a11y-audit

name: a11y-auditdescription: >  This skill should be used when the user asks to "check accessibility",  "audit WCAG compliance", "scan HTML for a11y issues", "check color contrast",  or "find accessibility violations in web pages".license: MIT + Commons Clausemetadata:   version: 1.0.0  author: borghei  category: engineering  domain: accessibility  updated: 2026-04-02  tags: [accessibility, a11y, wcag, contrast, html]

Accessibility Audit

Category: Engineering Domain: Web Accessibility

Overview

The Accessibility Audit skill provides automated scanning of HTML files for WCAG 2.1 compliance violations and color contrast checking against AA/AAA standards. It catches missing alt text, broken heading hierarchies, unlabeled form inputs, and insufficient color contrast early in development.

Clarify First

Before running the audit, settle the inputs below. When one is missing or vague and would change the result, ask about it; when it wouldn't, use a sensible default and say which one you used.

• Target & scope: which HTML files, directory, or CSS to scan (determines what gets checked and the --file/--dir/--css arguments).
• Conformance level: A, AA, or AAA target (sets contrast thresholds and which violations are CRITICAL vs WARNING vs INFO).
• Use context: one-off remediation vs CI gate (drives --strict gating and JSON output).

Ask about the two or three inputs that matter most for this request, not the whole list. If the user wants a result straight away, produce it and state your assumptions at the top.

Quick Start

# Scan HTML for WCAG 2.1 violations
python scripts/a11y_scanner.py --file index.html

# Scan a directory of HTML files
python scripts/a11y_scanner.py --dir ./src/templates

# Check color contrast
python scripts/contrast_checker.py --foreground "#333333" --background "#ffffff"

# Parse CSS file for contrast issues
python scripts/contrast_checker.py --css styles.css

# JSON output for CI
python scripts/a11y_scanner.py --file index.html --format json

Tools Overview

a11y_scanner.py

Scans HTML files for WCAG 2.1 violations including structural, semantic, and interactive element issues.

contrast_checker.py

Checks color contrast ratios against the WCAG 2.1 AA and AAA thresholds.

Workflows

Full Accessibility Audit

1. Scan HTML - Run a11y_scanner.py on all templates
2. Check contrast - Run contrast_checker.py on stylesheets
3. Triage - Prioritize Level A violations first
4. Remediate - Fix critical issues (alt text, form labels, headings)
5. Re-scan - Verify fixes pass all checks

CI Integration

# Gate on Level A violations
python scripts/a11y_scanner.py --dir ./templates --format json --level A --strict

# Check CSS contrast
python scripts/contrast_checker.py --css ./static/css/main.css --format json

Development Workflow

1. Pre-commit - Quick scan of changed HTML files
2. PR review - Full scan as part of review checklist
3. Staging audit - Comprehensive scan before release
4. Monitoring - Regular scheduled audits

Scope & Limitations

In Scope:

• Static scanning of a single HTML file or a directory of .html/.htm files with a11y_scanner.py for WCAG 2.1 issues: image alt text, heading hierarchy, form labels, ARIA attributes, generic link text, the lang attribute, positive tabindex values and landmarks
• Findings tagged with a WCAG level and success criterion, mapped to critical (A), warning (AA) and info (AAA), with --level filtering and a --strict exit code for CI gates
• Contrast ratio checks with contrast_checker.py for one foreground/background pair or for color pairs pulled from a CSS file, against the AA and AAA thresholds, with a suggested compliant color
• Remediation guidance from the WCAG reference and the quick-fix tables in this file

Out of Scope:

• Testing a rendered page in a real browser, including content added by JavaScript, runtime focus order and keyboard traps (see engineering/qa-browser-automation/ and engineering/playwright-pro/)
• Testing with screen readers or other assistive technology, or with users who rely on them
• Visual design review and design-token audits (see engineering/design-auditor/)
• Native app accessibility (see product-team/apple-hig-expert/ for Apple platforms)
• Legal advice on accessibility obligations

Important Caveats:

• Both tools read source files only. Markup built at runtime by a framework or template engine, and styles computed in the browser, are not seen the way a user sees them.
• The CSS check pairs color with background-color or background declared in the same rule. Inherited colors, CSS variables, images and gradients behind text are not resolved, so contrast results need visual confirmation.
• A clean scan covers the checks listed above, not every WCAG success criterion. It is not a conformance claim or an accessibility statement, and many criteria still need manual review.
• The rules target WCAG 2.1. Criteria added in WCAG 2.2, such as minimum target size, are not checked.

Reference Documentation

• WCAG Guidelines - Conformance levels, success criteria, common fixes

Common Patterns Quick Reference

WCAG Levels

Contrast Ratios

Quick Fixes

Severity Mapping

• CRITICAL - WCAG Level A violations
• WARNING - WCAG Level AA violations
• INFO - WCAG Level AAA recommendations