How I Rated an Accessibility Check With Claude AI - UX AI Toolbox

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Jul 29
4 min read

Updated: Sep 9

TLDR version:

Claude’s accessibility feedback earned a Queen (5 stars) rating because:

It flagged multiple accessibility risks across static screens
It gave me actionable, contextual suggestions
It helped me iterate quickly and improve my design
It explained why fixing it matters, which will help improve accessibility thinking over time

How I Rated an Accessibility Check with Claude AI (No Figma Plugin Needed)

If you’re a UX designer in a corporate or enterprise setting, you’ve probably been stuck waiting on accessibility reviews… or worse, skipping them entirely for minor UI updates. That delay can be costly, especially when accessibility concerns aren’t caught early in the design cycle.

That’s why I tested a simple but powerful workaround: using Claude AI to run fast, first-pass accessibility checks on my UI screens before shipping them to formal review.

Spoiler: I gave Claude a Queen rating ♛ - the highest in my UX AI toolbox. Here's how it worked and why I’ll be using this method again.

Why Try AI for Accessibility?

In many enterprise UX environments, requesting accessibility audits for every little UI tweak isn’t scalable. We all know accessibility is critical… but bandwidth, approval processes, and team availability often mean you’re left hoping your update didn’t introduce new barriers.

Enter AI. What if you could get rapid feedback on demand before pinging your accessibility team?

With Claude AI, I was able to:

Check for color contrast and readability issues
Catch missing or unclear interactive elements
Uncover hierarchy and focus order problems
Get suggestions on how to fix them

...all of this without needing a Figma plugin or custom tooling.

Step 1: Take a Screenshot of the UI You Want to Review

Captured static screenshots of the screens you want feedback on. This keeps the flow lightweight and flexible without the need to upload entire design files.

Note: Always redact sensitive info before uploading. Block out names, emails, logos, data, or anything that might violate privacy policies. It’s better to err on the side of caution when using external AI tools.

Step 2: Use a Smart Prompt Format

To get the best results from Claude, I included these five elements in my prompt:

Role – Gives the LLM a position to take
Task – Gives specific instructions
Context – Gives relevance to the input/output
Constraints – Give scope of response
Format – Guidance for specific output

Note: This format works across most LLMs (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini), making it a reliable go-to for accessibility checks across tools… even if your organization limits what platforms you can use.

What Claude Found in My Screens

Claude scanned my uploaded screenshots and delivered a surprisingly thorough set of observations. Here’s some of what it flagged:

Color Contrast & Content Dependencies: Some UI elements lacked sufficient color contrast or didn’t follow alt text best practices.
Interactive Element Clarity: Buttons and links weren’t always clearly distinguished, and focus management (e.g., tab order) had potential gaps.
Information Hierarchy & Cognitive Load: Some screens had dense clusters of text and lacked clear groupings or headings.

I was able to copy these updates into my review notes, making it easy to document accessibility concerns proactively.

What AI Can’t Catch

To be clear, Claude (or any LLM) isn’t a silver bullet. There are still subtleties especially around human empathy, nuance, and situational context that only trained accessibility experts can spot.

But that’s the point.

AI is just your intern. You’re the designer.

Use AI to cover first-pass reviews, catch obvious misses, and speed up your iterations. Then loop in the pros for anything critical or nuanced.

Why This Approach Works

1. Early Feedback = Faster Fixes

Claude flagged some of the issues I’ve seen come up during final reviews meaning this approach helped me get ahead of accessibility bugs before dev tickets were even written.

2. Less Back and Forth with A11y Teams

Instead of asking for full reviews every time I changed a button or layout, I used Claude for first-pass validation. This let me focus the accessibility team’s time on final checks, not minor edits.

3. Designers Learn Accessibility by Doing

Here’s something unexpected: Claude explained why each issue mattered. This helped me build stronger instincts around accessibility… not just for this screen, but going forward.

It’s like having an on-call accessibility coach embedded in your process.

Final Verdict: Claude Earns a Queen Rating

As part of my UX AI Toolbox series where I rank tools using a chess-inspired scale from Pawn (basic) to Queen (powerful and game-changing).

Claude’s accessibility feedback earned a Queen (5 stars) rating because:

It flagged multiple accessibility risks across static screens
It gave me actionable, contextual suggestions
It helped me iterate quickly and improve inclusivity
It taught me how to think more accessibly over time

That’s the kind of power tool I want in my enterprise UX stack.

Try It for Yourself

Here’s a similar prompt to what I used:

“Act as a professional accessibility reviewer. Evaluate the uploaded UI screen for issues related to color contrast, focus order, interactive clarity, and cognitive load. Reference the latest WCAG standards. Provide feedback in bullet points with suggestions on how to fix each issue.”

Run this on a few screens you’re working on. You might be surprised what AI catches that your tired designer brain might miss after 6 rounds of revisions.

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*If you’ve used Claude, ChatGPT, or any other tool for accessibility in your workflow—drop your favorite tips in the comments or send me a message. I’d love to learn from how others are using AI to build more inclusive designs.

… and before you ask, yes… I wrote this post with the help of AI but heavily edited just about every line so it is more of myself. 😉

Disclaimer: The thoughts shared in this blog are solely my own and do not represent the perspectives of my professional relationships or clientele.