WAVE gives you a detailed one-time accessibility snapshot. PageGuard monitors your accessibility score over time — and covers Performance, SEO, and Best Practices too.
ADA Title II Deadline: April 24, 2026
State and local government websites must comply with WCAG 2.1 AA. Private businesses also face increasing lawsuits. Monitor your score continuously — don't rely on one-time checks.
| Feature | PageGuard | WAVE |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free + from $9/mo | Free (browser extension) + API paid |
| Who is it for? | ✓ Small businesses, designers, agencies — ongoing monitoring | Accessibility specialists and developers doing manual audits |
| Automated monitoring | ✓ Yes — weekly or daily scans, email alerts | No — manual audits only |
| Email alerts on score drop | ✓ Yes — notified when accessibility score drops | No |
| Accessibility depth | WCAG 2.1 AA — scored 0–100 with issue list | ✓ WCAG 2.0/2.1 — detailed error, warning, alert categories |
| Visual overlay on page | No — score report with issue list | ✓ Yes — icons overlaid directly on the live page |
| Performance audit | ✓ Yes — Core Web Vitals, LCP, CLS, FCP | No — accessibility only |
| SEO audit | ✓ Yes — technical SEO checklist and SEO score | No |
| Best Practices audit | ✓ Yes — security headers, HTTPS, mobile-friendliness | No |
| Score history & trends | ✓ Yes — 7 to 365 days depending on plan | No — no historical tracking |
| AI-generated report | ✓ Yes — plain-English explanation of all issues | No — technical output only |
| Shareable report URL | ✓ Yes — public link, no login required to view | No — results in browser only |
| Requires browser extension | ✓ No — works in any browser without install | Yes (browser extension) or web version at wave.webaim.org |
| Scan multiple sites at once | ✓ Yes — up to 50 sites (Agency plan) | No — one page at a time |
| Color contrast analysis | Basic — via Best Practices score | ✓ Yes — detailed contrast ratio calculations |
WCAG 2.1 compliance check + Performance + SEO + Best Practices. No signup, results in 30 seconds.
Results in ~30 seconds. 4 scores: Performance, Accessibility, SEO, Best Practices.
WAVE provides a more detailed one-time accessibility audit with a visual overlay on your live page. PageGuard is better for ongoing monitoring: it tracks your accessibility score over time, sends email alerts when it drops, and covers Performance, SEO, and Best Practices in the same report. Use both: WAVE for deep one-time audits, PageGuard for continuous compliance monitoring.
No — WAVE is a manual audit tool. It does not offer automated monitoring or email alerts. PageGuard provides scheduled weekly or daily scans and notifies you immediately if your accessibility score drops after a site update or content change.
Yes — PageGuard checks against WCAG 2.1 Level AA criteria and produces an accessibility score from 0 to 100. It identifies common issues including missing alt text, poor color contrast, missing form labels, and keyboard navigation problems. These are the same categories that trigger ADA accessibility lawsuits.
Yes — PageGuard is completely free to scan any site without signup. Paid plans start at $9/month for automated monitoring of up to 5 sites with weekly scans, email alerts, and 30 days of score history.