It is common to see differences between reports generated by the UserWay Pro Widget and the UserWay Accessibility Monitor.
Although both products work together to improve and measure website accessibility, they evaluate websites differently, at different times, and for different purposes. As a result, their reported findings may not always match exactly.
At a Glance: Key Differences
Feature | UserWay Pro Widget | UserWay Accessibility Monitor |
How it runs | Client-side in visitors' browsers | Cloud-based automated crawler using a headless browser |
Remediation | Applies (Automated Remediation Technology) in real time to fix supported accessibility issues | Audits baseline accessibility health and identifies issues that require remediation |
Page Coverage | Any page where the UserWay script loads during a visitor session | Specific URLs discovered and scanned within your subscription limit |
Update Frequency | Real-time on every page view | Scheduled scans or manually triggered re-scans |
ℹ️ Note: The Pro Widget evaluates pages as they are experienced by real visitors, while the Accessibility Monitor evaluates pages through an automated scanning process. Because they use different methods and scopes, report differences are expected.
Common Reasons for Different Results
Scenario A: Different Pages Are Being Evaluated
The most common reason for discrepancies is that the two tools are not reviewing the same URLs.
Accessibility Monitor
Crawls a defined set of pages based on sitemap discovery and your subscription limit.
For example, if your website contains 500 pages but your plan scans 50 pages, only those 50 pages are included in Monitor reporting.
Pro Widget
Collects data only from pages where the UserWay script (
widget.js) is installed and loaded.Pages that do not load the widget, such as certain templates, subdomains, or checkout flows, will not be included in widget reporting even if the Accessibility Monitor scans them.
Scenario B: The Same Pages Are Being Evaluated
Even when both tools assess the same URLs, differences can occur because of how each tool operates.
1. Pre-Remediation vs. Post-Remediation Results
The Pro Widget automatically remediates many supported WCAG issues at runtime, including:
Missing form labels
Invalid or broken ARIA attributes
Missing landmark roles
Certain image alternative text issues
The Accessibility Monitor may display different results depending on the report type being viewed:
All Violations shows every detected issue before remediation.
Violations Requiring Manual Remediation excludes issues automatically addressed by ART and focuses on issues that require developer action.
2. Crawler Execution vs. Real User Interaction
The Accessibility Monitor crawler runs using:
A headless browser
Fixed viewport dimensions
Defined page-load timeouts
Real users may trigger additional page states that an automated crawler does not reproduce in the same sequence, such as:
Opening modal dialogs
Expanding accordions
Navigating single-page applications (SPAs)
Loading lazy-loaded content through scrolling
Because accessibility findings can vary based on page state, reported results may differ.
3. Scan Timing and Cached Results
The Accessibility Monitor captures a snapshot of a page at the time of the scan.
If website code or widget configurations change after the scan:
Widget behavior updates immediately for visitors.
Accessibility Monitor results do not update until the next scheduled scan or a manually triggered Re-scan.
Accessibility Monitor Report Types
When comparing Accessibility Monitor data with widget results, ensure that you are using the correct report type.
Report Type | Purpose |
Dashboard View | Provides a high-level overview of accessibility health, score trends, and scanned pages |
Violations Requiring Manual Remediation | Excludes issues automatically handled by the Pro Widget and highlights developer action items |
All Violations | Displays the complete inventory of detected accessibility issues before remediation |
Expected Result
You can accurately interpret differences between UserWay Pro Widget and Accessibility Monitor reports and determine whether discrepancies are caused by scope, remediation, scan timing, or crawler behavior.
Need more help?
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