Frequently asked questions

Straight answers about what Access Shift's scanner and runtime remediation widget do, where automation stops, and how setup, data handling, and billing work. Access Shift is an accessibility automation tool, not a legal certification — no automated tool can guarantee conformance with any accessibility law on its own, so we recommend pairing it with periodic source-level audits and manual testing by people who use assistive technologies.

Does the widget make us legally compliant on its own?
No — and we want to be very explicit about that. WCAG 2.2 AA is the technical baseline every modern accessibility law cites (ADA, EAA, Section 508, AODA, ACA), but legal compliance is determined by courts and regulators, not by any tool. Access Shift automates many of the web-content technical fixes, which reduces risk and remediation cost. It does not replace source-level audits, manual testing by people who use assistive technologies, or legal advice from qualified counsel. We strongly recommend pairing the widget with periodic third-party audits.
Will it slow down my site?
No. The script is loaded asynchronously, never blocks render, and uses a debounced MutationObserver with a circuit breaker so single-page apps don't loop. Every fix is wrapped in try/catch — even a malformed page can never crash because of the widget.
What if a fix breaks my design?
Style changes save the original via data-accessai-original-style. Calling window.__accessai_revert() rolls every change back. We're also conservative by default — the widget refuses to promote ambiguous interactive elements (e.g. cards or tabs styled with cursor:pointer) to avoid breaking layouts.
Which frameworks and platforms do you support?
Anywhere you can drop a <script> tag — React, Vue, Angular, Svelte, WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Squarespace, and plain HTML. The widget operates on the live DOM so it's framework-agnostic.
How does scanning work?
We crawl your site (sitemap discovery with link-extraction fallback), run headless Chromium with axe-core plus AI heuristics on each page, and persist per-page scores, verdicts, and issue evidence. Scans run on a schedule and on demand via the API.
Do you store any of our visitors' data?
The widget runs entirely in the browser. It does not ship visitor data anywhere. Scanner runs are server-side against the public URLs you authorize. We're SOC 2 aligned and offer DPAs on the Enterprise plan.
How long does setup take?
Most teams have the script installed in under five minutes: paste one <script> tag into your site or tag manager, point a scan at your domain, and the dashboard starts populating immediately. (Five minutes is install time, not compliance time — see the question above.)
Can we self-host or run the widget behind a CDN?
Yes. The widget is a single static JS file you can serve from your own CDN, edge worker, or asset pipeline — handy for strict CSPs. Enterprise customers can also pin a specific widget version for change-control.
Can we cancel or change plans anytime?
Yes. Plans are month-to-month with no annual lock-in (Enterprise contracts are negotiable). Upgrade, downgrade, or cancel from the billing page — your data and scan history stay accessible for 30 days after cancellation.
What can the runtime widget NOT fix?
Anything that requires human judgement at the source: meaningful sequence in long-form content, video captions/audio descriptions, complex cognition aids, and non-web channels (kiosks, hardware) covered by EN 301 549 chapters 6/7. The widget patches the technical web-content criteria — pair it with periodic source-level audits for those gaps.
Do you offer a VPAT or accessibility conformance report?
Yes. Every scan produces per-page WCAG evidence that can be exported as a conformance report (WCAG-EM style) suitable for VPAT 2.5 / RFP responses. Enterprise plans include a reviewed VPAT prepared with our compliance specialist.

Still have a question? Contact our team or read our Accessibility Statement for the full detail on coverage and limits.