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TestParty vs Siteimprove: Real-Time Monitoring Platform Comparison

TestParty
TestParty
July 5, 2025

TestParty vs Siteimprove represents a fundamental choice in accessibility strategy: detection-only scanning versus automated source code remediation. Siteimprove identifies WCAG violations and generates reports. TestParty identifies violations and fixes them—actually modifying your source code to resolve accessibility barriers rather than just documenting them.

This distinction matters because most organizations already know their sites have accessibility problems. The WebAIM Million report finds 96.3% of home pages have detectable WCAG errors. Another scanner confirming what you suspected doesn't move you toward compliance. Fixing the issues does.

Q: Does Siteimprove fix accessibility issues?

A: No. Siteimprove scans websites to detect WCAG violations and provides guidance on remediation, but organizations must implement fixes themselves using internal development resources. Siteimprove is a detection and reporting platform—not a remediation solution.

What Is Siteimprove?

Siteimprove is a website quality assurance platform that scans for accessibility issues alongside SEO problems, broken links, and content quality concerns. The Danish company serves enterprise organizations with comprehensive website governance dashboards.

Siteimprove's approach: Broad website monitoring with accessibility as one component. The platform excels at giving marketing and communications teams visibility into overall website health, including accessibility scores and violation reports.

Siteimprove's limitation: Detection stops at the report. Organizations receive detailed findings, but fixing those findings requires assigning developers, competing with other priorities, and hoping issues actually get resolved. Most don't—hence the persistent 96%+ failure rate across the web despite widespread scanner adoption.

What Is TestParty?

TestParty is an AI-powered accessibility platform that combines automated scanning with source code remediation. The platform doesn't just find WCAG violations—it generates specific code fixes and integrates with development workflows to implement them.

For e-commerce sites (especially Shopify): TestParty provides actual code fixes that merchants or developers can implement directly. The platform scans product pages, checkout flows, collection pages, and dynamic elements like add-to-cart buttons, filtering systems, and image carousels—the components that make e-commerce accessibility particularly challenging.

For non-e-commerce sites: TestParty provides superior developer tooling through three integrated products:

  • Spotlight scans production sites continuously, identifying WCAG 2.2 AA violations with actionable remediation guidance
  • Bouncer integrates with GitHub to catch issues before deployment, acting as an accessibility quality gate in CI/CD pipelines
  • PreGame brings accessibility checks directly into VS Code, catching issues as code is written with real-time feedback and suggested fixes

The Core Difference: Detection vs. Remediation

Why Detection-Only Tools Fail

Organizations using Siteimprove often experience a familiar pattern:

Month 1: Dashboard shows 2,400 accessibility issues. Team feels informed. Month 6: Dashboard shows 2,350 issues. Modest progress after significant effort. Month 12: Dashboard shows 2,500 issues. New features introduced new violations faster than old ones were fixed. Month 24: Same range. Dashboard fatigue sets in. Reports get filed, not acted upon.

The problem isn't Siteimprove's scanning—it's excellent. The problem is the gap between detection and remediation. Without a mechanism to actually fix issues, they persist indefinitely.

How TestParty Closes the Remediation Gap

TestParty treats detection as step one, not the destination:

Detection: Spotlight identifies WCAG violations across your site, similar to any scanner.

Remediation: For each issue, TestParty generates the specific code fix—not generic guidance, but the actual code change needed.

Implementation: Fixes integrate with your existing workflow. For e-commerce merchants, this means implementable code. For development teams, this means Bouncer blocking inaccessible PRs and PreGame catching issues in the IDE before code is even committed.

Result: Issue counts go down because issues actually get fixed. Compliance improves measurably, not just theoretically.

Feature Comparison: TestParty vs Siteimprove

Accessibility Scanning

| Capability                   | TestParty                     | Siteimprove |
|------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------|
| Automated WCAG scanning      | Yes                           | Yes         |
| Continuous monitoring        | Yes                           | Yes         |
| Issue prioritization         | Yes                           | Yes         |
| WCAG version                 | 2.2 AA                        | 2.1 AA      |
| E-commerce-specific scanning | Yes (checkout, cart, filters) | General     |

Both platforms scan effectively. Siteimprove covers broader website quality concerns; TestParty focuses specifically on accessibility with deeper e-commerce coverage and support for the latest WCAG 2.2 success criteria.

Remediation Capabilities

| Capability                    | TestParty                 | Siteimprove |
|-------------------------------|---------------------------|-------------|
| Automated code fixes          | Yes                       | No          |
| Source code remediation       | Yes                       | No          |
| CI/CD pipeline integration    | Yes (Bouncer)             | Limited     |
| IDE integration               | Yes (PreGame for VS Code) | No          |
| PR blocking for accessibility | Yes                       | No          |

This is where platforms fundamentally diverge. Siteimprove tells you what's wrong. TestParty tells you what's wrong and fixes it.

Developer Workflow Integration

| Capability                | TestParty        | Siteimprove |
|---------------------------|------------------|-------------|
| GitHub integration        | Native (Bouncer) | API-based   |
| VS Code extension         | Yes (PreGame)    | No          |
| Real-time coding feedback | Yes              | No          |
| Shift-left accessibility  | Yes              | No          |

TestParty's developer tools catch issues when they're cheapest to fix—during development, not after deployment. Siteimprove's model requires issues to reach production before detection.

When Siteimprove Makes Sense

Siteimprove provides genuine value in specific contexts:

Comprehensive website governance: Organizations wanting unified SEO, content quality, broken link checking, and accessibility scanning in one dashboard benefit from Siteimprove's breadth.

Large internal development teams with accessibility expertise: If you have developers who understand WCAG implementation and have capacity to act on scan results, detection-only tools may be sufficient.

Compliance documentation requirements: Some organizations need to demonstrate they're actively monitoring for issues. Siteimprove's reporting satisfies monitoring requirements (though not remediation requirements).

When TestParty Makes Sense

TestParty delivers distinct advantages for:

E-commerce sites facing litigation risk: ADA lawsuits heavily target e-commerce, and overlay widgets don't hold up legally. TestParty fixes source code—what the law actually requires.

Shopify merchants: TestParty's tight Shopify integration addresses the specific accessibility challenges of themes, apps, and checkout flows. Merchants generating significant revenue need genuine compliance, not widgets that might fail in court.

SMBs and mid-market companies: Enterprise solutions like Siteimprove's full suite are often overkill and overpriced for companies without dedicated accessibility teams. TestParty offers automated remediation at accessible price points.

Development teams wanting shift-left accessibility: Bouncer and PreGame catch issues during development, not after deployment. This prevents accessibility debt from accumulating rather than documenting it after the fact.

Organizations stuck at detection: If you've been scanning for years without meaningful compliance improvement, TestParty's remediation capabilities break the cycle.

The Cost Reality

Siteimprove Costs

Siteimprove enterprise pricing typically ranges $15,000-$50,000+ annually depending on pages scanned and features included. This covers detection and reporting.

Hidden cost: Developer time implementing fixes. Organizations report spending 3-5x their Siteimprove license on developers manually fixing identified issues—when fixes happen at all. Most issues sit in backlogs indefinitely.

TestParty Costs

TestParty's pricing includes detection and remediation capabilities. For e-commerce sites, you get actual code fixes. For development teams, you get tools that prevent issues from shipping.

The comparison: Current scanning cost + developer hours attempting manual remediation vs. TestParty's integrated pricing. Most organizations find remediation-included more cost-effective than paying for detection and hoping fixes happen.

Why Source Code Remediation Matters Legally

The Department of Justice's web accessibility guidance emphasizes actual accessibility—websites that work for people with disabilities. Detection reports documenting years of unfixed issues don't demonstrate compliance; they document known barriers.

When litigation arrives—and e-commerce sites face significant ADA lawsuit risk—documented unfixed issues become evidence of negligence rather than evidence of good faith.

TestParty's remediation history shows issues identified, fixed, and resolved. This documentation supports legal defense in ways detection-only reports cannot.

FAQ Section

Q: Can I use TestParty and Siteimprove together?

A: You can, but accessibility scanning becomes redundant. Some organizations keep Siteimprove for SEO and content quality while using TestParty specifically for accessibility remediation.

Q: Is TestParty only for e-commerce?

A: No. TestParty's strongest product-market fit is e-commerce (especially Shopify), but Spotlight, Bouncer, and PreGame serve any organization needing accessibility compliance. E-commerce sites get direct code fixes; development teams get superior tooling.

Q: How does TestParty's automated remediation work?

A: TestParty generates specific source code fixes—not overlays or runtime patches. For e-commerce, merchants receive implementable code changes. For development teams, Bouncer blocks inaccessible PRs with fix suggestions, and PreGame provides real-time fixes in VS Code.

Q: What about issues requiring human judgment?

A: Some accessibility issues—meaningful alt text, logical reading order—require human decisions. TestParty identifies these clearly and provides guidance. Automated fixes address programmatically solvable issues: missing labels, incorrect ARIA, contrast failures, keyboard traps.

Q: Why does TestParty focus on source code instead of overlays?

A: Overlay widgets (like AccessiBe and UserWay) don't fix underlying code—they attempt to mask problems with JavaScript. Courts have ruled overlays insufficient for ADA compliance, and the disability community widely criticizes them. Source code remediation is what the law requires and what actually works for users.

Key Takeaways

  • Siteimprove detects; TestParty detects and fixes. Detection without remediation leaves issues unresolved indefinitely.
  • 96% of websites have accessibility errors despite widespread scanner adoption. The problem isn't detection—it's remediation.
  • E-commerce sites face significant ADA litigation risk. TestParty fixes source code, which is what courts require. Detection reports showing unfixed issues work against you.
  • TestParty's developer tools enable shift-left accessibility. Bouncer and PreGame catch issues during development, preventing accessibility debt rather than documenting it.
  • Total cost includes remediation effort. Siteimprove's price plus developer time fixing issues often exceeds TestParty's integrated pricing—with worse outcomes.
  • Siteimprove serves broad website governance needs. If you need unified SEO, content, links, and accessibility monitoring—and have developers to act on findings—Siteimprove's breadth is valuable.

Conclusion

The TestParty vs Siteimprove comparison comes down to one question: do you need to find accessibility issues, or do you need to fix them?

Siteimprove helps organizations understand their accessibility gaps through excellent scanning and reporting. It's a capable detection platform with comprehensive website governance features.

TestParty closes the gap between detection and compliance. For e-commerce sites, that means actual code fixes you can implement. For development teams, that means tools that catch and fix issues during development rather than documenting them after deployment.

If your accessibility program has stalled at detection—years of scan reports, static issue counts, persistent non-compliance—TestParty's remediation-first approach offers a different outcome.

Ready to move from detection to remediation? Start with a free accessibility scan to see what TestParty identifies and how it proposes to fix it.


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Created with AI assistance and vetted by TestParty's accessibility experts. We focus on enterprise WCAG compliance and automated testing, but recognize that every organization's situation is unique. Please consult appropriate professionals for tailored advice.

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