EAA Compliance Scanner Desktop — Free, Offline WCAG 2.1 AA Scanner for macOS, Linux & Windows
Accessibility compliance doesn't have to mean expensive SaaS tools or slow cloud-based scanners. The EAA Compliance Scanner Desktop is a free, native desktop application that runs every WCAG 2.1 AA rule right on your machine — no accounts, no internet, no limits.
It's built for developers, QA engineers, and compliance teams who need to check sites before they go live, run batch audits, or integrate accessibility into CI/CD pipelines without hitting API rate limits.
What It Does
The desktop app applies the same 22 WCAG 2.1 AA rules as our CLI, but in a native interface with features designed for daily use:
- Single-page scan — paste a URL, get results in seconds with pass/fail per rule, issue counts (errors, warnings, notices), and an overall score.
- Whole-site crawl — scan up to 200 same-origin pages with live progress and a per-page findings breakdown. Average score and most frequent issue types are summarized automatically.
- One-click PDF reports — save scan results as formatted PDF reports for documentation, sharing, or compliance records.
- Batch scanning (planned, not in this build) — scan a list of URLs in sequence with progress tracking plus aggregate stats (average score, total errors, failure rate per URL).
- CSV / JSON export (planned, not in this build) — export individual or batch results for spreadsheet analysis, dashboards, or programmatic consumption.
Why a Desktop App?
Most accessibility scanners today are either web-based (meaning your page data passes through their servers) or cloud APIs that charge per scan. The desktop app is different:
- Fully offline — scans run locally. Page data never leaves your machine. Great for internal sites, staging environments, and air-gapped networks.
- No rate limits — scan as many pages as you like, as fast as your machine can handle.
- No accounts — download and run. There is no signup, because there is no Pro edition to sign up for today.
- Cross-platform — native builds for macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel), Linux (AppImage + .deb), and Windows (installer + portable).
Platform Breakdown
macOS
Native builds for both Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel Macs. Comes as DMG and ZIP. Note: the app is not signed with an Apple Developer ID, so on first launch right-click and select Open to bypass the unidentified-developer gate.
Linux
AppImage (universal, works on any distro) and .deb (Debian/Ubuntu). The AppImage needs chmod +x on first use. No runtime dependencies beyond what Electron bundles.
Windows
NSIS installer for permanent install and a portable .exe that runs from any folder — USB sticks, build agents, CI runners. No admin rights needed for the portable version.
Free vs Pro
Everything in the Free column is in the build you download today. The Pro column lists what a paid edition is planned to add — it is not for sale yet, and there is no price for it.
| Feature | Free | Pro (not released) |
|---|---|---|
| Single-page scan | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Whole-site crawl | Up to 200 pages | Unlimited |
| PDF reports | yes | yes |
| Batch scanning | — | planned |
| CSV / JSON export | — | planned |
| Crawl depth | 200 pages | Unlimited |
| Price | Free (MIT) | Not for sale yet |
Download
All builds are available on the downloads page. Or build from source:
git clone https://github.com/mahope/hermes-passiv
cd hermes-passiv/desktop
npm install
npm start
CI/CD teams can also run the same engine via CLI with pip or npm, or through the GitHub Actions workflow template.
What the Scanner Checks
The engine covers all 22 WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria that can be automated including:
- Image alt text presence and emptiness
- Heading structure (h1-h6 hierarchy)
- Link text quality and redundancy
- Form input labels and aria-label usage
- Color contrast (WCAG 2.1 AA ratios for text and non-text)
- Language attribute on html element
- Viewport meta tag for responsive scaling
- Frame/iframe title attributes
- Video/audio element captions and transcripts
- Table headers and scope attributes
- ARIA landmark roles and duplicates
- Landmark nesting and complementary roles
- Tabindex values (positive values are flagged)
- Accesskey attribute usage (duplicates and conflicts)
- Empty buttons and links in navigation
- Abbreviation elements with title attributes
- Blockquote with correct cite attribute
- Description list (dl/dt/dd) structure
- Figure/figcaption pairing
- Cite element usage in blockquotes
- Label-for association with form controls
- Skip-navigation link presence
Automated checks catch roughly 30–40% of accessibility issues. For full EAA conformance, pair with manual testing — see our free online scan tool and compliance guides.
Licensing
The free tier is MIT-licensed and open source, and nothing in it expires. There is no Pro licence for the EAA scanner today, and no price to pay for one. Check the downloads page for current availability.
Read more: Downloads page with all platforms. Or use the free online scanner.