VIBE-CODED Exclusion
How your vibe-coded websites are probably leaving people out.
Introduction
AI has totally changed how we build websites. Anyone can whip up a slick-looking page in an afternoon. But speed exposes the habits already built into our workflows and when accessibility is treated as an afterthought, AI just helps us overlook it faster.
01 — The scale
-
of the top million websites fail basic accessibility checks
WebAIM Million 2026
-
of all new code is now AI-generated
State of Vibe Coding 2026
-
Australians live with a disability — 1 in 5 of the population
ABS Survey 2022
-
of disabled online shoppers report barriers that prevent purchase
Click-Away Pound 2024
These are not edge cases. They are common experiences that continue to exclude millions of users from everyday digital interactions.
02 — The Problem
AI knows
accessibility
It doesn’t always
apply it
Claude, GPT, Gemini; they all know WCAG when asked. But in default mode, they produce the same predictable failures.
The model isn’t broken. The defaults are. Skills and agents help, but they don’t always fire - even when they’re installed. The fix has to live somewhere the model reads on every single prompt: the system prompt itself.
<div onclick="submit()">
Submit Form
</div> ← not a button
<input type="text"> ← no label
<img src="hero.jpg"> ← no alt text
<div class="modal"> ← no focus trap
// With a CLAUDE.md file:
<button type="submit">
Submit Form
</button>
<label for="name">Name</label>
<input id="name" type="text">
<img src="hero.jpg"
alt="Team collaborating">
03 — Today’s Solutions
The space is moving from empty problem to solutions with momentum.
In the last few months, the accessibility-in-AI space shipped fast. We reviewed the five most serious projects already in the field, each of them excel in at least one area, with some gaps remaining.
-
Deque axe MCP Server
The industry-standard accessibility testing engine, now callable from inside Claude Code, Cursor, and Copilot via Model Context Protocol. The strongest tool of the five. Most of the workflow sits behind a commercial Axe DevTools subscription.
-
Community-Access accessibility-agents
Open-source, MIT-licensed, 35 specialist agents built by and for the blind and low vision community. The best free option for developer teams.
-
AccessLint Claude Plugin
A narrow specialist in colour contrast, the single most common WCAG failure category on the web.
-
Matthew Stephens’ 33 Claude Skills
Strong on cognitive, age-band, and audience-specific accessibility. Pitched at design practitioners doing prototype reviews.
-
thefrontkit’s Next.js Workflow
A published, opinionated end-to-end workflow for shipping WCAG 2.1 AA-passing apps with Claude Code. Stack-specific to React and Next.js.
None of them is aimed at the founder, marketer, or operator vibe-coding a landing page over the weekend with no accessibility background. That’s the gap we built our work today to close.
Read the 5 project reviews included in the 2026 research report04 — The Pounce Accessibility MD
One file. Drop it in.
The Beginner’s Accessibility File for Claude Code is a starter
CLAUDE.md. You drop it into the root of any Claude Code
project before your first prompt, and Claude reads it on every session
before generating code.
It tells Claude to use semantic HTML, manage focus on state changes, label every form input, keep contrast above 4.5:1, never use colour alone to convey meaning, use tested overlay patterns, announce status changes to screen readers, respect reduced-motion preferences, and dozens of other rules covering the patterns that AI coding tools consistently get wrong.
It’s written as direct model instructions, not a human guide. Reviewed by accessibility professionals before release. Free. Drop-in. No installation.
It will not make your site WCAG-compliant. It will not replace testing with disabled users. It is a starting point, not a finish line — and on the evidence available today, it lifts the floor of every project it sits in.
Download the Pounce 2026 GAAD Pack to get the CLAUDE.md file with all 46 accessibility rules.
This file reduces the worst defaults in AI-generated code. It does not produce WCAG compliance. It is a starting point, not a finish line.
05 — Downloads
Get the Pack.
The full Vibe-Coded Exclusion report includes original primary
research on Claude Code’s default accessibility output, the complete
tool landscape review, the case for the starter CLAUDE.md
as a baseline approach, and the Pounce v2 commitment for December 2026.
- Vibe Exclusion research report (PDF)
- CLAUDE.md — accessibility rules for Claude Code
- Tool landscape mapping & curation
Get instant access
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06 — What comes next
The v2 commitment.
This piece was built without input from internet users with relevant disabilities. That’s the v2 commitment.
Version 2 launches in December 2026, tied to International Day of Persons with Disabilities — with lived-experience user testing baked in.
- Timeline
- December 2026 — International Day of Persons with Disabilities
- Testing
- Three to four paid sessions with disabled users through Australian disability advocacy networks. Our commitment for the lived-experience testing panel.
- Ideal Partners
- Intopia, Centre For Accessibility Australia, Vision Australia Digital Access
Fast work should still work for people.
Considered outputs start with considered instructions.