Problem
Accessibility tools report problems in the language of engineers. A designer, a content editor or a product manager gets a list of rule names and cannot tell what is wrong, who it affects or whose job it is to fix it.
What I did
- Wrote plain-language explanations for 94 rules: the 90 default axe-core rules, plus
target-sizeand three optional AAA rules. Each issue says what is wrong, who it affects and how to fix it. - Sorted issues by severity (Critical, Serious, Minor) and by role (Design, Content, Code). The role filter is remembered between sessions.
- Added “Show on page”, which outlines the element and scrolls to it, including inside open shadow DOM.
- Added a copyable Markdown checklist grouped by role, ready to paste into an issue tracker.
- Added a “Needs manual review” section for cases an automated check cannot decide, so they are not reported as passed.
Result
A free extension under the MIT license, published in the Chrome Web Store, with the source on GitHub. Automated checks cover only part of accessibility problems: nested iframes are not checked, and chrome:// pages cannot be scanned. The interface is in English.
Decisions
- Everything runs in the browser. No accounts, analytics or servers, and only three permissions:
activeTab,scriptingandstorage. - The axe-core version is pinned, so the explanations stay consistent with the rules that produce them.
- Results that need human judgment are shown as manual review, not as pass or fail.