About
Stark is a suite of integrated accessibility tools designed for product design and development teams. It embeds directly into the workflows designers and developers already use — including Figma, Sketch, Chrome, and VS Code — enabling teams to identify and fix accessibility issues throughout the design and build process rather than after launch. The platform helps ensure compliance with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and ADA standards by surfacing issues in context, where they are cheapest to fix. Core capabilities include a contrast checker that validates color combinations against WCAG AA and AAA thresholds, a vision simulator that renders designs as they appear to users with various visual impairments, focus order mapping for keyboard navigation, alt text management, and accessibility annotations for design handoff. Teams can also run automated component linting across design files and generate accessibility reports to track compliance over time. Stark targets product designers, front-end developers, and accessibility specialists at companies of all sizes. It offers a free individual tier for basic checks, paid Pro plans for individual practitioners who need full feature access, and Team and Enterprise plans with shared projects, admin controls, SSO, and advanced reporting for organizations with formal compliance requirements.
Key Features
- Contrast Checker: Validates color contrast ratios between text and background elements against WCAG AA and AAA standards directly within design tools and the browser.
- Vision Simulator: Renders designs as they would appear to users with color blindness and other visual impairments, helping teams evaluate real-world accessibility impact.
- Focus Order Mapping: Allows designers to define and visualize keyboard navigation order within design files, ensuring logical tab flow before handoff to developers.
- Accessibility Annotations: Enables designers to attach structured accessibility notes — such as alt text, ARIA roles, and interaction cues — directly to design components for developer handoff.
- Team Reporting & Compliance Tracking: Generates project-level accessibility reports and dashboards so teams and organizations can monitor WCAG compliance status over time across multiple products.
Pros
- Workflow Integration: Operates as plugins and extensions inside Figma, Sketch, Chrome, and VS Code, so accessibility checks happen in the tools teams already use without context switching.
- Covers the Full Design-to-Dev Pipeline: Addresses accessibility at both the design stage (contrast, annotations, vision simulation) and the development stage (browser extension, VS Code linting), reducing handoff gaps.
- Free Tier Available: Individuals can access core tools like the contrast checker and vision simulator for free, making it accessible for freelancers and small teams getting started with accessibility.
- WCAG & ADA Alignment: Checks are mapped directly to recognized standards (WCAG 2.x AA/AAA), giving teams a clear reference for legal and regulatory compliance requirements.
Cons
- Advanced Features Gated Behind Paid Plans: Key capabilities such as automated linting, team projects, and compliance reporting are only available on Pro or higher tiers, limiting the free tier to basic individual use.
- Plugin-Dependent Experience: Full functionality requires installing separate plugins or extensions for each tool (Figma, Sketch, Chrome, VS Code), which can create friction for teams with mixed toolchains.
- No Native Mobile App: Stark does not offer a standalone iOS or Android app, so mobile access is limited to the web dashboard without the full feature set available in desktop plugins.
