Web accessibility tools have taken up the market by storm. More and more people understand the need for such a solution. Some get the product/service because of legislation and compliance requirements exclusively, while others go a step further, aiming to treat all people equally with or without disabilities.
At this point, it doesn’t matter what your reason is for getting a web accessibility tool. The more important question is, which one should you get? In my newest review series, I aim to present you with viable solutions for the cause. And in the end, it is up to you to decide.
Today, I will put EqualWeb to the test. The company has over two decades of experience in advanced web and app developments. It began working side-by-side with the blind and people with disabilities in 2010, thus gaining extensive experience making websites and other digital formats more accessible and inclusive.
Its learning curve has helped EqualWeb to specialize in the accessibility field and develop one of the most advanced technological solutions in the market. It provides in-house developed AI and machine learning techniques tailored to any organizational size or individual need. Furthermore, EqualWeb backs all of this up with an inspired and highly-experienced team of IT, accessibility experts, designers, programmers, and marketing experts.
Over the years, EqualWeb has gained the confidence of many global customers, such as Lenovo, Adidas, CocaCola, Miami Heat, Subaru, Avis, Zara, and many other Fortune 500 companies to nonprofits and small businesses.
According to BuiltWith, today, EqualWeb is actively using 55 technologies for its website, including Viewport Meta, IPhone / Mobile Compatible, and SPF. It has 35,180 monthly visits with considerable growth of 274.1%, depicting further potential. In other words, its influence on the World Wide Web is growing with every passing day, making it a better, friendlier, and equal space for all.
So, let’s test it out! What does this provider have to offer, and is it worth your time and money?
Getting Started with EqualWeb
Welcome to EqualWeb, a web accessibility solution currently installed on 100,543,679 web pages.
As soon as you visit its website, you can spot an interface that’s incredibly easy on the eyes. You can navigate the site and find all you need in only a few clicks.
In the Menu, you can review all that EqualWeb offers: Accessibility Remediation, Accessibility Checker, Accessibility Monitoring, Accessibility Consulting, Accessibility Audits, and Accessibility Testing.
The Web Accessibility Remediation is a one-stop-shop-for-all solution for all your accessibility needs. It’s an exclusive technology that combines WCAG 2.1 conformance with an intuitive and seamless browsing experience. Furthermore, EqualWeb aims for inclusive usability for all sites, browsers, and operating systems, regardless of traffic levels or upgrades.
EqualWeb specifies a four-step process for reaching website compliance. First, you need to generate an access code for your website. Second, the provider implements an automated remediation process using AI and machine learning. Third, EqualWeb manually remediates your website and ensures that all 32 functions for a wide range of disabilities in the AI ToolBar menu work perfectly with each element of your site. At last, the company uses an advanced monitoring apparatus to monitor your website accessibility levels, thus verifying that your website remains accessible and fully compliant at all times.
EqualWeb’s AI ToolBar features three main remediating adjustments: Navigation, Color, and Content Adjustment, each of which has a dropdown menu of multiple accessibility functions. In total, the tool has 32 functions to cater to a wide range of impairment issues.
Within Navigation Adjustment, you can find Screen Reader Adjustment, Keyboard Navigation, Smart Navigation, Blinks Blocking, Text Reader, and Voice Commands.
Next, Bright High-Contrast, Dark High-Contrast, and Monochrome are part of Color Adjustment.
And finally, the Magnifier, Readable Font, Image Descriptions, Highlight Links, Highlight Headers, Readable Mode, Text Magnifier, Dictionary, and Virtual Keyboard are part of the Content Adjusment.
Better yet, the AI ToolBar is available in 41 languages, coms with an “Accessibility Statement” and a “Send Feedback” feature.
EqualWeb is a web accessibility solution for the blind, visually, auditory, cognitive, and motor-impaired, epileptics, and the elderly.
Going on, EqualWeb offers a free Accessibility Checker that you can use to run a scan on your website. By detecting the most common web accessibility errors on your site, you’ll find out what needs fixing and how it should be fixed. The best part is, the process takes up only a few minutes.
Furthermore, EqualWeb can perform periodic and repeated monitoring of your site. It offers four Accessibility Monitoring Scan Plans, Basic, Standard, Advanced, and Enterprise.
All four Accessibility Monitoring Scan Plans offer the same features, including an online dashboard, comparison with\without the widget, periodic scan scheduling, custom XML sitemap scanning, scan options WCAG OR section 508, evaluation report with site score, saved the last three scans, alternate text EDITOR, and technical support.
The only difference between the plans is the number of pages each supports. The Basic Plan supports up to 100 pages, the Standard to 1,000, the Advanced up to 10,000, while the Enterprise supports up to 100,000 pages.
The fourth service, Accessibility Consulting, implies a free session with an EqualWeb expert to offer a unique service for everyone. Whether you are planning a new website, an app, or redesigning an existing digital property, you can reach out to an EqualWeb accessibility consultant to guide you through the process, ensuring that the final result is compliant with WCAG standards.
The EqualWeb team can build you a web accessibility business plan, develop internal policy, create a culture of accessibility, define custom accessibility standards, review all products for accessibility compliance, provide support in implementing EqualWeb’s remediation tool, formulate web accessibility statements for your site, streamline website design or redesign process, integrate procedures into the entire project life-cycle, troubleshoot design and development issues, suggest custom coding for complex adjustments, educate existing content, design, and development teams.
Another free feature by EqualWeb is the Web Accessibility Audit. Without paying a dime, you can get a thorough, detailed, comprehensive, and practical Web Accessibility Evaluation Report of your website.
EqualWeb’s Web Accessibility Evaluation Report includes an overall compliance score, number of errors, number of errors fixed with EqualWeb, list of guidelines for WCAG 2.1 issues against Success Criteria (Levels A and AA), with descriptive information and particular scores for every issue, and issues by pages.
At last, EqualWeb offers Accessibility Training. With this solution, you can learn the latest best practices and understand how to implement them with EqualWeb’s extensive web accessibility training programs conducted by experts.
Now that you understand all that EqualWeb has to offer let’s review how to company combines these solutions in plans.
Once you enter Plans & Pricing from the top Menu, you will spot that EqualWeb classifies its offers into four categories: Accessibility Plans, Auto Accessibility Plans, Accessibility Services, and Free Tools.
First, EqualWeb offers three Accessibility Plans: Get Started, Auto compliance, and Managed compliance. I have to say; I like that there’s a free offer. Sure, the paid alternatives are always the better choice. However, if you have the time and willingness to commit to making your website accessible, the free guidance will come especially handy. Furthermore, you might lack the budget for a paid solution, once again making the Get Started plan a good option.
EqualWeb’s Getting Started plan includes step-by-step instructions, checklists, videos lessons, guides, monitoring tools, checking tools, and a glossary explaining all key terms used throughout the process.
Apart from this plan, EqualWeb offers two other free tools, the Checker and Analysis, explained earlier.
Next, the Auto compliance plans feature the automated AI-powered accessibility solution with 25 features. This solution offers auto-remediation for small to huge websites starting from 100 up to 100,000 pages or 10,000 to 1 million monthly visits. Furthermore, the Auto compliance plans include 100 free page monitor scans, alternate text editor, Accessibility Statement, and Certificate of Performance, along with 24/7 technical email support.
Still, the Managed compliance plan takes things to another level. Apart from the automated AI-powered accessibility solution, this plan also adds manual remediation to the offer. It’s a fully accessible solution with 29 features, supports unlimited pages, and a free monthly monitor scan. Furthermore, you can expect an Accessibility certificate compliance, Accessibility statement, $1,000,000 Warranty, accessibility specialist account manager, and superior 24/7 email and phone support.
Apart from the Managed compliance plan, you can find two other services at EqualWeb, the Document remediation and the Audit Analysis.
Now, it’s time to shop. As usual, I will get the cheapest plan to see what the provider has to offer at a minimum. Sure, EqualWeb has a free offer. However, I will get a paid plan for comparison purposes. After all, not all market participants have free offers. So, it’s only fair to pay for a plan so that all get equal treatment in my reviews.
I will purchase the Small Auto AI-Powered Accessibility Remediation Plan. It’s available monthly and annually, which is pretty good. See, I don’t particularly appreciate when web accessibility providers, or any provider in this regard, limit you to longer-term plans. So, EqualWeb has a green light from me.
Better yet, EqualWeb offers a seven-day free trial, meaning I can try it out without any commitment, and so can you!
Once I clicked on Start 7 days FREE trial, EqualWeb redirected me to the following screen. At this point, you need to fill in your name, cell phone, email, create and confirm your password.
Then, click on START NOW. The next step is account activation. EqualWeb offers you two alternatives in this regard. You can use your email or phone number. I’ll go for the first.
EqualWeb states the process might take a few seconds.
And that’s exactly how it was. Until I opened my email, the code was already there; waiting for me.
And that’s all about it.
Setting Up A Plan with EqualWeb
Upon activation, I encountered the following screen. I was automatically redirected to add a new site since I haven’t done so up to this point.
Here, you can insert your domain, HTTP, or HTTPS. You can also choose from 41 widget languages and many website platforms. EqualWeb offers Other Platform, WordPress, Shopify, Magento, Joomla, Drupal, Wix, SharePoint, WooCommerce, GoDaddy, DotNetNuke, Squarespace, Blogger, Weebly, HostGator, PrestaShop, Ucraft, VirtueMart, OpenCart, X-cart, Concrete5, contao, OsCommerce, Zen Cart, Webs, Strikingly, Ning, Jimdo, Buddy Press, Easydigital, Lightspeed, Volusion, Bigcartel, Saphybris, Big Commerce, Site 123, Duda, Site Builder, CDK, Dealer.com, dealeron.com, Dealereprocess, Dealer Inspire, dealerfire.com, Appdrag, Webflow, DermPRO, MinuteMedia, and Konimbo.
If you already have an accessibility statement, you can toggle the option and insert the Accessibility Statement URL.
The next step is to design your Icon and Menu.
First, you can choose your icon design. At this point, EqualWeb allows you to pick the icon shape, icon color, icon size, background shape, and widget position. Also, you can select to use an outline.
For instance, I have selected somewhat of a blue/turquoise background color, pink icon color, a round shape, a large icon, and used outline. Furthermore, I placed the icon in the middle left.
Going on, you have the option for a text icon design. Once again, you have the options regarding the icon size, color, position, and so on.
Once you adjust everything to your liking, click Next.
And this is what I like! It was my intention in the first place. See, I wanted to check whether EqualWeb will warn me if something isn’t right. Good thing it did!
Once I clicked on the button, EqualWeb modified my widget. It looks better now, anyway!
That’s all about it – the code is ready. You can either copy the code if you know what you are doing or email it, along with instructions to install it on your website. I went for the latter.
The next step is to choose your plan. At this point, you can select an auto-remediation plan and get a FREE 100 pages WCAG monitor scan along with a seven-day free trial. However, you can also start with the free widget and upgrade to a paid plan later on.
As mentioned, I will get the Small plan. I entered my card info and clicked on the blue button Process.
I went for the Monitor Scan, transferring me to another section in the Menu in the left pane. Here, you can run a monitoring scan for your website pages for accessibility issues and determine your compliance score. All you need to do is select a domain from the list or add a new site. Then, click continue.
The second step is website mapping. The monitor reviews your website, displaying all active pages at this point in the process. You can then determine which pages you would like to scan. Furthermore, you can select Custom Settings for website deep mapping or schedule a scan.
Once you start scanning, you will initiate the third step. This process can take anywhere between several minutes or a few days, depending on the page count and the page size. Once completed, EqualWeb will notify you that the scan is done and the report is ready via email.
The fourth and last step is to view your report. It includes all issues that EqualWeb has fixed for you, along with the remaining errors.
Within the WCAG Monitor section, you can also find My Scans, Report, and Alternative Text Editor.
My Scans gathers the full list of all your websites added to the Ongoing Monitor. Here, you can check the scan’s status, the number of pages, or scan settings to schedule an ongoing scan to each domain.
However, you can review the evaluation within the Report section once the scan is complete. You need to select a site domain and select a date marked in green.
If, however, there are no dates available in green, it means the report is probably not ready yet.
You can either view the full report in the Monitor Dashboard or have it sent to you by email (an abbreviated PDF and a detailed link).
Finally, you can show images of your website within the last tab, the Alternative Text Editor.
Apart from adding a new site in the Dashboard, you can also review other vital stats. For instance, you can check the total sites, total activation, and popular widget. You can also check your website statistics, filtered by months or years, in terms of all features available within the tool.
Within My Sites, you can review and edit all domains, languages, platforms, plans, and modes. You can also get code, close the site’s license, review payment method, price, and type, end license, or upgrade your plan.
Going on to My Account, you can find payment methods, billing & transactions, invoices, credits, and API. What got my attention here were the EqualWeb Credit Plans. These credits are available in all programs. Essentially, you can buy a credit to get a discount. For instance, you can dedicate $4,500 to buy 5,000 credits, thus saving $500 or getting a 10% discount.
EqualWeb API Partner Program serves EqualWeb’s business partners who act as product resellers directly to their customers. Essentially, its experts can assist you in implementing the API interface in your system and create your resale platform for any client under your brand.
In Documentation, you can review all data regarding your product.
At last, there is the FAQ and Help sections, but more on those later.
If you click on the Accessibility button in the bottom left, you will open the panel.
Here, you can find all adjustments, as explained earlier – the Navigation, Color, and Content Adjustment.
As you show on each, you can immediately see what it does. Better yet, as you make the changes, you can immediately spot them on the page. For instance, I have colored my site green. It’s as simple as that!
You can try out different combinations, using all features, until you fulfill what you have imagined for your website to look like.
From here, you can also change the language, activate/deactivate Accessibility mode, expand the Menu, choose a time period to hide the accessibility button, view the Accessibility Statement, or send feedback.
Performance, Security, and Privacy
First, the EqualWeb widget doesn’t interfere with your original source code. Instead, it “coats” the site’s code on the side of the browser as soon as it loads and modifies it according to user requirements. Say you haven’t chosen to perform an action. In this case, the widget won’t do anything to the site code, and in any case, the system does not change, delete, save or update anything from the source code, only from the code shown in the browser (Client Side).
Additionally, EqualWeb doesn’t affect your website performance and doesn’t collect any data. The system loads after the entire site is loaded and fully rendered by the browser. Thus, your website will continually load at full speed, with compressed files (GZIP) and full cashing, allowing the surfers full and proper use of the website at all times.
Apart from caring about your website accessibility, EqualWeb also prioritizes your security and privacy to ensure the confidentiality of your digital properties and data.
EqualWeb offers its products as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions, available to customers through purpose-built web applications, application programming interfaces (APIs), and email plugins. It offers easy one-step install, plugin code security by Sub-resource Integrity, Data Center Storage on the International server farm, Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Standard ISO/IEC 2700, Web Application Firewall (WAF), SSL/TLS encryption, monitoring software, and SMS alerts.
Furthermore, when it comes to security, EqualWeb integrates procedures into the entire project life-cycle, uses a security framework using best practices in the SaaS industry, doesn’t collect any personal data from your website, offering Section 508 Compliance at EN 301549 Compliant level AA.
Compliance Overview
Using EqualWeb, you can achieve ADA compliance, Section 508 compliance, WCAG 2.1 compliance, AODA compliance, ACA compliance, Unruh compliance, EN 301549 compliance, and IS 5568 compliance.
Partner Program Overview
EqualWeb looks to partner with individuals from the business of web building or design, or just about anyone that wants to support people and organizations to improve their accessibility.
With the Partner Program, you can refer your clients to EqualWeb’s automated solution and receive up to 40% commission on each conversion. You will advertise the solution using affiliate links for proper tracking and rewards. Furthermore, you can purchase EqualWeb’s solution for your clients at a discount, collaborate with the company to provide consulting or training events, get a free license to protect your website, and provide white label solutions under your company’s branding.
No doubt, there are lots of benefits under the program. You can educate your team to understand your clients better and offer them better solutions, utilize an easy, non-labor-intensive solution, lower your overall design and development costs, improve client satisfaction, expand your client’s consumer base, participate in their success, and so on.
Level of Support at EqualWeb
As mentioned, you can expect technical 24/7 email support with EqualWeb’s automated widget. However, if you go for the Managed compliance plan, you can also expect human interaction or customer support available over the phone.
Even as a potential customer, you can contact EqualWeb over a contact form, email, or phone. They also transparently state their location or headquarters on their website.
I especially liked that EqualWeb offers a free talk with an accessibility specialist. You can spot this option in the bottom right corner at all points and across all pages of EqualWeb.
Interestingly enough, EqualWeb also allows for Zoom calls from the Dashboard.
Specific Features of EqualWeb
The question is, what makes EqualWeb better than its competitors? Here are the highlights among the many features:
- Compliance with WCAG 2.1, ADA, Section 508, AODA, EN 301549, and IS 5568
- Free to tailored offers and a price match -20% policy
- Year-round protection
- $1,000,000 warranty
- McAfee Secure certification and Trusted site certification
- SHA 512, Subresource integrity, ON PREM option, ISO 27001 certified, GDPR-compliant
- Manual audit and remediation process performed by accessibility experts
- Automatic remediation process powered by AI algorithms
- Supports ALL cross-platform, using cutting-edge technology based on unique AI algorithms
- Voice commands and smart navigation
- Giant tech collaborations, such as Google, Amazon, and Oxford
- Free Accessibility Analysis for all potential and existing customers
Summary
I might have overwhelmed you with all this information. But, if the question is, would I recommend EqualWeb, the answer would be yes. You can benefit from a wide-ranging offer, with suitable solutions and pricing for different problems, preferences, and budgets.
Using EqualWeb, you can achieve ADA compliance, Section 508 compliance, WCAG 2.1 compliance, AODA compliance, ACA compliance, Unruh compliance, EN 301549 compliance, and IS 5568 compliance. Furthermore, the solution caters to a wide range of disabilities, diseases, and various disorders.
It works with all cross-platform, including the most popular CMSs worldwide. The best part is, the installs come with a single line of code. Going on, the company combines automated solutions with human inputs; therefore, it can deliver 100% compliance. As a customer, you can benefit from quick installs and affordable prices. Furthermore, you can rest assured, EqualWeb will not harm your site performance but take privacy and security into consideration.
Last but not least, you can test out the solution for seven days, with no strings attached.
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