Accessibility Insights

Visit Website

Introduction

Accessibility Insights is a family of accessibility testing tools from Microsoft. Its website offers two main products: Accessibility Insights for Web, a browser extension for Chrome and the new Microsoft Edge that tests web pages and applications, and Accessibility Insights for Windows, a desktop tool that tests Windows applications. Microsoft describes the goal as helping teams solve accessibility issues before they reach customers, and the tools are open source on GitHub.

Accessibility Insights for Web supports two primary scenarios. FastPass is a lightweight, two-step process that helps developers find common, high-impact issues in less than five minutes. It combines automated checks, which test compliance with approximately 50 accessibility requirements, and a Tab stops test, which provides instructions, partial automation and a visual helper for keyboard problems such as missing tab stops, keyboard traps and incorrect tab order. The second scenario, Assessment, lets anyone with HTML skills verify that a site meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA. It adds roughly 20 manual tests with step-by-step instructions, examples and how-to-fix guidance; many are “assisted”, meaning the tool identifies test instances or shows a visual helper. The documentation also describes Quick Assess and issue filing.

Accessibility Insights for Windows supports three scenarios. Live Inspect lets developers verify that an element has the right UI Automation properties by hovering over it or giving it keyboard focus, with elements shown in the UIA tree. FastPass for Windows runs automated checks against more than 60 accessibility requirements plus a Tab stops test. Troubleshooting tools let you view the patterns a control supports and invoke them, record application events, and use a built-in colour contrast checker. Microsoft notes that it brings trusted Windows experiences such as Inspect and a Color Contrast Analyzer into a single tool.

Visualisations are a key part of the experience: the extension highlights failing elements on the page and explains how to fix each issue with simple guidance, which makes it a good teaching tool for developers new to accessibility. Results can be exported and, with issue filing configured, sent to an issue tracker. The tools collect usage telemetry only with consent, as the website and README explain.

How it compares: automated engines such as axe-core and Pa11y run in CI without a browser UI, while Accessibility Insights is designed for interactive checks by developers and testers. Its Assessment fills the gap that automation cannot, guiding a person through the manual WCAG checks that require human judgement. WAVE is a similar free in-browser evaluator, and commercial suites such as axe DevTools add guided tests, reporting and enterprise integrations.

In the quality loop, Accessibility Insights belongs at the developer desk and in pre-release accessibility reviews: run FastPass on every new feature, and use Assessment before major releases or compliance sign-off.

The source code is at microsoft/accessibility-insights-web on GitHub under the MIT licence, with about 962 stars; the most recent commit was on 3 November 2026.

Features

1. FastPass: Two-step check of common, high-impact issues in under five minutes.
2. Automated checks: About 50 requirements on the web and more than 60 on Windows.
3. Tab stops helper: Visualises keyboard focus order to find traps and missing stops.
4. Assessment: Guided WCAG 2.1 AA review with about 20 manual and assisted tests.
5. Live Inspect (Windows): Inspect UI Automation properties in the UIA tree.
6. Event monitoring and patterns (Windows): Record UIA events and invoke control patterns.
7. Colour contrast checker: Investigate contrast ratios and choose compliant colours.
8. Issue filing and export: Share findings with teams and trackers.

Pros

1. Free and open source: MIT-licensed tools from Microsoft at no cost.
2. Teaches as it tests: Clear how-to-fix guidance and visual helpers.
3. Free to use: Open source under the MIT licence, so the core tool costs nothing to use.
4. Actively maintained: The repository had commits as recent as 3 November 2026.

Cons

1. Not a CI runner: The web tool is an interactive browser extension; use an engine such as axe-core for pipelines.
2. Chromium browsers only: The web extension targets Chrome and Edge.
3. WCAG 2.1 focus: Assessment targets WCAG 2.1 AA; check newer WCAG 2.2 criteria separately.
4. Windows tool is Windows-only: Desktop testing covers Windows apps, not macOS or Linux.

Usage and Links (Example)

Install Accessibility Insights for Web from the Chrome Web Store or Edge Add-ons (links on the website), then:

1. Open the page you want to test and click the extension icon.
2. Choose FastPass and run Automated checks; failing elements are highlighted on the page.
3. Run the Tab stops test and press Tab through the page to confirm a logical focus order with no traps.
4. For a release review, switch to Assessment and work through each WCAG 2.1 AA requirement, recording pass or fail.
5. Export the results or file issues for any failures.

For Windows apps, download Accessibility Insights for Windows from the website, then hover over controls to inspect their UI Automation properties and run FastPass.

Practical tips:

1. Run FastPass on each pull request that changes UI, and pair it with automated axe-core checks in CI.
2. Use Assessment as a checklist when preparing accessibility conformance reports.
3. Always add screen-reader testing (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver, Narrator) for critical journeys.

Resources:

• Accessibility Insights website
• GitHub repository
• Web overview
• Windows overview

Pricing

Accessibility Insights is free and open source under the MIT licence.

Recommended for?

1. Web developers and testers wanting fast, free, guided accessibility checks in the browser.
2. Teams preparing for WCAG 2.1 AA reviews, using Assessment as a structured guide.
3. Windows desktop developers verifying UI Automation properties.
4. Not a fit as the only tool for CI automation or non-Chromium browsers.

Conclusion

Accessibility Insights is one of the best free tools for hands-on accessibility testing, combining a fast FastPass with a thorough guided WCAG 2.1 AA Assessment and a capable Windows inspector.

Use it alongside automated CI checks and real assistive-technology testing for a balanced accessibility programme.