a11y Testing Is Broken: How Lighthouse and Axe Fail in Real Projects

JS Nation

JSNation 2025

Glafira Zhur

<p>The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is coming, and companies will rush to certify their websites as accessible in the easiest way possible. But high Lighthouse and Axe scores don't mean real accessibility. Many will rely on these tools to "prove" compliance, despite their critical blind spots – broken focus, misleading ARIA, and inaccessible dynamic content. Even more confusing, Lighthouse and Axe are built on the same foundation, yet they can produce different results. So let's break down these flaws and explore better ways to ensure true accessibility. </p>