What URL Monitoring Means for Accessibility
Accessibility URL monitoring is the practice of testing a defined list of page addresses, again and again, so that you know when any of them stops meeting your standard. A one-off scan tells you about one page on one day. Monitoring a set of URLs tells you about your site, and about how it changes.
In AccessBell, each unique page address that you monitor counts as one URL. A domain can monitor up to 500 of them. Links to files such as PDFs and images are not counted as pages; PDFs are listed separately on the Documents tab, where they are checked for accessibility.
How to Monitor Up to 500 URLs Under One Domain
The first time you open Found Pages, AccessBell crawls your site. It reads the XML sitemap you entered, the ones listed in robots.txt and /sitemap.xml (including sitemap index files), and follows the links on your home page. It keeps up to 2,000 discovered pages per domain, only on the same domain unless you turn on subdomains.
You then choose which of those to monitor. Tick up to 500 pages, use Search pages to find a specific one, and select Start Scan. The pages you select become the domain’s monitored URLs. Pages you untick stop being monitored, but their scan history is kept.
- Missing a page? Select Add Pages and enter one address per line, as a full address or a path such as /pricing.
- Sitemap not found? Enter it under XML sitemap in the domain settings.
- Pages behind a login or on a staging site? Add custom headers in the settings to reach them.
Choosing the Right 500 URLs to Monitor
Many sites have more than 500 pages, and most have far fewer templates than pages. Because pages built from the same template share the same markup, a barrier in one product page usually exists in all of them. Choose URLs that cover your templates and your most important journeys first:
- The home page and your main landing pages.
- Every page with a form: sign-up, contact, checkout and account pages.
- One example of each template, such as a product page, a blog post and a category page.
- Pages that change often, such as promotions, events and news.
Control Which URLs Are Monitored With Rules and Subdomains
URL rules decide which pages AccessBell keeps when it discovers them. Set them in the domain settings, one rule per line. Plain text matches anywhere in the address, and * matches any characters.
- Only include /docs/* to focus on one section of a large site.
- Exclude /blog/tag/* and /blog/author/* to skip archive pages.
- Exclude ?s= to skip search result pages, or /fr/* to skip a language version.
- Turn on Include subdomains to monitor pages such as shop.example.com under example.com. Otherwise, a subdomain counts as its own domain.
What Happens to Your Monitored URLs
Monitored URLs are rescanned automatically every day as part of continuous website accessibility monitoring, and you can scan at any time with Scan now. Owners and admins are emailed when a new critical or serious issue appears. Every URL keeps its own scan history, which feeds the Compliance Vault.
Each domain has its own 500 URLs. If you manage several sites, add each as a domain and see them side by side in Your Domains. The component grouping view then shows which issues come from shared components, so you can fix a header or form once instead of on hundreds of URLs.
What URL Monitoring Can and Cannot Do
A domain monitors up to 500 URLs. The free scan tests one page at a time, and PDFs and other files are checked separately rather than counted as URLs. Monitoring a sample of your pages cannot prove that every page is accessible, and automated scans detect many, but not all, WCAG failures, so test your key journeys by hand as well. See our methodology and disclaimer.
Learn More About URL Monitoring
URL Monitoring: Frequently Asked Questions
How many URLs can I monitor with AccessBell?
Up to 500 URLs under each domain. Every domain in your plan has its own 500, along with its own settings, history and issues.
What counts as one URL?
Each unique page address that you monitor counts as one. Links to files such as PDFs and images are not added as pages; PDFs are listed on the Documents tab and checked separately.
How does AccessBell find the URLs on my site?
It reads your XML sitemap, the sitemaps listed in robots.txt and /sitemap.xml, and the links on your home page, and keeps up to 2,000 pages for you to choose from. You can also add pages by hand.
My site has more than 500 pages. What should I monitor?
Start with your home page, pages with forms and one example of each template. Pages built from the same template share the same code, so an issue found on one usually appears on all of them, and fixing the template fixes them all.
Are subdomains included in the 500 URLs?
Only if you turn on Include subdomains for the domain. Otherwise a subdomain such as shop.example.com is treated as its own domain with its own 500 URLs.
Can I exclude parts of my site?
Yes. Use include and exclude URL rules, with plain text or the * wildcard, to leave out sections such as tag archives, search results or other languages.