Accessibility Testing Skill: WCAG 2.2 Quick Reference for AI Agents

What is the accessibility-testing skill?

The accessibility-testing skill is a short quick reference card for WCAG 2.2 compliance work. It covers legal drivers such as ADA, Section 508 and the EU Directive, and it is meant for new features, release checks and audits.

It sets a five step default for your agent: apply the POUR principles, test with keyboard only, validate with screen readers, check color contrast, and automate with axe-core in the CI/CD pipeline.

Checks it puts in front of your agent

• All images have alt text, or alt="" for decorative ones.
• All form fields have labels.
• Color is never the only indicator.
• Focus is visible on every interactive element.
• Keyboard navigation works throughout the page.

Contrast and conformance levels

Normal text needs 4.5:1 at AA and 7:1 at AAA. Large text of 18pt and up needs 3:1 at AA and 4.5:1 at AAA, and UI components need 3:1. Level A is the minimum legal bar, AA the industry standard.

When to use a11y-ally instead

The skill states that for full WCAG auditing with axe-core, pa11y and Lighthouse, video accessibility and remediation, you should prefer the a11y-ally skill from the same repository. This one stays a quick card for basic patterns.

Who the accessibility-testing skill is for

Best for

• Teams that want accessibility checks inside an existing Playwright test suite.
• Release gates that need a fast WCAG 2.2 AA pass in CI/CD.
• Developers who want a keyboard and screen reader checklist next to the automated checks.

Not for

• Design reviews against WCAG 2.2 with severity ratings, with the accessibility-audit skill.
• Fixing the markup that a check flags, with the fixing-accessibility skill.
• Reviewing a Figma design or a written description against WCAG 2.1 AA, with the accessibility-review skill.
• Full WCAG audits with axe-core, pa11y and Lighthouse, where the a11y-ally skill from the same repository is preferred.
• Replacing manual testing: the skill says automation catches only 30 to 50% of issues.

How to install Accessibility Testing Skill: WCAG 2.2 Quick Reference for AI Agents

npm install -g agentic-qe
cd your-project
aqe init --auto

1. Check the requirements

   The repository requires Node.js 22.13.0 or newer and npm 10.0.0 or newer, and works with the coding agent you already have configured.

2. Install and initialize

   Run the three commands above. aqe init --auto analyzes your project and configures the default Claude Code surface, including MCP. Run aqe health to check the setup.

3. Pick another client if needed

   Add a setup flag such as --with-codex, --with-cursor, --with-copilot, --with-cline or --with-windsurf to aqe init --auto.

4. Ask for an accessibility test

   Request WCAG 2.2 compliance testing, a keyboard check or a screen reader checklist. The skill description covers ADA and Section 508 compliance, testing for disabilities and accessible application work.

Check that it loaded

Ask your agent to test a checkout page for WCAG 2.2 AA. Expect the five step flow, a keyboard test, contrast ratios checked against 4.5:1 and 3:1, and an axe-core run with the WCAG tags.

Read the official instructions on GitHub

Key features

• Five step defaultApply POUR, test by keyboard, validate with screen readers, check contrast and automate with axe-core. The agent follows this order when asked to test accessibility.
• Quick a11y checklistAlt text, form labels, color as the only indicator, visible focus and keyboard navigation form a short checklist the agent can run on any page.
• WCAG 2.2 level tableA, AA and AAA are laid out with their targets: A as the minimum legal level, AA as the industry standard and AAA for specialized sites.
• POUR principles tableEach of the four POUR principles lists its key tests, from alt text, contrast and captions to keyboard access, clear labels, valid HTML and ARIA.
• Contrast thresholdsNormal text, large text and UI components each get an AA and AAA ratio, so the agent can check color pairs against a number.
• Keyboard navigation testsA Playwright test focuses every button, link, input, select and textarea, and a second test presses Tab and confirms the focus outline is not none.
• axe-core in CIAn AxeBuilder test with the wcag2a, wcag2aa and wcag22aa tags expects zero violations, and a checkout example fails the build on critical or serious impacts.
• Screen reader checklistA VoiceOver list covers the page title, heading order, landmarks, alt text, form labels, error messages and aria-live updates.
• Agent coordinationThe skill names qe-visual-tester, qe-test-generator and qe-quality-gate for running checks in parallel and blocking non-compliant builds.

Frequently asked questions