a11y-helper

a11y-helper is a VS Code Chat extension for accessibility engineering workflows.

It combines:

• On-demand page scan with axe-core
• Code-level fix guidance for snippets
• General accessibility coaching in chat

The extension is designed for practical WCAG 2.1 A/AA remediation with minimal disruption to existing code.

What It Can Do

1) /scan mode

Runs an accessibility scan against a target URL and returns a structured, prioritized summary.

Output includes:

• Violation overview (rule count, affected nodes, impact distribution)
• Top prioritized issues
• Why each issue matters
• Actionable fix hints

2) /fix mode

Analyzes the current snippet/context and proposes minimal, local accessibility fixes.

Behavior highlights:

• Semantic HTML preferred over ARIA when possible
• Explicit TODO/FIXME markers when human judgment is required
• Keeps edits targeted, avoids broad refactors

3) Help mode

Handles general accessibility questions.

It can also guide users to the best next mode:

• Suggest /scan for page-wide validation
• Suggest /fix for snippet-level remediation

Guidance is intentionally conservative and only appears when relevant signals exist in the user prompt.

Extension Settings

The extension contributes the following settings:

• a11yhelper.scanUrl

  • Default URL used by /scan
  • Default: http://127.0.0.1:8080

• a11yhelper.timeout

  • Timeout for scan execution in milliseconds
  • Default: 15000

• a11yhelper.scanTags

  • Comma-separated axe tags used to filter scan scope
  • Default: wcag2a,wcag2aa,wcag21aa,best-practice

• a11yhelper.maxPrioritizedIssues

  • Number of prioritized issues returned in scan summary
  • Default: 3

• a11yhelper.confirmUrlBeforeScan

  • Whether /scan asks for URL confirmation before execution
  • Default: true

Example workspace settings:

{
	"a11yhelper.scanUrl": "http://localhost:3000",
	"a11yhelper.timeout": 20000,
	"a11yhelper.scanTags": "wcag2a,wcag2aa,wcag21aa,best-practice",
	"a11yhelper.maxPrioritizedIssues": 5,
	"a11yhelper.confirmUrlBeforeScan": true
}

Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• VS Code 1.108+

Install dependencies

npm install

Compile

npm run compile

Watch mode

npm run watch

Lint

npm run lint

Debug extension

• Run the Run Extension launch configuration in VS Code.
• This starts an Extension Development Host with the compiled output under out/.