Accessibility checkers for Google Docs and Slides: every option compared

By Caner Kaya, Kayabyte

Disclosure: I make Kayabyte Accessibility Checker, one of the options below. I’ve tried to describe every option fairly, including where mine is not the best choice. Ratings, user counts, prices and features are copied from each add-on’s Google Workspace Marketplace listing and, where linked, its own pricing page, on 24 October 2026. Where a page doesn’t say something, the table says “not stated”. The add-on may still do it, so ask the developer.

The short answer

• Your school or employer already licenses Grackle: use it. It’s free for you, it exports tagged PDFs, and your IT team supports it.
• You want something free and quick for Docs: good dog a11y checker is free and simple, and the free plans of Kayabyte, Inkable and Slidably cover checking.
• You want fixes applied for you: Kayabyte, Fractal Apps, Inkable and Slidably can apply fixes. Fractal and Inkable use AI to write alt text and link text; Kayabyte and Slidably don’t use AI.
• You need tagged PDFs for PDF/UA: Grackle, Fractal Apps, Inkable and Kayabyte all export tagged PDFs from Docs. Test the result with a validator either way (see my tagged PDF guide).
• Before any of these: Google Docs and Slides have no built-in accessibility checker, but there’s a lot you can check by hand. My guide to checking accessibility in Docs and Slides covers it.

Comparison table

User counts are what each listing shows. Grackle’s count covers the whole Grackle listing, and three listings show a plain number without a label.

The options one by one

Lovely API: Accessibility Checker for Docs and for Slides

These two are the most installed checkers on the Marketplace, with 211K+ and 290K+ users. The listings name a few checks (document language, title, colour contrast and image alt text) plus “many other checks”. They have the lowest ratings in this list (1.8 and 2.1), and the Slides listing was last updated in February 2023. The listings don’t show a price or say whether anything is fixed for you.

Grackle (Docs, Slides and Sheets)

Grackle is the established choice, and many universities license it for their staff and students, among them UW–Madison, the University of Washington, Virginia Tech, Michigan and NC State. Grackle Docs runs 22 automated checks, has an alt-text library and a table-tagging wizard, and exports tagged PDFs aimed at PDF/UA. It guides you through fixes rather than applying them. GrackleDocs doesn’t publish its prices; you contact them for a quote. If your organisation already pays for Grackle, use it.

Fractal Apps: Accessibility Checker for Docs, Slides, and Sheets

The broadest feature list here: 61 checks against WCAG 2.1 AA and PDF/UA-1 with the success criterion for each, “Apply all fixes”, and AI that writes image descriptions, rewrites link text and suggests titles. It covers Sheets too. Tagged PDF export is for Docs only, and the PDF is produced on Fractal’s server. You get 5 free checks, then it’s $14.99 a month; a re-check after an edit counts as another check.

Inkable Docs & Slides

AI-assisted fixes and alt-text suggestions for Docs and Slides, with tagged PDF export aimed at PDF/UA (ISO 14289). The free Starter plan gives unlimited checks, 5 detailed reports, 10 AI-assisted fixes and 5 watermarked PDFs a month. Pro is $15 a month billed yearly, and Team is priced by quote. You sign up in Inkable’s web app first.

YuJa Accessibility Checker

Made for institutions that already use YuJa: it needs a connection token from a YuJa Panorama or EqualGround account. It checks alt text, link text, table headers, contrast and reading order, groups results by severity and applies suggested fixes. YuJa keeps uploaded content for 365 days.

good dog a11y checker

A free, simple checker for Docs by an individual developer. It sorts issues into errors, warnings and information: alt text, skipped heading levels, duplicate titles, contrast, small fonts, spacing, vague link text and bare web addresses. It says it uses no external servers, and that you still need to review the document yourself.

Slidably

Slides only. It gives a WCAG 2.1 AA score for alt text, slide titles, contrast, tables, lists and reading order, and fixes what it safely can in one action that you can undo. Items that need a human are flagged, not fixed. Free for 75 slides a month; $19 a month or $190 a year, with school and district licences.

Kayabyte Accessibility Checker (mine)

Docs and Slides. It checks alt text (including file names used as alt text), missing, skipped or empty headings and bold text that looks like a heading, contrast (4.5:1 and 3:1), typed lists, tables without header rows, merged cells and layout tables, vague link text and long web addresses, slide titles and reading order, document language and title, very small text and empty lines used for spacing. Each issue is explained in plain language, and many can be fixed with one click. It doesn’t use AI, so it won’t write your alt text for you. From Docs it exports a tagged PDF prepared for PDF/UA-1.

The free plan has all checks, one-by-one fixes and 3 tagged PDFs a month. Pro adds Fix all and unlimited PDFs for $6 per user a month or $60 a year, with a 14-day trial; a whole school or organisation is $990 a year. It’s new, so it has no reviews yet. More about it, or install it from the Marketplace.

How to choose

1. Check what your organisation already pays for. Many universities and school districts license Grackle or YuJa.
2. Decide whether you want AI. AI alt text is fast, but someone who knows why the image is there still has to check it. If you’d rather write alt text yourself, or your documents shouldn’t leave Google, pick a checker without AI.
3. If you publish PDFs, test them. Run any tagged PDF through the free PAC checker or veraPDF before you call it accessible. None of these add-ons makes a document compliant on its own.

Google Docs™, Google Slides™, Google Sheets™ and Google Workspace™ are trademarks of Google LLC. Kayabyte is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google LLC. Other product names belong to their owners.