Why we built Opentide
Your website passed an accessibility audit. Then you published something.
Accessibility is usually treated as a project: commission an audit, fix the list, move on. But a website changes every week, and every new page, banner or plugin can quietly undo the work.
By the Lowtide team · · 5 min read
The problem we kept seeing
WebAIM tests the home pages of the top million websites every year. In 2026, 95.9% had detectable failures against the WCAG accessibility guidelines, an average of 56 errors per page. These aren't edge cases. They're missing image descriptions, form fields without labels, buttons that a screen reader announces as "button", and links that say only "click here".
Each one shuts someone out: a blind customer who can't complete checkout, someone with a motor impairment who can't reach a menu by keyboard.
The legal pressure is growing too. Since 28 June 2025, the European Accessibility Act has applied to many products and services sold to EU consumers, including e-commerce. In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 requires reasonable adjustments, and public sector websites have their own accessibility regulations.
What goes wrong today
- Audits are expensive, so they happen once a year or less, and are out of date within weeks.
- Free browser checkers test one page at a time and only when someone remembers.
- Reports are written for specialists. A marketing team reading "4.1.2 Name, Role, Value" doesn't know what to change.
- Nobody can tell whether things are getting better or worse.
How Opentide approaches it
Opentide scans up to 25 pages of your site every week using axe-core, the open-source accessibility engine widely used by testing tools. It checks against WCAG 2.2 A and AA rules.
Each issue is explained in plain English: what's wrong, who it affects and how to fix it, with an example of the affected code. The weekly email lists what's new, what you've fixed and what's still open, so you can see progress, not just a list.
We're honest about the limits. Automated checks catch many common problems but not all of them, and a full audit still needs manual testing with assistive technology. Opentide keeps the basics from slipping between audits. You can scan one page free, with no sign-up.
Example · Online retail
An online retailer selling into the EU
A UK homeware retailer sells to customers in Ireland and France, so the European Accessibility Act applies. They had an audit last spring and fixed most issues.
In October, they launch a new product page template and a promotional pop-up. Opentide's next weekly scan flags 14 new issues: product images without descriptions, a quantity selector with no label, and a pop-up close button that keyboard users can't reach. The developer fixes them in an afternoon, and the following week's email confirms they're resolved.
This is an illustrative example, not a customer story.
What you get in the first month
- A baseline of accessibility issues across your 25 most important pages
- Plain-English fixes your team can act on without a specialist
- A weekly email showing new, fixed and open issues
- A record of progress you can share with leadership or auditors
Who it's for, and who it isn't
A good fit
- Online retailers, especially those selling into the EU
- Public sector bodies, schools, colleges and charities
- Agencies maintaining client websites
Probably not for
- Anyone looking for a certificate of compliance. No automated tool can give one.
- Apps that aren't websites. Opentide scans web pages.
Sources
- WebAIM Million (2026) (opens in a new tab)
- European Accessibility Act, Directive (EU) 2019/882 (opens in a new tab)
- WCAG 2.2 (W3C) (opens in a new tab)
- Equality Act 2010 (opens in a new tab)
- Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (opens in a new tab)
Examples in this article are illustrative, not customer stories. Nothing here is legal advice.