IONOS Accessibility Checker

Accessibility on IONOS

IONOS hosts a wide range of sites, from pages made with its own website builder to WordPress installs and fully custom code. The host does not decide how accessible your site is: the template, plugins, content and code you publish do.

Because many IONOS customers run businesses in Europe, accessibility is also a legal question there. The European Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025 to many businesses that sell products and services to consumers in the EU, including online shops.

WebAIM’s annual analysis of the top one million home pages finds detectable WCAG failures on the vast majority of them, year after year, with low-contrast text, missing alternative text and missing form labels among the most common. (opens in a new tab, source: WebAIM Million)

Common Accessibility Issues on IONOS Sites

• Template color contrast

  Builder templates and themes often use light gray text or pale buttons that fall below the 4.5:1 contrast WCAG requires for normal text.

• Images without alt text

  Photos added through a builder or media library are easy to publish without alternative text, so screen reader users miss what they show.

• Contact and booking forms

  Form widgets and plugins sometimes rely on placeholder text instead of visible labels, and do not announce errors to screen readers.

• Cookie consent banners

  Consent banners, common on EU sites, can trap keyboard focus or hide the rest of the page from screen readers until dismissed.

• Headings used for styling

  Text styled to look like a heading, or headings chosen for their size, leaves the page without a structure screen reader users can navigate.

How AccessBell Scans Your IONOS Site

1. Enter any public page. Paste the address of a page on your IONOS site into the scanner above. There is nothing to install on your hosting account: no plugin, no code snippet and no login.
2. We load it in a real browser. AccessBell opens the page in headless Chrome and runs its scripts, so it tests what your visitors actually see, including content added by your theme, builder or plugins.
3. We run the WCAG rules. The open-source axe-core engine checks the page against the standard you choose, and every result is mapped to the WCAG success criteria it affects.
4. You get a report in seconds. Each issue comes with the failing HTML and how to fix it. Our methodology explains exactly what runs and what still needs a person.

What's Included in Every Scan

• 63 automated rules for WCAG 2.2 Level AA, or presets for WCAG 2.1 AA, the ADA, Section 508 and EN 301 549
• Every issue ranked by severity, from critical to minor
• The WCAG success criteria each issue fails, which you can look up in our WCAG library
• The failing HTML, so you can find the element in your site editor or code
• How to fix each issue, with a link to the rule's full documentation
• A list of checks that need a person to review, so nothing is missed
• Filters by WCAG version, level, principle, success criterion and severity

The free scan checks one page at a time. AccessBell Pro scans up to 500 pages per domain every day and alerts you when something changes.

How to Fix What the Scan Finds

1. Fix recurring problems in the template, theme or global styles first, such as colors and heading styles, so every page benefits at once.
2. Rescan after changing templates, installing plugins or adding new sections, since each change can introduce new issues.
3. Run a free scan above on your homepage and a few key pages, fix issues starting with critical and serious, then rescan to confirm.
4. For ongoing protection, AccessBell Pro monitors up to 500 URLs per domain every day and alerts you when a theme, app or plugin update introduces a new issue.

Related Guides

• WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) Explained in Plain EnglishWCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) explained simply: the 4.5:1 and 3:1 ratios, what counts as large text, the exceptions, fixes and how to test your colors.
• WCAG 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions Explained in Plain EnglishWCAG 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions explained simply: visible labels, format hints, grouped fields and required markers, with code examples and a test routine.
• Automated vs Manual Accessibility Testing: Where Each FitsWhat automated accessibility testing catches, what needs a human, and how to combine both into a repeatable process that keeps your website WCAG compliant.
• WCAG Success Criteria LibraryLook up any success criterion the scan flags, in plain language.
• Free Accessibility Statement GeneratorPublish a statement once your IONOS site's known issues are fixed.

IONOS Accessibility — Frequently Asked Questions