Side-by-side Comparison
ADAGuard vs WAVE
WAVE is the free extension for page-level spot checks. ADAGuard is a full-site compliance scanner with authenticated scanning, fix guidance, and legal documentation.
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Why the approach matters
WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool) has been a go-to free resource for accessibility spot checks since 2001. It's fast, visual, and beloved by developers doing quick page reviews. But WAVE was built for single-page manual testing — it doesn't crawl sites, can't access authenticated pages, doesn't generate compliance reports, and has no API. If you need to audit a 50-page site, scan your login-protected app dashboard, produce a VPAT for a federal contract, or monitor for regressions in CI/CD — WAVE hits its limits immediately. ADAGuard fills exactly that gap: automated multi-page scanning, authenticated session support, element-level fix guidance with code examples, and dated compliance reports your legal team can use.
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 WAVE — every key capability, side by side.
| Feature | ADAGuard | WAVE |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Server-side DOM scanner + Playwright browser | Browser extension (client-side) |
| Multi-page site scanning | Up to 1,000 pages per scan | One page at a time (manual) |
| Authenticated page scanning | ||
| WCAG 2.2 AA coverage | ~78% automated (23 categories) | Partial — visual annotations only |
| Code fix suggestions | ||
| DOM-level element selectors | Visual only | |
| Compliance report (PDF/HTML/JSON) | ||
| VPAT / ACR generation | ||
| API access (CI/CD integration) | ||
| Scheduled automated scans | ||
| Smart layout detection | ||
| Works without a browser | ||
| Free plan | Free (browser extension) | |
| Starting price (paid) | $49/month | Free / WAVE API $ |
Why teams choose ADAGuard over WAVE
Real accessibility auditing — not a widget that masks problems.
ADAGuard scans your full site — up to 1,000 pages — automatically, without anyone manually visiting each URL.
Authenticated scanning lets you test the pages that matter most: your app dashboard, member portal, checkout flow, and admin UI.
Every issue includes the exact CSS selector, outerHTML, WCAG criterion, and a before/after code fix — WAVE shows you what's wrong visually but leaves the fixing to you.
ADAGuard generates dated PDF, HTML, and JSON compliance reports that your legal team, auditors, or federal contracting officer can review.
The REST API lets your CI/CD pipeline trigger a WCAG scan on every deployment — catching regressions before they reach production.
VPAT and ACR report generation is automated on Professional and Business plans — WAVE has no reporting capability.
ADAGuard runs server-side and doesn't require a browser extension to be installed on each developer's machine.
Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about ADAGuard vs WAVE.
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