TYPO3 Extension `a11y_quality_gate`

Accessibility Quality Gate brings accessibility checks directly into the TYPO3 editorial workflow.

It combines CKEditor feedback, backend issue management, manual and automated scans, and configurable quality gate rules to help teams catch common accessibility problems earlier — before content goes live.

Features

CKEditor 5 inline highlighting for accessibility issues
TYPO3 backend module with overview and page detail
Issue tracking with ignore / unignore workflow
Stable issue fingerprints across rescans
Manual scans via CLI
Automated scans via TYPO3 Scheduler
Changed-only scan mode for incremental rescans
Ruleset-based quality gate thresholds
Warn mode on page unhide
CSV export
TCA-based field discovery for supported tt_content RTE and file fields
Settings module for enabling and disabling scanned tt_content fields

Requirements

TYPO3 13.4 LTS
PHP 8.2 or higher
No additional external services required

Screenshots

Overview

Overview module

Page detail

CKEditor inline highlighting

CKEditor highlighting

Links


Repository	https://github.com/priebera1/typo3-a11y-quality-gate
TER	https://extensions.typo3.org/extension/a11y_quality_gate/

Compatibility

Version	TYPO3	PHP	Support
1.x	13.4	8.2+	features, bugfixes

Built-in rules

RTE rules

Rule ID	Severity	WCAG
`rte.img_alt_missing`	Critical	1.1.1 Non-text Content
`rte.img_alt_is_filename`	Warning	1.1.1 Non-text Content / Best Practice
`rte.empty_heading`	Warning	1.3.1 Info and Relationships
`rte.empty_link`	Critical	2.4.4 / 4.1.2
`rte.button_label_missing`	Critical	4.1.2 Name, Role, Value
`rte.table_missing_header`	Warning	1.3.1 Info and Relationships
`rte.table_th_missing_scope`	Warning	1.3.1 (H63)
`rte.table_missing_caption`	Info	1.3.1 (H39) / Best Practice
`rte.duplicate_id`	Warning	Markup consistency / Best Practice
`rte.svg_missing_title`	Warning	1.1.1 Non-text Content
`rte.iframe_missing_title`	Critical	4.1.2 Name, Role, Value
`rte.image_in_link_missing_alt`	Critical	1.1.1 / 2.4.4
`rte.marquee_or_blink`	Critical	2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide
`rte.non_descriptive_link`	Warning	2.4.4 Link Purpose / Best Practice

Structured rules

Rule ID	Severity	WCAG
`structured.file_reference_alt`	Critical	1.1.1 Non-text Content
`structured.header_ctype_empty`	Warning	1.3.1 Info and Relationships
`structured.header_link_no_text`	Critical	2.4.4 / 4.1.2
`structured.uploads_file_missing_description`	Warning	2.4.4 Link Purpose
`structured.table_missing_caption`	Info	1.3.1 (H39) / Best Practice

Installation

composer require priebera/typo3-a11y-quality-gate

Then:

Install and activate the extension in the TYPO3 Extension Manager
Apply database schema updates
Flush caches
Open the Accessibility Quality Gate module in the backend
Run Re-scan TCA in Settings once
Configure a Scheduler task or run scans manually via CLI

Configuration

Field settings

The extension supports TCA-based field discovery for selected tt_content RTE and file fields.

In the Settings module you can:

refresh supported fields from TCA
enable or disable individual fields
control which fields are included in future scans

Changes are applied only after clicking Save settings.

If no field configuration exists yet, the extension falls back to its internal default field list.

At the moment, field discovery and field settings apply to tt_content only. Page-level metadata fields from pages are not part of the current FREE scanning scope.

CLI usage

Scan a subtree:

./vendor/bin/typo3 a11y:scan --root-pid=1

Scan a single page:

./vendor/bin/typo3 a11y:scan --page-uid=42

Scan changed content only:

./vendor/bin/typo3 a11y:scan --root-pid=1 --changed-only

Scan a specific language:

./vendor/bin/typo3 a11y:scan --root-pid=1 --language=1

Scheduler

The extension includes TYPO3 Scheduler support for:

single-page scans
subtree scans
language-specific scans
changed-only rescans

Quality Gate

A default ruleset is created automatically on first use.

By default:

critical issues are checked
warning threshold is disabled
publish mode is set to warn

This means editors are not spammed with warnings on fresh installations, while critical issues can still trigger quality gate feedback.

Rulesets can be configured in the backend via the Accessibility Ruleset record.

Field	Description
`threshold_critical`	Maximum allowed open critical issues
`threshold_warning`	Maximum allowed open warnings (`-1` disables warning checks)
`publish_mode`	`0` = disabled, `1` = warn on unhide

For site-specific rulesets, set site_identifier to match the TYPO3 site configuration identifier.

Backend User TSconfig

Visibility of editor-facing scan actions can be controlled via Backend User TSconfig or Backend Group TSconfig:

options.a11y_quality_gate {
    showToolbarItem = 1
    showScanAll = 1
    showScanNow = 1
}

Option	Default	Description
`showToolbarItem`	`1`	Show the accessibility indicator in the CKEditor toolbar
`showScanAll`	`1`	Show the "Scan all" button in the overview module
`showScanNow`	`1`	Show the "Scan now" button on the page detail view

Set any option to 0 to hide it for a specific user or group. This is useful when restricting scan actions to integrators or administrators only, while still allowing editors to view and manage issues.

What this extension is for

Accessibility Quality Gate is designed as a TYPO3-native editorial quality layer.

It helps editors and integrators detect common accessibility issues in content fields and manage them directly inside TYPO3.

It is not a full frontend accessibility audit tool and does not replace rendered-page testing, contrast checks, keyboard-flow testing, or a professional WCAG audit.

Disclaimer

This extension detects common accessibility issues through static analysis of TYPO3 content fields. Some rules reflect best practices and may not always correspond to a hard WCAG 2.1 failure in every context.

All findings should be reviewed in context.

License

GPL-2.0-or-later

TYPO3 Extension a11y_quality_gate