Best Accessibility Extensions for Chrome

Updated October 2026

How to choose an accessibility extension

Start with who the tool is for. Two of these help you use the web. The other four help you build and test pages that others can use.

• Listening or reading. Read Aloud speaks the text of a page. It suits people with dyslexia, early readers and anyone who prefers to listen.
• Keyboard or mouse. Vimium replaces most mouse actions with keys. It suits people who want to avoid mouse use.
• Testing your own pages. Accessibility Insights for Web is for developers, designers, QA testers and site owners. axe DevTools (free version plus paid Pro) and WAVE Evaluation Tool (no price listed, visual overlay on the page) do similar page checks.
• Checking colours. Colour Contrast Checker tests one text and background colour pair against WCAG 2 AA and AAA. It does not check a whole page.
• Access you grant. Vimium asks for access to all sites, plus tabs, bookmarks and history. Read Aloud and Accessibility Insights list access to all sites as optional. Colour Contrast Checker asks only for activeTab. The store pages for axe DevTools and WAVE list no permissions. Read each install prompt.
• Privacy. Accessibility Insights for Web says it collects anonymized usage data and crash reports only with your consent, and you can turn it off. Read Aloud's README names third-party cloud voice providers. Colour Contrast Checker's README says nothing about data practices. WebAIM says WAVE runs its analysis in your browser and sends nothing to its server. axe DevTools’ store disclosure names personally identifiable information, location and website content. Read each privacy source before you install.

Our picks at a glance

Which Chrome extension can read web pages out loud?

Read Aloud. It reads the text of a page, and PDF files too, in a voice you choose. You can set the speed and pitch, and the words are highlighted as they are spoken. It uses your browser's voices or cloud voices from outside providers. It is open source under MIT.

Can I browse Chrome without a mouse?

Yes. Vimium adds keyboard commands to Chrome. You scroll with h, j, k and l, press f to show link hints, then type the letters to click. It does not work on Chrome Web Store pages, chrome:// pages or PDF files. It asks for wide permissions, so read the install prompt.

How do I check a website for accessibility problems?

Install Accessibility Insights for Web, open the page and run its checks. It uses the axe-core rules engine, works in Chrome and Edge, and is open source under MIT. axe DevTools (free version plus paid Pro) and WAVE (icons overlaid on the page) are two other page checkers here. Automated checks cover only part of accessibility, so add manual testing, such as using the page with only a keyboard.

How do I test colour contrast?

Use Colour Contrast Checker. Click its icon and a panel opens at the bottom. Pick a text colour and a background colour, and it shows the contrast ratio, graded against WCAG 2 AA and AAA for normal and large text. It checks one pair at a time; use it next to a page-level tool such as Accessibility Insights for Web.

Do accessibility extensions collect my data?

It depends on the extension. Accessibility Insights for Web says it collects anonymized usage data and crash reports only with your consent. Read Aloud's README names third-party cloud voice providers. The READMEs for Read Aloud and Vimium have no privacy policy link. Colour Contrast Checker's says nothing about data practices. WebAIM says WAVE sends no information to its server, and axe DevTools' store disclosure lists personally identifiable information, location and website content. These are the developers' own statements. We could not read every privacy policy; read them first.

Are these tools only for people with disabilities?

No. Anyone can use them, and they were built for different jobs. Read Aloud helps when you want to listen while you do something else. Vimium helps anyone who likes the keyboard. Accessibility Insights helps anyone who builds pages. You do not need a disability to get value from any of the three.

Also see: Best Chrome extensions for students.