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arXiv · 2502.10884

CodeA11y: Making AI Coding Assistants Useful for Accessible Web Development

Peya Mowar·Yi-Hao Peng·Jason Wu·Aaron Steinfeld·Jeffrey P. Bigham
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Abstract

A persistent challenge in accessible computing is ensuring developers produce web UI code that supports assistive technologies. Despite numerous specialized accessibility tools, novice developers often remain unaware of them, leading to ~96% of web pages that contain accessibility violations. AI coding assistants, such as GitHub Copilot, could offer potential by generating accessibility-compliant code, but their impact remains uncertain. Our formative study with 16 developers without accessibility training revealed three key issues in AI-assisted coding: failure to prompt AI for accessibility, omitting crucial manual steps like replacing placeholder attributes, and the inability to verify compliance. To address these issues, we developed CodeA11y, a GitHub Copilot Extension, that suggests accessibility-compliant code and displays manual validation reminders. We evaluated it through a controlled study with another 20 novice developers. Our findings demonstrate its effectiveness in guiding novice developers by reinforcing accessibility practices throughout interactions, representing a significant step towards integrating accessibility into AI coding assistants.

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Peya Mowar, Yi-Hao Peng, Jason Wu, Aaron Steinfeld, Jeffrey P. Bigham. 2025-02-15. CodeA11y: Making AI Coding Assistants Useful for Accessible Web Development. https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.10884

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