Which WCAG version do you scan against?

Every scan covers WCAG 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 Level AA simultaneously — the engine (axe-core) tags rules with each version they apply to, and ScanAble enables all three. WCAG 2.2 is the current version; 2.1 is what ADA Title II references; 2.0 is what most older procurement contracts specify. Covering all three means one scan answers all three questions, and you don't have to pick a version up front.

What does the full report include?

A branded PDF with your compliance score, every violation grouped by severity, fix instructions with code examples, WCAG criteria mapping for each issue, affected HTML elements, and a list of passed checks. Hand it to your developer or attach it to compliance records.

How is the compliance score calculated?

Score = passes / (passes + Σ(violation_nodes × severity_weight)) × 100, rounded and clamped to 0–100. Each axe-core rule pass earns 1 point. Each failing element (node) is multiplied by a severity weight: critical 10×, serious 5×, moderate 2×, minor 1×. Severities come from axe-core's own impact classification — we don't reweight rules ourselves. Multi-page audits aggregate by averaging per-page scores for pages that scanned successfully. Full worked example and caveats at /methodology.

What's in the audit report?

Every $49 Audit Report is a 4–8 page branded PDF with these sections: (1) Cover Page — your URL, scan date, compliance score, and a verification block with the report ID and Ed25519 signature. (2) Executive Summary — score gauge, severity breakdown, and contextual analysis. (3) What This Audit Does Not Cover — an honest breakdown of what automated scans miss (keyboard navigation, screen reader UX, alt-text meaningfulness, focus management) and require manual review. (4) Violations by Severity — every detected issue with description, affected HTML elements, WCAG criteria, and fix instructions. (5) Passed Checks — list of all WCAG rules your site passes. View a real example at /sample-report.pdf.

How is this different from free browser tools?

Free tools flag issues inline but produce no exportable documentation. You cannot share the results with stakeholders, attach them to compliance records, or hand them to a developer with fix instructions. ScanAble produces a professional PDF that serves as both an audit record and a remediation plan.

Do I need to create an account?

No. Enter your URL, see your free preview, pay $49, and your report is ready to download. We only ask for an email to deliver the PDF link.

What if the scan fails or the report is wrong?

If our scanner cannot reach your website, you are not charged. If you receive a report you believe contains errors, contact us within 7 days for a full refund.

How long does the scan take?

Most scans finish in 30 to 60 seconds. Pages with heavy JavaScript may take up to 90 seconds. Your PDF is ready to download the moment the scan completes.

What does the scan NOT catch?

Automated tools (including ours, axe DevTools, Lighthouse, and Pa11y) catch approximately 30-40% of WCAG issues per Deque's published research. The categories that require manual review and are NOT evaluated by this report: keyboard navigation flow and tab order, screen reader experience, alt-text quality (we detect presence, not meaningfulness), focus management on dynamic content, cognitive load, complex form flows, color/contrast judgment in context, drag-and-drop alternatives, and caption/transcript accuracy. The PDF itself includes a full breakdown of these limitations. A clean ScanAble report does not certify compliance; combine it with manual testing for full coverage.

Can I scan pages behind a login?

Yes. On the homepage, click "Scan a page behind a login?" below the URL field, paste your session cookies in browser format (name=value; name2=value2), enter your email, then pay inline via Stripe Elements — no redirect. Cookies stay in your browser through the entire purchase, are sent directly to the scanner only after payment confirms, and are never written to our database. API customers can also pass a `cookies` array to /api/v1/scan on paid plans. The cookies are never logged, never included in the signed report payload, and never echoed in API responses. Because we don't keep them, the free 90-day re-scan does not apply to authenticated reports; just run a new authenticated scan when you want to verify fixes.

How does the $149 Site Audit work?

Provide a sitemap.xml URL or paste up to 25 URLs at /site-audit. After payment, we scan every page (using the same axe-core engine and full WCAG 2.0/2.1/2.2 Level AA coverage as the single-page audit), then deliver one combined signed PDF with a per-page score table, an aggregate compliance score, and every detected violation grouped by severity. Same 7-day money-back guarantee.

Why is the Site Audit a separate price?

Multi-page scans take ~10 seconds per page in addition to PDF generation. Pricing the $149 SKU separately keeps the $49 single-page Audit Report priced for impulse buyers without forcing them to subsidize multi-page runtime. The Site Audit is for agencies, compliance officers, and B2B vendors who need site-wide evidence, not just a single landing page.

Do you sell or recommend accessibility overlays?

No. ScanAble does not sell, license, recommend, or build accessibility overlays — the JavaScript widgets that promise to fix compliance issues at runtime. Overlays patch symptoms instead of source code, have been publicly opposed by the National Federation of the Blind, and have not prevented ADA lawsuits. We've published our full position at /no-overlay-pledge. We produce audit evidence with source-code fix guidance instead.

Portfolio demo. Payments run in Stripe test mode: use card 4242 4242 4242 4242, any future date and any CVC. No real charges.

Comparison

ScanAble vs WAVE API

Updated April 28, 2026

WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool) by WebAIM has been the go-to accessibility checker for years. ScanAble is a modern alternative with richer data output, a compliance scoring system, and significantly lower API pricing. Here's how they compare.

Feature comparison

Feature	ScanAble	WAVE
WCAG version	WCAG 2.2 AA (latest)	WCAG 2.0/2.1
Compliance score (0-100)	Yes, weighted by severity	No score — pass/fail only
Fix suggestions	Detailed per violation with code context	Limited descriptions
Severity weighting	Critical/Serious/Moderate/Minor with weighted scoring	Basic error/alert/contrast categories
HTML snippets	Full HTML + CSS selectors	HTML snippets only
PDF report	$49 per report with verified, timestamped PDF	No PDF generation
API response format	Structured JSON + OpenAPI spec	JSON/XML
Browser extension	No (API-first)	Yes (free Chrome extension)
Visual overlay	No	Yes (highlights issues on page)
Powered by	axe-core (Deque, used by Microsoft/Google)	Proprietary engine

Pricing comparison

Tier	ScanAble	WAVE
Pricing model	Monthly subscription	Pay-per-credit (no subscription)
Free tier	100 scans/mo (recurring)	100 credits (one-time signup bonus)
1,000 scans	$19/mo	$30 one-time (1,000 credits)
5,000 scans	$49/mo	$150 one-time (5,000 credits)
25,000 scans	$149/mo	$625 one-time (25,000 credits)
Per-scan cost at scale	$0.006-0.019	$0.025-0.04

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More comparisons

vs accessiBe vs Lighthouse vs axe DevTools vs Siteimprove vs Pa11y