WebAbility

Find and fix web accessibility (WCAG 2.2, ADA, Section 508, EAA, AODA) issues from your coding agent — scan any URL/HTML with 3 engines, framework-aware fixes, verify, vision audit, and auditor-ready reports.

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@webability/mcp

Accessibility testing MCP server for Cursor, VS Code Copilot, Claude Code, and any other MCP-compatible IDE.

What is WebAbility?

WebAbility.io is an AI-powered web accessibility platform — accessibility widget, automated scanner, and AI agents for WCAG 2.1 / 2.2 AA, ADA, Section 508, EAA (European Accessibility Act) and AODA compliance. This MCP exposes the same accessibility-testing engine that powers the WebAbility widget and dashboard, so you can scan, audit and fix web accessibility issues (color contrast, ARIA, alt text, keyboard navigation, focus visibility, target size, and more) from your IDE while you build.

New to accessibility compliance? Start with the free WCAG & ADA accessibility checker, or read the WebAbility MCP docs and the getting-started guide.

The server registers an instructions block on initialize, so any MCP-compatible client picks up business context (what tool to call when, the three-tier output convention, etc.) automatically — no setup required beyond the install below.

Why this over other accessibility MCPs

Most accessibility MCP servers stop at find and suggest. WebAbility closes the whole loop in your editor, and starts free:

  • Free, local scan — no account, no Docker. scan_page runs entirely on your machine. (Deque's axe MCP needs a paid subscription, an API key, and a Docker install just to analyze a page.)
  • Fixes that fit your stack. generate_ai_fix returns ready-to-paste code for the framework you actually use — Tailwind, MUI, Bootstrap, WordPress, Next.js — not generic guidance.
  • A vision pass DOM scanners can't do. visual_audit catches focus visibility, icon contrast, and "looks like a button but isn't" — issues axe-core structurally cannot see.
  • Verification, not just detection. verify_fix re-checks that your fix actually landed and returns verified: true/false. Every 2026 comparison of accessibility MCPs names this the biggest gap in the category — most tools never close it.
  • Evidence for compliance. start_audit produces a persistent, timestamped report and Excel workbook you can hand to an auditor — not a result that vanishes with your session.

The full cycle, without leaving the editor: scan_page → generate_ai_fix → verify_fix, then start_audit when you need the paper trail.

Install

npm install -g @webability/mcp

Setup

Add to your IDE's MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "webability": {
      "command": "webability-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Optional env: WEBABILITY_API_URL (default https://api.webability.io) for self-hosted backends.

Scan engines

scan_page runs three engines in parallel and deduplicates the results:

EngineRulesWhat it covers
WebAbility detectors60+Gradient-aware contrast, weak names, decorative icons, landmark hierarchy, ARIA correctness, link consistency, target size, keyboard traps
axe-core104Industry-standard WCAG 2.2 baseline
HTML_CodeSniffer200+Section 508 + WCAG techniques cross-reference

Three-tier output (since v1.2.1)

Every scan returns:

  • issues — high-confidence violations, safe to surface as bugs
  • incomplete — findings that need human review (contrast against gradients, marketing imagery, framer-motion pre-animation states, axe-incomplete). Never auto-fix these.
  • summary — counts by severity + an incomplete count

This mirrors axe-core's violations / incomplete / passes split and prevents agents from "fixing" false positives in destructive ways.

Tools

ToolWhat it does
scan_pageScan a URL for WCAG accessibility issues (3 engines)
flow_scanMulti-page journey scan with deduplicated issues across pages
scan_htmlScan a raw HTML snippet (no URL needed)
detect_frameworkDetect Tailwind / MUI / Bootstrap / Next.js / WP / plain CSS
generate_ai_fixFramework-aware fix alternatives. Auto-extracts brand palette from the live URL on contrast issues.
verify_fixRe-scan a fixed element and confirm the violation is gone — verified: true/false. Closes the find → fix → verify loop.
visual_auditPixel-level audit via vision (icon contrast, focus visibility, looks-like-a-button-but-isn't)
start_auditKick off the full server-side audit deliverable (report + Excel workbook). Returns an id to poll. Requires an account.
get_auditCheck an audit's progress and, once complete, get the severity summary + report/workbook download URLs.
check_color_contrastWCAG contrast check on a color pair; pass url to get brand-aligned suggestions from the live page
check_ariaValidate ARIA attributes in an HTML snippet
get_rulesList axe-core rules with optional WCAG tag filter
find_sourceMap a CSS selector back to local source files

When to use this MCP

  • Building a new component and want it accessible from day one
  • Auditing a localhost / staging build before pushing
  • Triaging a Lighthouse / axe report — scan_page consolidates all three engines
  • Generating fix suggestions that match the framework you're already using
  • Checking color contrast against the user's actual brand palette (not generic suggestions)

Examples

In Cursor / Claude Code:

"Scan localhost:3000 for accessibility issues"

"Walk login → dashboard → checkout and report unique issues across the flow"

"Suggest a fix for the contrast issue on .btn-primary on https://example.com — match their brand colors"

"What does WCAG 1.4.11 check?"

Privacy, scan logs & telemetry

Every scan is logged locally to ~/.webability/scans/ — a one-line-per-scan index.jsonl ledger plus the full result of your last 500 scans. Browse them with the scan_history tool ("what did we scan earlier?") or plain jq. Set WEBABILITY_SCAN_LOG=off to disable, WEBABILITY_SCAN_LOG_DIR to relocate.

The server also reports one small telemetry event per tool call (every tool, not just scans) to the WebAbility API: tool name, a short target label (URL, selector, issue type — never page content), pass/fail, duration, issue counts, and a persistent anonymous install ID. Full scan results, HTML, and generated fix code never leave your machine via telemetry. Set WEBABILITY_SCAN_TELEMETRY=off to opt out.

Two tools — generate_ai_fix and visual_audit — additionally send page content (an HTML snippet or a screenshot) to WebAbility's API so it can call a third-party LLM on your behalf; WebAbility doesn't store that content, but the LLM provider sees it in transit. See PRIVACY.md for the full per-tool breakdown and WebAbility's privacy policy.

Learn more

WebAbility platform & docs

Accessibility compliance guides

Accessibility by industry

Install the widget on your stack

Package

Keywords: web accessibility, accessibility testing, WCAG 2.2 AA, ADA compliance, Section 508, EAA, AODA, a11y, accessibility scanner, color contrast checker, ARIA validation, alt text, keyboard navigation, screen reader, MCP server, accessibility for AI coding agents.

License

MIT © WebAbility.io