Tools for Testing Digital Accessibility - WAVE, NDVA, and PAC

For deep assessment of your files that goes beyond the flimsy built-in accessibility checkers in Word, PPT, etc., try using WAVE, NVDA, and PAC to truly pinpoint issues for remediation.

Try these 3 powerful tools for testing digital accessibility:

  • The WAVE tool is a great way to assess web pages.
  • NVDA is one of the main assistive technologies used by people who want content read out loud. It can be used to test most files: PDFs, Word docs, PPT files, Excel docs, etc. as well as web pages.
  • PAC is a powerful tool (with a pretty steep learning curve) for deep testing of PDF files.

WAVE Tool for testing Web Pages

The WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool is a great (free!) option for checking web content. You can either:

  1. Use the web-based  option to evaluate a publicly-available web page; or
  2. Add the WAVE plugin on your Chrome browser to test pages that sit behind a login


Watch the Introduction to WAVE demo video

1. Using WAVE Web-Based Tool

The WAVE web tool is great for testing publicly accessible web pages.

  1. To use the WAVE tool, go to wave.webaim.org.

  2. Type in the url for the web page you want to evaluate in the field provided, and hit return.

    screenshot of WAVE tool with field for typing in url

  3. WAVE will display a summary of the page's accessibility status in the "Details" tab at the upper left corner of the screen. Ideally, you should try to eliminate all errors.

    The Details tab in the left column will display a status summary of the page

  4. Below the summary in the left hand column, you can scroll down and see a more detailed lists of alerts, features, tags, etc.
    If you click on each icon, WAVE will show you exactly where on the page that specific instance is located.

    When you click on an element in the Details tab, you'll be able to see where the element is located on the page

 

2. Using WAVE Plugin for Chrome

If you want to test the accessibility of a web page that sits behind a login (and is not publicly available), you'll want to install and use the WAVE extension for Chrome.

  1. The WAVE Evaluation Tool plugin is available at https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/wave-evaluation-tool/jbbplnpkjmmeebjpijfedlgcdilocofh. 
    screenshot of the WAVE Evaluation Tool in Chrome's web store.
    The WAVE Tool plugin is available within the Chrome Web store

  2. Click the "Add to Chrome" button.

  3. Once the plugin has been installed, you can start testing a web page. Start by navigating to the page of interest by typing the url into Chrome.
    Navigate to the page you want to evaluate and activate the WAVE tool from the Extensions area

  4. Similar to the web browser option, you'll see a summary of the status of the page in the left column within the Details tab.

    The Details tab will display a summary of the page's status

NVDA

NVDA is one of the most commonly used screen readers, and it serves as a great way to test the digital accessibility of your Word docs, PDFs, websites, data tables, etc.

PAC Tool for deep testing of PDF files

PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker) is a free PDF accessibility checking tool developed in Germany that is aligned to global standards. The program has passed comprehensive security scans, showing no signs of viruses, malware, or spyware. You can download it at: https://pac.pdf-accessibility.org/en

Once you run a scan of your PDF file, you'll be able to see specific error flags, along with a precise view of where the error is located on the PDF. There are also links within PAC that point to videos and docs with guidance on how to fix each flagged issue.

 


Keywords:
digital accessibility, WAVE, PAC, NVDA 
Doc ID:
162659
Owned by:
Sally G. in School of Pharmacy
Created:
2026-07-15
Updated:
2026-07-15
Sites:
School of Pharmacy