Why check your site with Octopus Scanner
- No sign-up, nothing uploaded. Your scans and reports stay on your computer.
- Whole sites, not one page. Crawl an entire website, or check a single page.
- Powered by axe-core. The open-source engine, with optional updates.
Continue to Windows and macOS downloads
Also available for another system
Demo of a scan
A simplified, animated demonstration of a scan. The website and numbers are illustrative.
Description of the animation
The animation shows the Octopus Scanner interface. The address https://www.example.com is typed into the Website URL or local file path field and Start Scan is selected. Pause, Finish Early & Scan and Cancel Scan buttons appear. Scan Progress fills its striped bar, with a Pause animation button beside it. Visual Scanner Progress shows a live view of the scanning browser, marked LIVE with the page address underneath. It fades slowly between two pages of the website, scrolling gently down each one. Below it, cards count down the time remaining and count the issue types, pages scanned, network traffic and the engine's memory use, above a closed Activity Log.
When the pages are done, the live view says it is checking linked PDF documents and then building the report. The progress bar turns green, its stripes stop and the Pause animation button disappears. A Scan Complete panel offers View Report, Download CSV and Download Screenshots. The time remaining becomes the total duration. View Report is selected to open the report. It shows the audited site and a Summary of what was found. Below them are a bar and counts of Critical, Serious, Moderate and Minor issue types and instances, then the Issue Overview. Under Accessibility Issues Found, the Critical group is opened to show the issue Buttons must have discernible text, found 4 times across 3 pages. Its Affected Elements & Instances list is opened, showing the contact page at desktop size with two buttons, each with its HTML, selector and recommended fix. View Ticket is then selected.
The ticket scrolls through its title, issue description, why it matters, recommended fix, WCAG criterion, steps to recreate, affected pages, environment, a screenshot with the issue highlighted and finally its impact. Copy Ticket Content is selected and shows Copied. The ticket is closed, then the animation fades and starts again.
What you get from every scan
A clear summary
Every report opens with what was found in plain language and a breakdown by severity, so you know where to start.
Evidence screenshots
See each issue on the page itself, with the element highlighted and a note explaining what is wrong.
Ready-to-paste tickets
Copy a complete ticket, with steps to recreate the issue and how to fix it, straight into your issue tracker.
Features
Hybrid Discovery Modes
.Check one page or a whole website, using its sitemap, a list of addresses or single-page app routes.
Privacy-First Architecture
.Everything happens on your computer, with no account and no usage tracking.
Consolidated Reporting Dashboard
.Each report is one HTML file with the issues, screenshots, how to fix them and the code involved.
Professional Ticket Generation
.Turn any issue into a ready-to-paste ticket with steps to recreate, the WCAG criterion and evidence.
No-Code User Journeys
.Record a sign-in or checkout in the browser, then choose which pages to check.
Parallel Multi-Viewport Scanning
.Scan mobile and desktop layouts at the same time.
Get help
Type a word, or paste a message from the app's activity log.
Popular guides
The Complete User Guide. Every setting, button and window explained.- Install Guide. Install on Windows or macOS, keep it up to date or remove it.
- Your First Scan. Check a whole website, from opening the app to your first report.
- Troubleshooting Guide. Find the symptom you're seeing, then follow its cause and fix.
- Messages and Skipped Pages. What each Activity Log line and skip reason means.
Too much to read? Ask ChatGPT (opens in a new tab) or your own LLM. Always verify its answers for accuracy.