Using Editoria11y

Editoria11y ("editorial ally") is a tool that helps website content authors find and fix accessibility problems on their web pages.  It works like a spellchecker but for accessibility, flagging problems like missing alt text, incorrect heading structure, and poorly formatted lists. The goal is to make sure web content is easy to read and navigate for everyone, including people using screen readers.

This tool helps editors catch and fix issues before publishing, making websites more accessible without needing to edit code.

Editoria11y checks for common accessibility problems, including:

  • Alt Text Issues – Flags images with missing or unclear alt text and allows marking decorative images correctly.
  • Heading Structure – Identifies skipped heading levels (e.g., jumping from H1 to H3) and empty headings.
  • List Formatting – Ensures that lists are properly formatted for screen readers.
  • Link Descriptions – Checks if link text is clear and descriptive.
  • Text Formatting – Identifies issues like all-uppercase text that can be difficult to read.
  • Dismiss and Review Options – If Editoria11y flags an issue that does not need fixing, click "Mark as Checked." This removes the flag for future reviews but keeps a record of it.
  • Mark as Checked and OK - This will hide the alert from all editors.
  • Mark as Ignored (or Ignore this manual check) - This only hides the icon for the current editor — other editors will still see this flagged as an issue to manually check.

How to use Editoria11y

  1. Log in to your website.
  2. If Editoria11y is installed for your website, it will automatically scan each page you visit for issues.
  3. An accessibility checker icon will display in the lower right corner of your page.
    1. If accessibility issues are found, the icon may be red (critical issues that must be fixed) or yellow (issues that may be critical, but require manual checking) with a number indicating how many issues were found.
    2. If no issues are found, the icon may be blue with a check mark.
  4. lf issues are found, click the flag indicator to go to the first alert; or, if you see indicators within the page content, hover over each one. More information about the problem will display.
  5. Use the page's Edit tab or Layout tab to make changes to your content.
  6. Manual check issues (yellow)
    1. Check them! Make corrections if they are needed.
    2. If the alerts within the content are too overwhelming/distracting, hide them all temporarily by clicking on the number in the lower right corner to toggle the alerts off/on.
    3. If the issue is fixed or is not a problem, select Mark as OK. Don't use this option unless you really checked it and can vouch for it being OK. (This option hides the alerts for all users, not just you.)
    4. If you are going to ignore the error (e.g. if someone else is responsible for fixing it and you want the alert to go away), select Mark as ignored. The problem may still exist, and other users will still see it indicated as an issue. (This option hides the alerts for just you.)
  7. If you make changes in your page's Edit tab or Layout tab, don't forget to save your work.