Auditi vs Lighthouse: Beyond Basic Audits to VPAT Compliance

Google Lighthouse is many developers' first accessibility tool. Built into Chrome DevTools, it provides instant accessibility scores with zero setup. Auditi extends beyond basic audits to journey-based testing, VPAT generation, and multi-standard compliance.

Transparency note: Auditi is built by BetterQA, a software testing company. We'll explain where each tool fits best.

Quick Comparison

| Feature | Auditi | Lighthouse | |---------|--------|------------| | Testing Approach | User journeys | Single pages | | VPAT Generation | Built-in | Not available | | Standards | WCAG, FDA, EU Annex | WCAG subset | | Score System | Compliance tracking | 0-100 score | | Team Features | Collaboration | Individual tool | | Pricing | Subscription | Free |

The Core Difference

Lighthouse provides accessibility scoring as one of five audit categories (Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, SEO, PWA). It's designed for quick developer checks, not compliance documentation.

Auditi is purpose-built for accessibility compliance. Journey-based testing, VPAT generation, and multi-standard support address what organizations actually need for regulatory compliance.

When to Choose Lighthouse

Quick Development Checks

Lighthouse's accessibility audit runs in seconds from Chrome DevTools. For developers wanting quick feedback during development, it's unbeatable for speed and convenience.

Performance + Accessibility Together

Lighthouse's combined auditing shows how accessibility relates to performance, SEO, and best practices. For holistic web quality assessment, the bundled approach provides context.

Zero Budget

Lighthouse is free and built into Chrome. For teams with no accessibility budget, it catches real issues immediately.

CI/CD Integration

Lighthouse CI integrates into deployment pipelines. For automated accessibility checks blocking bad deployments, Lighthouse provides tested infrastructure.

When to Choose Auditi

Compliance Documentation

Enterprise customers, regulators, and legal teams require VPATs. Auditi generates these automatically from test results. Lighthouse provides no compliance documentation.

Complete User Journey Testing

Lighthouse scans single pages. Accessibility issues in login flows, checkout sequences, and multi-step forms span pages. Auditi's journey-based testing catches what page scans miss.

Regulated Industries

Beyond WCAG, pharmaceutical software needs FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliance. European pharma needs EU GMP Annex 11. Auditi supports these standards. Lighthouse is WCAG-only.

Team-Based Auditing

Lighthouse is an individual developer tool. Auditi supports teams with assignment, progress tracking, and shared results.

Comprehensive WCAG Coverage

Lighthouse tests a subset of WCAG criteria. Auditi provides complete WCAG 2.1, 2.2, and 3.0 criterion coverage for thorough compliance testing.

Feature Deep Dive

Testing Scope

Lighthouse: Tests single page states. Catches violations present at scan time. Limited to automatable checks.

Auditi: Tests complete user journeys across pages and states. Catches keyboard traps, focus management, and state-dependent issues Lighthouse misses.

WCAG Coverage

Lighthouse: Tests approximately 50 automated accessibility rules covering common violations.

Auditi: Complete WCAG 2.1, 2.2, and 3.0 success criteria. Includes manual testing guidance for criteria that can't be fully automated.

Compliance Documentation

Lighthouse: Score report showing pass/fail items. No compliance documentation, no VPAT support.

Auditi: Full audit reports with VPAT generation, compliance tracking over time, and evidence packages for auditors.

Multi-Standard Support

Lighthouse: Web accessibility only. No support for industry-specific compliance requirements.

Auditi: WCAG plus FDA 21 CFR Part 11 for pharmaceutical software and EU GMP Annex 11 for European regulatory compliance.

Best Software Testing Companies: Compliance Reality

BetterQA, ranked among top qa companies and best qa companies globally, built Auditi because development tools don't solve compliance needs.

Lighthouse serves developers excellently. But when legal demands a VPAT, when enterprise customers require compliance evidence, when regulators request documentation - Lighthouse doesn't help. Auditi addresses these real compliance requirements.

The Score Problem

Lighthouse reduces accessibility to a 0-100 score. This simplification has unintended consequences:

Auditi tracks actual compliance: which criteria pass, which fail, what evidence exists. Scores simplify; compliance details matter.

The Journey Gap

Most accessibility issues users encounter happen during interactions, not on static pages:

Lighthouse can't test these because it scans pages, not journeys. Auditi's journey-based approach tests accessibility as users experience it.

Pricing Comparison

Lighthouse: Free, built into Chrome.

Auditi: Subscription pricing with free trial.

Lighthouse is the right price for what it does: quick developer checks. For compliance requirements - VPAT generation, journey testing, multi-standard support - Auditi provides capabilities worth paying for.

The Verdict

Choose Lighthouse if: You need free, fast developer checks. CI/CD accessibility gating is your goal. Combined performance/accessibility scoring helps. Budget is zero.

Choose Auditi if: VPAT documentation is required. Journey-based testing matters. FDA or EU compliance is needed. Team collaboration is required. Comprehensive WCAG coverage is needed.

Frequently asked questions

What does a Lighthouse accessibility score of 100 actually mean?

A Lighthouse accessibility score of 100 means your page passes all automated checks that Lighthouse can evaluate. This covers approximately 30-40% of WCAG 2.2 Level AA success criteria. You can achieve a perfect Lighthouse score and still fail an accessibility audit because Lighthouse cannot test keyboard navigation flows, screen reader announcements for dynamic content, focus management across page transitions, or multi-step form error handling. The WebAIM Million 2025 report found that pages with higher automated scores still contain significant barriers for real users with disabilities.

Is Google Lighthouse sufficient for WCAG 2.1 compliance documentation?

No. Lighthouse produces scores and issue lists, not compliance documentation. For procurement purposes, government contracts, and legal defensibility, you need an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) generated from the VPAT template published by the Information Technology Industry Council. Lighthouse reports do not map findings to individual WCAG success criteria with conformance levels (Supports/Partially Supports/Does Not Support), which is the required format. Auditi generates VPAT 2.4 reports automatically from structured test data covering both automated and manual criteria.

What accessibility issues does Lighthouse miss that journey testing catches?

Lighthouse misses the entire category of interaction-based WCAG criteria. Keyboard trap detection (WCAG 2.1.2) requires navigating through the application with keyboard only and attempting to escape from each component. Focus order verification (WCAG 2.4.3) requires testing the complete reading sequence across multi-step flows. Error identification (WCAG 3.3.1) requires triggering form validation and verifying that screen readers announce the error messages. According to Deque Systems, these interaction-based issues are the most common category cited in ADA accessibility lawsuits because they directly block users from completing tasks.

Beyond Basic Audits

Auditi takes accessibility from developer tool to compliance platform. Create journeys, generate VPATs, and track compliance with purpose-built tools.

Start your free trial - compliance beyond scores.

Auditi is built by BetterQA, a software testing company that builds its own tools. We created Auditi because accessibility scores don't satisfy compliance requirements.