CodeA11y
CodeA11y is a Visual Studio Code extension that integrates with GitHub Copilot to help developers identify and fix accessibility issues in web projects. It combines AI-powered guidance with automated analysis (axe-core) and a simple TODO tracker for accessibility work.
Key goals:
- Surface WCAG 2.1 (Level A / AA) relevant issues while you work
- Provide actionable, context-aware suggestions through Copilot Chat
- Make it simple to track accessibility fixes in your codebase
Features
- AI-assisted accessibility guidance via GitHub Copilot Chat
- Automated accessibility scanning powered by axe-core
- In-editor TODO management for accessibility remediation
- Configurable website URL and analysis timeout
Installation
Install the extension from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace and make sure GitHub Copilot is enabled in your editor. After installation configure the extension settings (see Configuration below).
Configuration
You can configure the extension from the VS Code Settings UI or by editing your settings.json. The main settings are:
codea11y.websiteUrl (string) — The URL of the site to analyze. Default: http://127.0.0.1:5500.codea11y.timeout (number) — Request timeout in milliseconds for fetching site content. Default: 10000.
Examples:
{
// settings.json
"codea11y.websiteUrl": "http://localhost:3000",
"codea11y.timeout": 15000
}
Usage
- Open the GitHub Copilot Chat pane in VS Code.
- Invoke the CodeA11y participant (use
@CodeA11y in the chat input when available).
- Ask for accessibility guidance or request a scan of the configured website.
- Review findings and add or address TODO items created by the extension.
Notes:
- For best results run the website locally or on a reachable dev server so axe-core can crawl and analyze the pages.
Development
Project commands (from the repository root):
- Install dependencies:
npm install
- Build:
npm run compile
- Watch (development):
npm run watch
- Lint:
npm run lint
The extension is written in TypeScript; the compiled output is emitted to the out/ directory and ./out/extension.js is the extension entry point.
Contributing
Contributions are welcome. A healthy contribution flow:
- Fork the repository and create a branch for your feature/bugfix.
- Make changes and run linting/build locally.
- Open a PR with a clear description and link to any related issue.
Please follow the repository coding style and commit message guidelinest. Using conventional commits (feat:, fix:, chore:, etc.) makes changelog automation easier.
License
Further reading
