCAG 2.1 AA checks, and an accessibility statement generator. Paid plans add AI-suggested fixes, site-wide fixes, white label, more scans and widget analytics.
- Best for: sites already using Elementor, and anyone who wants AI-assisted remediation.
- Good to know: the free plan covers 1 site and 5 URL scans; scans and AI fixes are tied to an Elementor account and credits.
Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker
Accessibility Checker focuses on auditing. It scans your posts and pages from the WordPress editor, explains every issue with links to documentation and offers a set of toggleable automatic fixes. The paid plans add full-site scanning, custom post types, WooCommerce products, reports and CSV export.
- Best for: teams that want detailed, developer-friendly audit reports inside WordPress.
- Good to know: it has no visitor toolbar. Paid plans start at $190/year for one site, $750/year for 5 sites and $2,250/year for 25 sites.
WP Accessibility by Joe Dolson
A free, long-standing plugin by a well-known accessibility developer. It fixes common theme problems: skip links, focus outlines, language attributes, form labels, viewport zoom and more. It also includes a basic optional toolbar.
- Best for: anyone who wants free, code-level improvements and knows a bit about accessibility terminology.
- Good to know: it doesn’t scan your content, so pair it with a checker.
OneTap
OneTap is a popular visitor widget with content, colour and orientation tools in the free version. The Pro version adds features such as profiles, text-to-speech and a dyslexia font, and is sold as a lifetime licence.
- Best for: sites that only need a visitor toolbar on a small budget.
- Good to know: no WCAG checker, so you will need another tool to find and fix issues in your content.
AccessiYes by CookieYes
A completely free visitor widget from the makers of CookieYes, with content and colour tools, preset profiles, a statement generator and many widget languages.
- Best for: a free, simple toolbar.
- Good to know: no scanner and no site-wide fixes.
UserWay and accessiBe (SaaS overlays)
UserWay and accessiBe are cloud services. Their WordPress plugins connect your site to the vendor’s account, and the widget and its processing run on their servers. Pricing depends on your traffic: according to their published plans, UserWay starts at $490/year for up to 100,000 monthly page views and accessiBe at $490/year for up to 5,000 monthly visits.
Overlays that promise automatic compliance are controversial in the accessibility community. In 2025 the US Federal Trade Commission finalised an order requiring accessiBe to pay $1 million over claims that its tool could make any website WCAG compliant. The lesson applies to every tool, including ours: a widget helps visitors, but it doesn’t replace fixing the site itself.
How to choose
Ask yourself these questions before you install anything:
- Do I need to find problems, help visitors, or both? A checker finds issues, a widget helps visitors, an all-in-one does both.
- Where does the data go? Self-hosted plugins keep everything on your server. SaaS overlays send traffic to a third party, which matters for GDPR and cookie banners.
- How is it priced? Per site, per page view or per scan credit? For agencies with many sites, per-site or unlimited plans are usually far more predictable.
- Which languages do your visitors speak? Check that the widget and its announcements are translated.
- Can you brand it for clients? Agencies should look for white label options.
- Does it slow your site down? Prefer lightweight scripts that load without blocking the page.
Our recommendation
For most WordPress sites, a good accessibility setup looks like this:
- Run a WCAG checker regularly and fix what it finds at the source (alt text, contrast, headings, labels).
- Turn on site-wide fixes such as a skip link and visible focus.
- Offer visitors a well-built accessibility menu so they can adapt your site to their needs.
- Test the key pages with the keyboard and, if you can, a screen reader.
Accessilo was built to cover the first three steps in one lightweight plugin, and to guide you through the fourth. If you’re curious, explore the features or see the plans. And whichever tool you choose, the most important thing is to start: every improvement makes your site easier to use for someone.
Want to know which rules apply to you? Read our page on the European Accessibility Act.
Frequently asked questions
Can a plugin make my website WCAG compliant?
No plugin can guarantee full compliance on its own. Checkers find many issues automatically and fixers solve common problems, but some WCAG criteria need human judgement, such as meaningful alternative text or a logical reading order.
What is the difference between an accessibility widget and an accessibility checker?
A widget is for your visitors: it lets them change text size, contrast, fonts and more. A checker is for you: it scans your pages and lists the issues to fix in your content and theme.
Are accessibility overlays bad?
Overlays that promise automatic compliance have been criticised, and in 2025 the FTC fined one vendor over such claims. A visitor menu is still a helpful extra, as long as you also fix the underlying issues.
Which plugin is best for agencies?
Look for per-site or unlimited licences, white label and import/export of settings. Accessilo, Ally Pro and Equalize Digital all offer options for agencies, with different pricing models.
Sources
- Elementor – Ally Web Accessibility
- Equalize Digital – Accessibility Checker pricing
- FS Code – Best WordPress accessibility plugins in 2026 (UserWay, accessiBe and OneTap pricing)
- CookieYes – Best WordPress accessibility plugins
- Data Privacy + Security Insider – FTC settles with accessiBe (April 2025)
