Screen-Reader Compatibility Verifier – Free HTML Accessibility Check, No Sign-Up

Screen-reader users navigate by headings, links, and labels, not by sight. A page missing alt text, skipping heading levels, or labeling nothing is a maze for them, however beautiful it looks. This free verifier checks pasted HTML against seven screen-reader checks that matter most, and scores the result. No sign-up.

What this tool does

Screen readers turn a page into a spoken outline. Headings become the table of contents, link text becomes the navigation, and alt text becomes the images. When any of those are missing or vague, the outline breaks, and the student must guess their way through content their classmates skim.

The seven checks here cover the failures that appear most often in course pages: no page language, no title, missing or multiple main headings, images without alt text, unlabeled inputs, skipped heading levels, and link text that says nothing out of context.

Automated checks are a floor, not a ceiling. A page can pass all seven and still confuse a screen reader through bad reading order or dense tables. Passing here means ready for human testing, not finished.

How to use it

Paste the HTML of your page or handout.
Click verify HTML.
Fix every failed check, starting with alt text and heading order.
Re-paste and verify again until the score reads full marks.

Paste full page HTML when you can. Snippets without html, head, or title tags will fail the language and title checks even if the content itself is fine.

Worked example

A page with lang=”en”, a title, one h1, an image with alt text, and clean headings passes 7/7. The teacher publishes knowing the spoken outline works.

Remove the alt text from the image, and the image check fails while the rest pass. The fix is one attribute: alt=”Diagram of the water cycle”, and the score returns to full.

A page jumping from h1 to h3 fails the heading-order check. The fix is renumbering the h3 to h2, which also improves the visual outline for sighted readers. Accessibility fixes usually improve the page for everyone.

Honest limits

This tool reads markup patterns, not real screen-reader behavior. Dynamic content, ARIA misuse, focus order, and keyboard traps need manual testing with an actual screen reader and keyboard-only navigation.

Tips

Write link text that makes sense alone: “Week 3 reading” beats “click here” every time, because screen-reader users often tab through links without the surrounding sentences.

Common mistakes

The classic mistake is adding alt text that repeats the caption word for word, or stuffing keywords into it. Alt text should say what the image shows that the text does not, briefly and plainly.

How it fits your week

Verify course pages when they are built, before students encounter them. A check per page during authoring prevents the backlog that makes accessibility feel overwhelming.

A page that works with a screen reader works better for everyone: clearer headings, meaningful links, labeled controls, and images with purpose. The verifier turns those principles into a score you can act on, one check at a time. Paste the HTML, fix the failures, re-verify, and publish pages whose spoken outline matches their visual promise. Students who navigate by ear deserve the same clarity sighted students get at a glance, and seven checks are a small price for that equality.

FAQ

Is a 7/7 score a guarantee of accessibility?
No. It means the common markup barriers are absent. Real accessibility also needs keyboard testing, screen-reader testing, and content review, which no automated check replaces.

What alt text should decorative images get?
Empty alt text (alt=””) so screen readers skip them. Decorative images add noise when announced, and silence is the correct description for decoration.

Embed this tool on your website — free

Copy the code below to add this working tool to your own page. A small credit link stays with it — that’s all we ask.