Building Accessible Documentation Sites: WCAG 2.2 & Contrast Testing with A11yKit

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Hi Docusaurus community!

Documentation sites built with Docusaurus are visited by millions of developers and users worldwide, including people relying on screen readers, high-contrast modes, or keyboard navigation. With global regulations like the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and US Section 508 / ADA requiring strict digital accessibility compliance, ensuring docs sites meet WCAG 2.2 standards is increasingly critical.

To make auditing and testing fast and friction-free for technical writers and maintainers, we built A11yKit — a collection of 15+ browser-based, privacy-first accessibility utilities that run 100% client-side with zero telemetry or tracking.

Practical Tools for Docusaurus Maintainers:

• 🎨 WCAG 2.2 & APCA Contrast Calculators: Verify documentation theme colors, code block syntax highlighting themes (Prism/Shiki), callout banners, and badge contrast ratios against AAA/AA standards.
• 👁️ Color Blindness Simulator: Inspect code diffs, diagrams, and callout colors under 8 distinct vision deficiencies (Deuteranopia, Protanopia, Tritanopia, etc.).
• ⌨️ Keyboard Navigation & Focus Trap Auditor: Ensure interactive docs elements like search modals (Algolia DocSearch), tabs, version dropdowns, and collapsible sidebars don't trap keyboard focus.
• 🏷️ ARIA & Semantic Heading Hierarchy Checker: Audit nested headings (<h1>–<h6>) generated from Markdown/MDX to prevent skipped levels and broken outline trees for screen readers.
• 🔒 Zero Data Leakage / Full Privacy: Runs entirely in the browser using Web Workers; internal documentation drafts and sensitive technical copy never leave the local machine.

Integration in CI / GitHub Actions:

For automated CI pipelines, you can also run local checks via the CLI or GitHub Action:

# Via npm
npx a11ykit-cli audit ./build

# Via Homebrew
brew install gstar-byte/tap/a11ykit

• 🌐 Live Web Toolbox: https://a11ykit.site
• 🐙 GitHub Action: gstar-byte/a11ykit-action

We would love to hear feedback from Docusaurus authors on what accessibility checks are most helpful when writing and organizing documentation!