AccessProof
Validating a Shopify accessibility tool
Hey IH 👋
Solo dev, ~1–2h/day. Instead of building blind, I'm validating demand first.
The problem: since the European Accessibility Act kicked in (June 2025) — and with ~3,000 ADA web lawsuits/year in the US — online stores need to be WCAG 2.1 AA accessible. No Shopify theme is compliant out of the box.
The honest angle: the popular "accessibility overlay" widgets (accessiBe & co) are discredited — the FTC fined accessiBe $1M in 2025 for overstating compliance, and courts reject them. So I'm not building another overlay. I built a real audit + the thing merchants actually need: a generated EAA / EN 301 549 accessibility statement + dated proof + regression monitoring.
What I'm really testing: the scan itself is commoditized (Lighthouse/axe do it for free). My bet is that the legal proof + monitoring is what's worth paying for (~€19/mo). That's the open question.
Free tool, no signup: 👉 https://accessproof.onrender.com — scan any store and get an honest report. No store handy? Type
demo.I'd love brutal feedback:
Does the report feel useful and credible?
EU store owners: would you pay €19/mo for the statement + monthly proof, or is it just "nice to have"?
Anything that feels off?
Roast away — that's the point. 🙏
1 Comment
I think the paid question is slightly different from “would EU store owners pay €19/mo?”
A lot of merchants will say accessibility matters but still not pay until there is a trigger: agency handoff, legal notice, enterprise/client requirement, theme change, audit request, or a compliance deadline they actually feel.
So I would not validate this as an accessibility scanner.
I’d validate it as “proof you can show when someone asks whether your store is accessibility-ready.”
That is a much sharper buying moment than another WCAG score.
Small hint: the report should probably lead with “what proof do I have if someone challenges this?” before it leads with raw issues.
Happy to put a tighter paid-validation angle in writing if useful.