Scan any Joomla site against 16 WCAG 2.1 AA rules in seconds — no extension install, no signup. Built for EU compliance.
Joomla powers roughly 2% of the web, with a disproportionately strong presence across EU government portals, educational institutions, and public-sector organisations. The European Accessibility Act (EAA) applies to any Joomla site offering services or products to EU residents — from municipal portals to membership-based community platforms.
Joomla 4 and 5 introduced meaningful accessibility improvements: built-in ARIA landmark roles, a skip-to-content navigation link, and the Cassiopeia frontend template with WCAG-friendly markup. Yet the template system and reliance on third-party extensions remain common entry points for accessibility regressions — custom overrides, outdated modules, and theme colourization often introduce the same issues our scanner finds on every CMS.
16 automated rules covering images, links, forms, headings, language, viewport, contrast, ARIA misuse, and more — mapped to real WCAG success criteria.
Paste your URL, get a letter grade with every issue listed by severity. No account, no email, no waiting for an audit report.
The rule set targets what EU enforcement and enterprise procurement actually look at: WCAG 2.1 AA basics you can document today.
When your scan flags a failing rule, here's where to fix it in the Joomla administrator:
| Issue | Where to fix in Joomla |
|---|---|
| Missing alt text on images | Content → Media → click image → edit the Alt Text field in the image details panel; or set it when inserting an image into an article |
| Low contrast text | System → Site Templates → Cassiopeia Details and Files → edit user.css — adjust body text colour (e.g. #333 or darker) and background contrast |
| Missing heading structure | Article editor → select heading text → use the Paragraph dropdown in the TinyMCE toolbar to choose Heading 2, 3, etc. Only use one H1 per page. |
| Missing form labels | Extensions → Modules → search module → edit → ensure Show Input Label is enabled; for components like JForms or RSForm, check each field's Label configuration |
| Generic link text ("read more", "click here") | Article editor → select the link text and rewrite it to be descriptive; for "Read More" links, edit the article's intro text so the link makes sense out of context |
| Missing page language | System → Global Configuration → Site → Default Language — ensures the html lang attribute is set correctly. Also check Language Switcher module settings. |
| Missing alt on logo or template images | Extensions → Templates → Styles → Cassiopeia (or your template) → Edit → Logo tab — set the Alternative Text (Alt) field for the brand logo |
Joomla 4 and 5 ship with several built-in accessibility features, and the ecosystem offers specialised tools to go further:
The Cassiopeia template includes automatic ARIA landmark roles, a skip-to-content link, and responsive viewport settings. TinyMCE in Joomla 4+ supports accessible heading and list markup out of the box. The login and search modules render with proper form labels by default.
A free Joomla extension that runs WAVE-based checks directly inside your admin. It scans articles, modules, and menu items for common WCAG failures. Available from the Joomla Extensions Directory for Joomla 4 and 5.
Joomla 4's TinyMCE editor includes a built-in accessibility checker (Tools → Accessibility Checker) that highlights contrast, heading-order, and link-text issues inline while you edit — catching problems before they go live.
If you use a custom or third-party template, review the template's HTML structure for correct heading hierarchy, ARIA landmarks, colour contrast, and keyboard navigation. Override files in layouts/ and html/ often strip out accessibility features from the original Cassiopeia markup.
Premium Joomla templates often include complex colour schemes, slider modules, and mega menus that can introduce contrast errors, missing labels, or broken focus outlines. Always scan a page with your active template before going live. Many template providers now ship WCAG-compliant variants — check their documentation.
Accessibility is not a one-time fix — Joomla sites change constantly through extension updates, content additions, and template modifications. Keep compliance sustainable with these practices:
Dig deeper into the compliance work that comes after the scan:
Automated scanning catches roughly a third of accessibility issues — but it catches the ones that are cheapest to fix first. When you want the full picture, our e-book covers the complete checklist plus a 14-day fix plan: