What WCAGdesk does

WCAGdesk is a self-serve SaaS product operated by SideLabs, a sole proprietorship owned by Sergei Gordienko and based in Tbilisi, Georgia. The platform delivers continuous WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility monitoring targeted at EU e-commerce operators subject to the European Accessibility Act (in force 28 June 2025) and Germany's Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG, in force 28 June 2025 with Abmahnung enforcement active since August 2025). Its core differentiator is a cryptographic evidence trail: every scan is hashed (SHA-256), RFC 3161-timestamped via FreeTSA, and aggregated weekly as a Merkle root anchored to Polygon mainnet at 0xEc9fE204…CeE6a, producing PDF/A-2b reports that third parties can verify offline using openssl without trusting the vendor.

The product is built on the axe-core 4.11 engine (the same engine embedded in Lighthouse and Chrome DevTools) and is a read-only crawler, not an overlay widget. Three subscription tiers are sold exclusively online with public pricing: Audit (€149/month, weekly scans of up to 50 pages, 30-day retention), Defense (€299/month, daily scans of up to 200 pages, AI remediation suggestions, Abmahnung response toolkit, multilingual accessibility statement, 90-day retention), and Counsel (€599/month, up to 3 sites, white-label, SSO/OIDC, unlimited history, qualified eIDAS seal upgrade on Q3 2026 roadmap). A €29 one-off scan and a no-signup free scan serve as lead magnets. Distribution is fully self-serve via Paddle as Merchant of Record, complemented by a 30%-revenue-share agency partner program (capped at 25 active partners) and a 50-seat founding-partner program for Fachanwälte für IT-Recht.

The customer base is segmented as: (1) EU B2C e-commerce operators exposed to Abmahnung risk, particularly German merchants; (2) US merchants with EU shipping, EU-language storefronts, or EUR pricing caught by EAA Article 2 extraterritorial scope; (3) B2B SaaS firms needing procurement-grade audit exports; and (4) EU accessibility lawyers and web agencies reselling WCAGdesk into existing retainers. The company is bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding and operates without a sales team — founder-direct email is the sole support channel.

Name

WCAGdesk

Legal name

SideLabs

Website

https://wcagdesk.eu

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

WCAGdesk is a self-serve SaaS providing continuous WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility monitoring with cryptographically verifiable, RFC 3161-timestamped audit trails for EU e-commerce operators subject to EAA and German BFSG enforcement, operated by sole proprietor SideLabs in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Accessibility Compliance Software

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Accessibility & Web/App Compliance (WCAG) (EDALAGAG)

Keywords

• WCAG accessibility scanning
• EU accessibility compliance
• BFSG audit trail software
• Automated accessibility auditing
• Accessibility statement generator

Headquarters

HQ city

Tbilisi

HQ country

Georgia

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription (SaaS) — Audit Tier: Monthly subscription at €149/month for one site, up to 50 pages per scan, weekly scans with RFC 3161 timestamp and SHA-256 hash chain, PDF + JSON export, 30-day scan retention.
2. Subscription (SaaS) — Defense Tier: Monthly subscription at €299/month for one site, up to 200 pages per scan, daily scans, AI remediation suggestions, evidence bundle export, PDF/UA-1 scanning, Abmahnung response toolkit, 90-day scan retention. Includes statement generator (EN, DE, FR, NL).
3. Subscription (SaaS) — Counsel Tier: Monthly subscription at €599/month for up to 3 sites, daily scans, unlimited history, white-label PDFs, SSO (OIDC), quarterly expert review, priority support, audit log CSV/JSON export, Fachanwalt referral. Includes advanced and qualified electronic seal upgrades once available on Q3 2026 roadmap.
4. One-time Scan Report: One-off RFC 3161-timestamped conformance PDF for a single scan at €29. No subscription required.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

WCAGdesk is a self-serve SaaS platform that runs continuous automated WCAG 2.2 AA + EN 301 549 scans against customer websites and produces cryptographically verifiable audit-trail artifacts (RFC 3161 trusted timestamps, SHA-256 hash chains anchored as a weekly Merkle root to Polygon mainnet) packaged as PDF/A-2b conformance reports. The service is explicitly positioned as a legal-defense evidence layer for the EU Accessibility Act and Germany's BFSG, with tiered plans (Audit €149/mo, Defense €299/mo, Counsel €599/mo), a €29 one-off scan, and free lead-magnet tools for accessibility statements, EAA applicability, and exposure calculation.

Product overview

WCAGdesk is a self-serve, cloud-based accessibility compliance platform that provides continuous WCAG 2.2 AA monitoring with cryptographically verifiable audit trails for EU Accessibility Act (EAA) and German BFSG enforcement. The core offering is organized into three paid subscription tiers — Audit (€149/mo), Defense (€299/mo), and Counsel (€599/mo) — plus a free one-shot scan. Defense and Counsel tiers include an AI-powered remediation suggestion engine that generates code diffs for each detected issue. The platform also offers free standalone tools: an Accessibility Statement Generator, an EAA Applicability Check, and an Exposure Calculator. WCAGdesk is operated by SideLabs (sole proprietor Sergei Gordienko, Tbilisi, Georgia) and is not an overlay widget or a legal advice service.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Audit (Tier 01) Entry-level monthly WCAG monitoring subscription for one site: weekly scans of up to 50 pages, RFC 3161 timestamps, SHA-256 hash chains, WCAG 2.2 AA + EN 301 549 coverage, PDF + JSON export, 30-day scan retention, and a verified-by-WCAGdesk badge.
• Defense (Tier 02) Mid-tier subscription for SMBs exposed to BFSG enforcement: daily scans of up to 200 pages, AI remediation suggestions, automated multilingual accessibility statement generation (EN, DE, FR, NL), evidence bundle export, Abmahnung response toolkit, PDF/UA-1 scanning, Zapier webhooks to Jira/Linear/Slack, and 90-day scan retention.
• Counsel (Tier 03) Top-tier subscription for up to 3 sites with B2B SaaS procurement needs: daily scans, unlimited audit-trail history, white-label PDFs, SSO via OIDC (Google Workspace, Okta, Azure AD), audit log CSV/JSON export for SOC 2 and procurement, qualified electronic seal upgrades (Q3 2026 roadmap), quarterly expert review, priority support, and Fachanwalt referral.
• Free WCAG Scan One-time WCAG 2.2 AA scan using the axe-core 4.11 engine. No signup required. Surfaces accessibility issues and produces an AI-generated fix suggestion for the first 2 issues; the same scan can be purchased as a downloadable PDF/A-2b conformance report for €29.
• Accessibility Statement Generator Free standalone tool for generating an EAA / EN 301 549 compliant accessibility statement without signup. Live preview with copy-text, copy-HTML, and print/PDF export options; produces statements with the seven required disclosures including conformance status, assessment method, known non-conformities, feedback mechanism, and enforcement authority.
• EAA Applicability Check Free interactive three-question tool that determines whether the European Accessibility Act applies to a user's business based on audience, service type, and company size. Instant result without signup.
• BFSG / EAA Exposure Calculator Free standalone calculator that estimates BFSG / EAA legal exposure, including Abmahnung fee ranges (€1,500–€7,500) and administrative fine caps under § 37 BFSG (up to €100,000).
• Cryptographic Evidence Specification v1.0.0 Open technical specification (MIT-licensed, published on GitHub) documenting WCAGdesk's evidence format: RFC 3161 trusted timestamps, SHA-256 hash chains, Polygon mainnet Merkle root anchoring, and eIDAS AdES PDF sealing roadmap. Ships with TypeScript and POSIX shell reference implementations so any third party can verify bundles offline.
• One-Time Scan PDF €29 one-off RFC 3161-timestamped PDF/A-2b conformance report for a single scan. No subscription required; serves buyers who only need a single dated evidence artifact.

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability2 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and planned.

• Hetzner Online GmbHcoreTechnology or Integration · 9 April 2026Hetzner Online GmbH (Germany) provides application hosting, scan storage, and encrypted session-state storage for WCAGdesk. Data is hosted in EU region only. Listed as an active subprocessor in WCAGdesk's GDPR Article 28 Data Processing Agreement.
• Paddle.com Market LtdcoreTechnology or Integration · 9 April 2026Paddle.com Market Ltd (UK/EU) acts as Merchant of Record for all subscription sales. Paddle handles invoicing, EU/UK/US VAT collection and remittance, and consumer-protection statutory obligations as the contractual seller. Customer card statements show 'Paddle.net' or 'Paddle * SideLabs'. Seller ID: 301043.
• freeTSA.orgcoreTechnology or Integration · 9 April 2026freeTSA.org (Germany) provides RFC 3161 trusted timestamps for every scan. Per-scan hash is transmitted; no customer-identifying data. FreeTSA is publicly trusted but not yet a qualified TSA under eIDAS Art. 41. Upgrade to qualified TSA (Sectigo/GlobalSign) planned Q3 2026.
• Polygon Mainnet (DRPC.org)coreTechnology or Integration · 9 April 2026Weekly SHA-256 Merkle root of aggregate per-domain scan hashes is submitted to Polygon mainnet smart contract at 0xEc9fE204…CeE6a. Public blockchain; only the 32-byte aggregate root is on-chain. No per-scan or customer data is stored on-chain. Decentralized infrastructure; cost per weekly anchor approximately $0.01 in gas.
• Skribble / SectigoplannedTechnology or IntegrationSkribble/Sectigo onboarding is pending for AdES PDF sealing (eIDAS Art. 35) and qualified electronic seal (eIDAS Art. 36) upgrades. On roadmap for Q3 2026. Once onboarding completes, PDFs will carry advanced electronic seal bound to SideLabs, with qualified seal upgrade following.
• EU Accessibility Lawyer Network (Founding Partners)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWCAGdesk operates a Founding-Partner program for EU accessibility lawyers (Fachanwalt für IT-Recht). 50-seat cohort, closes 2026-09-30. Partner firms are listed in the in-app referral picker for Counsel-tier customers requesting a Fachanwalt match. Benefits include featured directory listing, lead-share, co-marketing slot (quarterly webinar), and pre-publication access to quarterly State of EU Web Accessibility report. § 49b BRAO-compliant structure; no per-mandate commission.
• EU Web Agency PartnerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEU web agencies resell WCAGdesk bundled into existing maintenance retainers. 30% recurring revenue share on all plans for the lifetime of the customer. First two client sites on Defense (€299/mo) are free for 90 days. White-label PDFs on Counsel tier. Paddle is Merchant of Record; payouts net-30 via Paddle partner account once 5 active subscriptions processed. Pilot phase limited to 25 active agency partners.

Scale indicators11 records

Broad incumbents

• Siteimprove: Enterprise content-quality and accessibility governance platform. WCAGdesk explicitly benchmarks against Siteimprove as a sales-led, $15K+ annual incumbent without RFC 3161 timestamping — closest comparable in scanning category but priced and packaged for large enterprises, not SMBs.
• AudioEye: Public-traded digital accessibility company combining automated scanning with remediation services and an optional overlay. Overlaps with WCAGdesk on the compliance-scanning layer and competes for the same B2B procurement budget on a much larger footprint.
• Deque Systems: Creator of the open-source axe-core engine that powers WCAGdesk's scanner, and the largest pure-play accessibility testing-and-audit firm. Comparable as the upstream of WCAGdesk's technology and as the incumbent expert-audit provider customers hire alongside automated monitoring.
• Level Access: Enterprise accessibility services and platform vendor offering manual audits, training, and AMP (Accessibility Management Platform). Comparable as the incumbent whose offering combines continuous monitoring with the manual audit work that automated scanners cannot perform.

Direct peers

• accessiBe: Overlay-widget accessibility vendor that injects JavaScript to modify user-facing site behavior. WCAGdesk explicitly positions itself against accessiBe (and the FTC's April 2025 $1M settlement) as the alternative that produces dated audit evidence rather than runtime augmentation.
• UserWay: Accessibility overlay widget vendor offering a scanning + AI remediation layer alongside its widget. Cited in WCAGdesk's positioning as a member of the overlay category that produces no timestamped audit trail.
• Monsido: Website compliance and quality-scanning platform with accessibility scanning alongside SEO, performance and content modules. Closest pure-play direct peer to WCAGdesk on the SMB-friendly self-serve accessibility monitoring category.
• Silktide: Accessibility and quality-assurance scanning platform with a comparable SMB/SaaS positioning, browser-based testing and DevTools integration. Direct competitor in the self-serve scanning tier for accessibility compliance.
• Eye-Able: German-developed accessibility overlay and scanning solution with strong DACH market presence. Explicitly named in WCAGdesk's competitive-comparison pages as a regional overlay alternative to its evidence-led approach.
• EqualWeb: Accessibility overlay widget and scanning service targeting enterprise and SMB web properties. Part of the same overlay category WCAGdesk contrasts itself against, with comparable pricing structure for small operators.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/sergordienko

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WCAGdesk