accessibility

name	accessibility
description	Consolidated accessibility skill entrypoint for WCAG 2.2, ARIA Authoring Practices, cognitive accessibility, Section 508, EN 301 549, and the Accessibility Planner workflow.
license	MIT
compatibility	Requires Python 3.11+ and uv; the scanner additionally needs Node.js and network access to run 'npx --yes @axe-core/cli'.
user-invocable	false
metadata	{"authors":"microsoft/hve-core","spec_version":"1.0","last_updated":"2026-06-19"}

Accessibility — Skill Entry

This skill is the canonical accessibility reference contract for HVE Core. Agents and instructions invoke this skill by name and rely on it to own framework reference resolution, phase guidance resolution, and the scanner CLI entrypoint.

Framework references

• WCAG 2.2
• ARIA Authoring Practices Guide
• Cognitive Accessibility Guidance
• Section 508
• EN 301 549

Accessibility Planner workflow

The Accessibility Planner runs six phases, each keyed to a state id:

1. Phase 1 — Discovery (discovery)
2. Phase 2 — Framework Selection (framework-selection)
3. Phase 3 — Standards Mapping (standards-mapping)
4. Phase 4 — Plan Risk Assessment (plan-risk-assessment)
5. Phase 5 — Impact and Evidence (impact-evidence)
6. Phase 6 — Backlog Handoff (backlog-handoff)

Phase reference index

• Phase 1 — Discovery: capture-coaching.md — read this when running exploration-first capture questioning.
• Phase 2 — Framework Selection: framework-selection.md — read this when choosing which frameworks and conformance level apply.
• Phase 3 — Standards Mapping: walk the framework references roll-up tables to emit controlMappings; consumed by Phase 5. No dedicated file — mapping is driven by the framework roll-ups.
• Phase 4 — Plan Risk Assessment: capture-coaching.md governs the questioning posture when escalation triggers reopen scoping; tier criteria are applied per the Accessibility Planner identity instructions and recorded as riskClassification.tier. No dedicated file — the accessibility risk surface is narrow enough to stay inline.
• Phase 5 — Impact and Evidence: impact-assessment.md — read this when building the evidence register, tradeoff log, and seed work-items.
• Phase 6 — Backlog Handoff: backlog-handoff.md — read this when rendering work items and validating handoff gates.

Tooling

The scanner CLI (scripts/scan.py) wraps the Node-based axe-core scanner and normalizes its findings into a stable JSON shape.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+ with uv available on PATH.
• Node.js with npx available on PATH.
• Network access on first run so npx can fetch @axe-core/cli.

Quick Start

uv run scripts/scan.py https://example.com
uv run scripts/scan.py ./page.html --output results.json

Parameters Reference

Parameter	Required	Default	Description
target	Yes	—	URL or local file to scan.
--output	No	stdout	Path to write the normalized JSON results.

Script Reference

• Entrypoint: scripts/scan.py

• Output shape:

  {
    "target": "<scanned target>",
    "summary": {
      "violations": 0,
      "passes": 0,
      "incomplete": 0,
      "inapplicable": 0
    },
    "violations": [
      { "id": "", "impact": "", "description": "", "nodes": 0 }
    ]
  }
  

• Exit codes:

  • 0 — scan completed successfully.
  • 1 — scan failed or returned invalid output.
  • 2 — scanner unavailable (Node.js or @axe-core/cli missing).

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Action	Exit code
scanner unavailable error	Node.js or npx not on PATH	Install Node.js so npx resolves, then re-run.	2
Long pause or download on first run	npx is fetching @axe-core/cli	Allow network access on the first run; later runs use the cache.	—
scan failed or returned invalid output	axe-core CLI errored or emitted non-JSON	Confirm the target URL or file is reachable and well-formed.	1
Empty violations but issues expected	Page rendered after the scan, or rules N/A	Confirm the target fully loads; check summary.inapplicable.	0

Mapping findings to frameworks

Each violation's impact is one of minor, moderate, serious, or critical. axe rule tags decode to WCAG success criteria by stripping the wcag prefix and inserting decimals:

axe tag	WCAG success criterion
wcag111	1.1.1 Non-text Content
wcag143	1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)

WCAG success criteria are normative; the axe techniques that surface them are informative. Treat scanner output as evidence pointing at a criterion, not a conformance verdict.

Usage notes

• Treat this skill as the default accessibility entrypoint for planning and review workflows.
• Resolve framework and phase guidance through this skill instead of duplicating its internal reference paths in agents or instructions.
• Use the scanner CLI when you need normalized findings from an accessibility scan.