Side-by-side Comparison
ADAGuard vs Google Lighthouse
A Lighthouse accessibility score of 100 does not mean your site is WCAG 2.1 AA compliant. Lighthouse uses only a partial set of axe-core rules. ADAGuard tests what Lighthouse misses.
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Why the approach matters
Google Lighthouse is built into Chrome DevTools and runs automatically in CI/CD pipelines — it's the most-used accessibility measurement tool in the world. The problem is that its accessibility score is deeply misunderstood. Lighthouse uses a subset of axe-core rules and weights them into a 0–100 score. A site can score 100 and still have dozens of WCAG violations that Lighthouse doesn't test. Color contrast errors, focus indicator problems, missing ARIA labels, keyboard trap issues, complex form errors — Lighthouse won't catch most of them. ADAGuard runs the full axe-core ruleset plus 22 custom WCAG 2.2 AA checkers, producing a violation report (not a score) that maps directly to WCAG criteria and legal requirements.
Real DOM scanning
ADAGuard reads your actual HTML, ARIA attributes, and rendered CSS — not a JavaScript overlay applied on top of broken code.
Element-level precision
Every issue includes the exact CSS selector, outerHTML snippet, and WCAG success criterion — so developers know exactly what to fix.
Legally defensible evidence
A time-stamped audit trail of discovered violations and confirmed fixes is your best protection against ADA demand letters.
Feature-by-feature comparison
ADAGuard vs Google Lighthouse — every key capability, side by side.
| Feature | ADAGuard | Google Lighthouse |
|---|---|---|
| Output format | Violation list with WCAG references | Score 0–100 |
| Test methodology | Full axe-core + 22 custom WCAG checkers | Partial axe-core ruleset |
| WCAG 2.2 AA coverage | ~78% automated (43 of 55 criteria) | Partial — rule subset |
| Color contrast detection | Partial (misses text on images, gradients) | |
| Keyboard accessibility testing | ||
| Focus indicator testing | ||
| Authenticated page scanning | ||
| Multi-page site scanning | Up to 1,000 pages | One page at a time |
| Code fix suggestions | Partial — basic descriptions only | |
| Compliance report generation | ||
| VPAT / ACR pre-fill | ||
| API access for CI/CD | Via CLI / PageSpeed API | |
| Scheduled automated monitoring | ||
| Screen reader simulation | Partial (ARIA analysis) | |
| Free to use |
Why teams choose ADAGuard over Google Lighthouse
Real accessibility auditing — not a widget that masks problems.
ADAGuard reports violations — not a score. A score hides what's wrong. Developers need a list of specific, fixable issues mapped to WCAG criteria.
ADAGuard tests ~78% of WCAG 2.2 AA criteria automatically (43 of 55). Lighthouse checks only a subset. The gap is where your legal exposure lives.
Authenticated scanning means ADAGuard can test your actual product — the SaaS app, member portal, or checkout flow that Lighthouse can't reach.
Every ADAGuard violation includes the WCAG criterion, the failing HTML element (CSS selector + outerHTML), and a before/after code fix example.
ADAGuard generates dated compliance reports for legal teams, auditors, and federal procurement — Lighthouse has no reporting capability.
Multi-page scanning with smart layout detection: ADAGuard finds unique page templates and scans them all, identifying issues site-wide rather than page by page.
ADAGuard's API integrates into CI/CD the same way as Lighthouse CI — but with full WCAG coverage and structured violation data instead of a score.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about ADAGuard vs Google Lighthouse.
Sources & references
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