AllyShield provides automated accessibility testing tools. Nothing on this website, in the AllyShield dashboard, in any AllyShield report (PDF, CSV, or otherwise), or in any compliance certificate we issue should be interpreted as a guarantee of legal compliance with any accessibility regulation, including but not limited to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and EN 301 549, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act, or any state, provincial, or national law.
What automated testing catches — and what it doesn't
Independent research (Deque Systems, WebAIM) consistently finds that automated accessibility tools detect roughly 30–40% of the WCAG failures that a trained manual auditor would find. Categories that automated tools cannot reliably evaluate include:
- whether alt text is meaningful (a tool can see an attribute exists, not whether it describes the image),
- whether a page is usable with a screen reader or keyboard only,
- whether focus order matches visual reading order,
- whether headings convey meaningful structure,
- whether colour-encoded information has a non-colour alternative,
- whether video has accurate captions and audio descriptions,
- whether custom ARIA widgets work with real assistive technology,
- whether language and content are cognitively accessible.
A complete accessibility programme also requires manual testing with assistive technology, usability testing with people with disabilities, ongoing content and policy review, and — for any formal compliance claim — independent legal counsel familiar with the applicable jurisdiction.
AllyShield reports and certificates
When AllyShield issues a compliance report or signed certificate, it attests to exactly one thing: that on the date shown, the named URL was analysed against the listed automated WCAG checks and produced the results in the report. It is not a legal opinion, a conformance statement under WCAG, a VPAT® signed by an accredited evaluator, or a defence against legal action. Signed certificates exist so that your internal or external stakeholders can verify the scan actually ran — not to evidence that your site is legally compliant.
Lawsuits and legal risk
Using AllyShield does not protect you from accessibility litigation. Web-accessibility lawsuits are typically filed under the ADA in the US, and similar statutes elsewhere; liability depends on your jurisdiction, your industry, the claim made by the plaintiff, and your overall accessibility programme — not on whether you use any particular piece of testing software. AllyShield helps you reduce the risk by surfacing issues early, but it cannot eliminate that risk. For legal advice specific to your situation, consult a qualified attorney.
Marketing copy
We make every effort to describe what AllyShield actually does truthfully. If anywhere on this site we describe AllyShield as “making your site compliant” or similar, read that as shorthand for “helps you identify issues that often lead to non-compliance”. Where our wording has slipped, please let us know at info@allyshield.net— we'd rather hear about it and fix it.
Contact
Questions about this disclaimer? Email info@allyshield.net.