Frequently Asked Questions

About BetaSweep

Who is BetaSweep for?

Anyone responsible for keeping a website healthy. Business owners running their own sites who want to know what's working and what isn't. Website managers and content teams handling day-to-day quality. Designers checking that their work meets accessibility standards. Developers wanting a baseline before launch or after a deploy. The interface is built to be readable without a technical background, but the data underneath is detailed enough for engineers and accessibility specialists to act on directly.

How is BetaSweep different?

BetaSweep takes a different approach to website auditing. Instead of treating accessibility, SEO & AI, performance, HTML validation, and website structure as separate concerns, BetaSweep analyzes your website as a complete system. Because these areas influence one another, viewing them together provides a more complete picture of your website’s overall health.

BetaSweep is also designed to make website audits easier to understand. Every issue includes clear explanations, practical recommendations, and educational resources so you can understand what the issue means, why it matters, and how to fix it—whether you’re a developer, marketer, or business owner.

Finally, BetaSweep puts you in control. Scan any website for free, choose exactly what you want to scan, and only pay when you need the detailed results. Most websites don’t change dramatically from week to week, so there’s little value in paying for the same report over and over. With BetaSweep, you decide when it’s time to scan again and when it’s worth unlocking a report.

Do I need technical skills?

No. The interface is designed for non-technical users to understand what's wrong and how to prioritize fixes. Each issue includes a plain-language explanation of why it matters and, in most cases, how to fix it. Developers and specialists still get the technical details—code snippets, ancestry trees, exact rule references—without those getting in the way for everyone else.

Does BetaSweep use AI?

No. BetaSweep's scanning engine uses industry-standard libraries like axe-core and Lighthouse as a foundation, but the whole-site scanning, cross-page analysis, result aggregation, rule enrichment, and reporting are built specifically for BetaSweep. Every page is scanned in a single automated pass, and results are consolidated across your entire site so you can see patterns and prioritize what matters most.

Scan results are deterministic—the same page will produce the same results every time. There's no AI generating or interpreting your results.

The "AI" in the SEO & AI module refers to what it checks for, not how it works. It evaluates whether your site is structured in a way that AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google's AI Overviews can understand and accurately represent—things like structured data, meta tags, and llms.txt.

How many pages can BetaSweep scan?

BetaSweep can scan sites with up to 5,000 pages in a single scan. For most modules—Accessibility, SEO & AI, Spell Check, and HTML Validation—scan time scales with page count, and a typical 50-page site finishes in a few minutes. Performance is the most time-intensive module because it runs a full Lighthouse audit on each page. Because of this, you don't need to run Performance on every page for large sites. Pages built from the same template tend to perform similarly, so you can instead scan a representative set of URLs to get accurate overall insights.

Why a desktop app?

BetaSweep runs locally on your computer for speed, reliability, and privacy. Scanning large websites requires a lot of processing, and running locally avoids delays and server queues. Your website data stays on your machine instead of being sent to external servers.

Why run multiple modules?

Because website problems are connected. A single issue often affects more than one area. For example, poor heading structure can confuse screen readers, reduce SEO performance, and make content harder for AI systems to understand. Running all modules together shows how these issues overlap across your site instead of treating them separately.

Why full-site scanning?

Single-page scans only show part of the picture. Most websites have many pages built from shared templates, and issues often repeat across them. BetaSweep scans your entire site so you can see patterns, not just isolated problems. You can also narrow the scan to specific pages or sections when needed.

What is AI readability?

It means how clearly your website can be understood by search engines and AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini. Clear structure, good headings, and structured data help these systems interpret your content correctly. BetaSweep checks for these signals so your site is easier to find and understand across both search and AI tools.

Can I customize scans?

Yes. You can scan your entire site, a single page, or a selected list of URLs. You can also exclude sections of your site or focus on specific page types like blog posts, product pages, or landing pages.

Is BetaSweep ADA compliant?

We're fully aware of the irony here. The honest answer: not yet. It's really close—but like we say, even 90% compliant isn't compliant. We're holding ourselves to the same bar we hold your sites to, and we'll get there.

Getting Started

What does BetaSweep scan?

BetaSweep runs five checks, called modules: Accessibility (WCAG 2.2 compliance), SEO & AI (40+ search and AI-readability checks), Performance (Core Web Vitals, measured with Lighthouse), Spell Check (flagged words), and HTML Validation (markup standards). Turn on any combination for each scan.

How do I run a scan?

From the New Scan tab:

  1. Choose a scan type. In General Settings, pick Fullsite (scans every page found in your sitemap), Single Page (scans one URL), or Select Pages (scans a list of URLs you enter manually).
  2. Enter your URL(s). For Fullsite or Single Page, enter one address. For Select Pages, enter your list of URLs (all from the same site).
  3. Pick your modules. Turn on the checks you want—Accessibility, SEO & AI, Performance, Spell Check, and HTML Validation. Run one or run them all.
  4. Adjust the settings (optional). Set your WCAG level, choose which devices to test (desktop, mobile, or both), pick performance throttling, and—on Fullsite scans—exclude paths like /admin or limit repeating pages. The defaults work well if you'd rather skip this.
  5. Start the scan. BetaSweep runs a quick pre-scan first to check your site is reachable, look for blockers like password or bot protection, and estimate how long the full scan will take. Review the summary, then proceed.

Your results are ready as soon as the scan finishes. Don't have a site to test on? Scan your own, or try any public site to see what BetaSweep finds.

What happens during the pre-scan?

Before the full scan starts, BetaSweep takes a quick look at your site. The pre-scan confirms the site is reachable, discovers your pages, detects bot protection or password prompts, identifies your platform (like WordPress or Shopify), and estimates how long the full scan will take. You see a summary of all of it before anything else runs — so there are no surprises an hour in.

What scan types are available?

There are three. Fullsite finds every page in your sitemap and scans them all. Single Page scans exactly one URL. Select Pages scans a list of URLs you enter manually — useful for checking certain sections, like product pages or a few blog posts. All URLs in a Select Pages scan must be from the same site.

Can I use my computer while a scan is running?

Yes. You can browse, write, and work in other apps while BetaSweep scans. One note: the Performance module measures real loading speed on your machine, so heavy tasks — video calls, large exports, gaming — can affect those scores. For the most accurate performance numbers, let the scan run without heavy work in the background.

Can I let a scan run overnight?

Yes. Large scans can take an hour or more, and overnight is a great time to run them. BetaSweep keeps your computer from sleeping while a scan runs, so you can step away — or close the lid, on supported machines — and come back to finished results.

Can BetaSweep scan large websites?

Yes. BetaSweep is built for full-site scans, and the pre-scan estimates how long yours will take before you commit. For very large sites, you can shorten the scan with exclude paths or page type filtering, which scans one example page from repeating templates — a single product page instead of hundreds.

Does BetaSweep change my website?

No. BetaSweep only reads your pages, the same way a visitor's browser does. It never edits files, submits forms, or writes anything to your site.

Is my website data private?

Yes. Scans run on your computer, and your scan data stays there, encrypted at rest. Nothing about your website is sent to our servers during a scan. The only data we collect is what's needed to run your account, process payments, and reply to feedback you send us.

Which operating systems does BetaSweep support?

BetaSweep runs on macOS and Windows. Both versions are signed and notarized for security, and both update automatically when a new version is released.

Does BetaSweep require an internet connection?

Yes, for most things. You need a connection to scan sites on the web, sign in, and unlock reports. If you go offline, BetaSweep lets you know and pauses actions that need connectivity until you're back online.

Scan Settings

Which scan modules should I choose?

That depends on what you want to learn. Running all five gives you the full picture, and because each page is only loaded once, adding modules costs little extra time — Performance is the exception, since it adds the most. If you're focused on one goal, like accessibility compliance or an SEO audit, run just that module.

How do I enable HTML Validation?

HTML Validation is off by default. To turn it on, open your scan settings when setting up a scan and enable the HTML Validation module. Once enabled, it runs alongside the other modules you've selected.

Which WCAG compliance level should I use?

Level AA is the recommended standard and the default. Level A covers minimum requirements; Level AAA is the strictest. Most organizations target AA — it balances thoroughness with what's realistic to maintain. BetaSweep tests against WCAG 2.2.

Should I scan Desktop, Mobile, or Both?

Both is the safest choice. Issues often appear on one screen size but not the other, and Google ranks sites based on their mobile version. Choose a single device when you want a faster scan — it cuts the per-page work roughly in half, which is handy for quick checks.

What do the Performance throttling options mean?

Throttling simulates slower internet connections so performance scores reflect what real visitors experience. No throttling uses your full connection speed. 4G (1.6 Mbps) simulates a typical mobile connection. Slow 3G (0.4 Mbps) simulates a poor one. Desktop and mobile throttling can be set independently.

What is Crawl Delay?

Crawl delay adds a short pause between page requests. Think of it as scanning politely — a slower pace is easier on your server and less likely to trigger bot protection. If your site's robots.txt sets a crawl delay, BetaSweep respects it automatically.

Can I exclude pages from a scan?

Yes. In a Fullsite scan, add exclude paths like /admin or /api to skip pages that match those patterns. You can also turn on page type filtering to scan only one example page from repeating templates — like a single product page out of hundreds.

What's the difference between Fullsite, Single Page, and Select Pages?

Fullsite finds every page in your sitemap and scans them all — the full health check. Single Page scans exactly one URL. Select Pages scans a list of URLs you enter manually, which is useful for checking certain sections without scanning the whole site. All URLs in a Select Pages scan must be from the same site.

Can I scan password-protected websites?

Yes, if the site uses Basic Authentication (a browser-level username and password prompt). Enter the credentials when you set up the scan, and BetaSweep uses them to access protected pages. You can also save credentials per domain in your account settings. Form-based logins (where you fill out a login form on the page) aren't supported yet.

Can I scan localhost?

Yes. BetaSweep can scan any site your computer can reach, including sites running on localhost (e.g., http://localhost:3000). This makes it easy to catch issues during development, before you deploy.

A few things to keep in mind:

  • Your local server needs to be running when the scan starts.
  • Performance scores will reflect your machine and network — not real-world conditions — so they're useful for spotting issues, not for benchmarking.
  • Most local dev environments don't have a robots.txt or sitemap.xml, so the pre-scan will show warnings. That's expected. If there's no sitemap, use Single Page or Select Pages mode to scan specific URLs directly.
  • Local and live versions of the same site are tracked separately in your scan history. Once you've deployed, scan the live URL to start a fresh history for the production site.

Can I scan staging websites?

Yes. BetaSweep can scan any site your computer can reach, including staging and preview environments. If your staging site uses Basic Authentication, enter the credentials in your scan settings. If it blocks bots, the pre-scan will detect that and let you provide a bypass token.

Can I stop a scan after it starts?

Yes. You can cancel a running scan at any time from the scan progress screen. Canceling doesn't affect your account or use up a report.

Accessibility

What does the Accessibility module check?

The Accessibility module uses axe-core, the industry-standard accessibility engine, to find WCAG 2.2 violations. You can test against Level A, AA, or AAA, and turn on extra best-practice checks. Each result shows the exact element that failed, what's wrong, how serious it is, and how to fix it.

What are WCAG Levels A, AA, and AAA?

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) has three levels. Level A covers the minimum requirements. Level AA adds the standards most laws and organizations target — it's the common benchmark. Level AAA is the strictest and the hardest to fully meet. Each level includes the ones below it, so an AA scan also tests every Level A rule.

What do the severity levels mean?

Every accessibility issue gets one of four severity levels. Critical issues block some visitors from using the page. Serious issues create major barriers. Moderate issues cause frustration but have workarounds. Minor issues are small polish problems. Start with Critical and Serious — they affect real visitors the most.

What does "Needs Manual Review" mean?

Some checks can't be answered automatically — they need a human to look. For example, a tool can confirm an image has alt text, but it can't tell whether the alt text actually describes the image well. Items flagged as Needs Manual Review are things to check yourself.

Why doesn't BetaSweep report every accessibility issue automatically?

Automated testing is powerful, but it can't judge meaning. A scanner can confirm alt text exists, but not whether it makes sense. It can find a missing label, but not whether your content reads clearly to someone using a screen reader. That's why some checks are flagged for manual review — and why automated scanning is the start of accessibility work, not the end of it.

How do I use the Color Contrast Adjuster?

When BetaSweep finds a color contrast issue, the Color Contrast Adjuster helps you fix it right in the report. Adjust the text and background colors with a live preview, and BetaSweep calculates the WCAG contrast ratio as you go. Once the ratio passes, you have compliant colors ready to take to your stylesheet.

SEO & AI

What does the SEO & AI module check?

This module runs 40+ checks across 14 categories: title tags, meta descriptions, heading order, image alt text, social sharing tags (Open Graph), structured data (schema), semantic HTML, content trust signals (E-E-A-T), crawler instructions, and AI crawler files like llms.txt. It also catches site-wide problems like duplicate titles and broken links.

What is an SEO & AI issue?

An issue is any check a page didn't pass. Each one shows what was found, why it matters for search engines or AI systems, and how to fix it. Issues range from missing basics, like a meta description, to more advanced signals, like structured data or content trust markers.

Does BetaSweep check structured data?

Yes. Structured data (also called schema markup) is the machine-readable labeling that helps search engines and AI systems understand what your pages are about. BetaSweep checks whether your pages include it and flags problems in what it finds.

Does BetaSweep check robots.txt?

Yes, in two ways. As part of the SEO & AI module, BetaSweep checks your robots.txt, since it tells search engines and AI crawlers what they can access. BetaSweep also respects it — pages your robots.txt blocks are skipped during the scan.

Does BetaSweep check llms.txt?

Yes. llms.txt is a newer file that gives AI systems a guide to your site's content, much like sitemap.xml guides search engines. BetaSweep checks for it as part of its AI readability analysis.

Does BetaSweep check broken links?

Yes. Internal links (links to pages on your own site) are checked by default. External links (links to other sites) can be turned on in your scan settings. Results are filtered to remove false positives from sites that block automated link checkers.

Why are some SEO & AI issues informational?

Some checks don't have a clear pass or fail — the right answer depends on your site and your goals. Informational items point out things worth knowing or considering rather than problems that need fixing. Treat them as suggestions, not errors.

Performance

What does the Performance module measure?

The Performance module uses Lighthouse (Google's open-source performance tool) running on your computer to measure Core Web Vitals: how fast pages load (LCP, FCP), when they become usable (TTI, TBT), and how stable they look while loading (CLS). Each page gets a 0–100 score for each device.

Why is the Performance module slower than the others?

The Performance module runs Lighthouse, which loads each page in a real browser, simulates a real visitor, and measures dozens of performance signals. That takes about 10–15 seconds per device, per page. Other modules run much faster (2–3 seconds) because they don't need to simulate a full page load.

Why don't my performance scores always stay the same?

Performance scores measure real conditions, and real conditions change. Server response times, network fluctuations, third-party scripts, and whatever else your computer is doing can all shift scores between runs. Small swings are normal. Watch the trend across scans rather than any single number, and pay the most attention to big changes.

Why doesn't my score match Google PageSpeed Insights?

Both tools use Google's Lighthouse engine, but they run it in different places. PageSpeed Insights runs on Google's servers with Google's network; BetaSweep runs on your computer with your network and throttling settings. PageSpeed Insights also mixes in real-visitor data collected by Chrome. Different environments produce different numbers — that's expected. The issues each tool finds matter more than matching scores exactly.

Which throttling option should I use?

4G is the best default — it reflects how most visitors actually experience your site. Use Slow 3G to stress-test for the slowest connections, and No throttling when you want the fastest raw measurement, like comparing before-and-after changes during development.

Spell Check

What does Spell Check do?

Spell Check scans the visible text, headings, link text, alt text, and meta content on every page and lists words it doesn't recognize. Results are shown as Flagged Words rather than "errors" because some flagged words may be intentional — brand names, technical terms, or proper nouns. You decide what's correct.

Why are words I know being flagged?

Spell Check compares each word against a dictionary, and no dictionary knows everything. Brand names, product names, technical terms, and newer words are the most common flags. That's why results are called Flagged Words instead of errors — flagged doesn't mean wrong.

How do I exclude words?

Add them to your exclude list, and BetaSweep skips them on future scans. It's the fastest way to quiet down flags for brand names and technical terms you use often — after a scan or two, the list mostly maintains itself.

Does BetaSweep check grammar?

No. Spell Check looks at spelling only — it doesn't check grammar, punctuation, or writing style.

HTML Validation

What does the HTML Validation module check?

HTML Validation looks for missing or duplicate attributes, outdated tags, tags placed inside the wrong parent tags, and other HTML5 standards problems. Accessibility-related HTML issues (like ARIA attributes) are handled by the Accessibility module instead — it's more accurate for those.

Why is HTML Validation optional?

Most websites have HTML issues that browsers quietly forgive and visitors never notice. Keeping the module off by default keeps reports focused on issues that affect real people. Turn it on in your scan settings when clean, standards-compliant markup is the goal.

Why are some HTML issues reported under Accessibility instead?

Some HTML problems — like ARIA attributes and other accessibility-related markup — are handled by the Accessibility module, which uses an engine built specifically for those rules. It's more accurate there, and it keeps the two modules from repeating each other.

What types of HTML issues can HTML Validation find?

Missing or duplicate attributes, outdated and deprecated tags, elements nested inside the wrong parents, and other departures from HTML5 standards. Each issue shows the affected code so you can find and fix it quickly.

Reports

What does the free scan overview include?

Every scan includes a free overview — a high-level look at how your site performed in each module you ran, with issue counts by severity. It tells you whether your site is healthy and where problems are concentrated. If everything looks good, you're done. If you want the details, unlock the full report.

What does a detailed report include?

A detailed report shows every issue found: the affected pages, the exact code involved, severity levels, and fix recommendations written in plain language. You can filter by severity or page, add your own notes, and export the whole thing as PDF or Excel.

Can I compare rescans?

Yes. Run a rescan on any existing scan to see your progress after making fixes. Rescans are grouped with the original, so you can flip between them with the page navigator on the scan card and compare results side by side.

Can I add notes to a report?

Yes. You can add custom notes to any module in a report. Each note can include a title, description, severity, code sample, and links to related pages. Notes appear alongside automated findings and are included in PDF and Excel exports — useful for tracking remediation or recording things you found manually.

Can I export reports?

Yes. Download a full report as a PDF (formatted with cover page, summary, and all findings) or as an Excel workbook with one sheet per module. SEO & AI data can also be exported as CSV.

Can I export only certain modules?

Yes. When exporting, choose which modules to include. You can also decide whether to include passed rules and scan warning details.

What are Passed Rules?

Passed rules are the checks your site got right. Reports focus on issues, but you can include passed rules in exports — they're useful for compliance documentation, since they show exactly what was tested and what passed.

Can I filter results by page?

Yes. Use the page filter to focus on a single URL and see every issue found on it across all modules — handy when you're fixing one page at a time.

Where are my scans stored?

On your computer, in a local data folder, encrypted at rest. Nothing is stored on our servers. You can see how much space your scans are using in the Scan Storage settings in your account menu.

Can I delete old scans?

Yes. Open Scan Storage in your account menu to see how much space your scans are using and delete the ones you no longer need.

Troubleshooting

Why is my scan taking longer than expected?

Scan time depends mostly on page count and which modules you run. Performance is the slowest module — about 10–15 seconds per device, per page — and scanning both desktop and mobile doubles that work. Crawl delay and throttling add time too. The pre-scan estimate is a good guide; if a scan is running far past it, check that your site is still responding normally.

Why are some pages missing from my scan?

A few things can cause pages to be skipped: your robots.txt blocks them, the page matches an Exclude Path rule you set, page type filtering grouped similar pages so only one was scanned, or the page was blocked by your site's bot protection. The pre-scan summary lists pages that were excluded and why.

Why couldn't BetaSweep find my sitemap?

Make sure your sitemap.xml is accessible at your domain root (e.g., https://example.com/sitemap.xml) or listed in your robots.txt. If it lives somewhere else, switch to Select Pages and enter your URLs manually.

Why did BetaSweep detect bot protection?

Some sites use bot protection systems (sometimes called WAFs, or Web Application Firewalls) from services like Cloudflare. When one blocks BetaSweep, those pages can't be scanned. The pre-scan detects this and lets you enter a bypass token, or adjust the crawl delay and try again.

How do I allow BetaSweep through my WAF or bot blocker?

Visit betasweep.com/bot for instructions on allowlisting BetaSweep in common bot protection services like Cloudflare and AWS WAF. If you've configured your WAF to allow a specific token, enter it in BetaSweep — it's sent with every request as the X-BetaSweep-Token header. Tokens are stored securely in your computer's keychain.

Why won't my scan start?

Check the basics first: the URL is typed correctly, your internet connection is up, and the site loads in your browser. If the pre-scan finds a problem — like an unreachable site or bot protection — it tells you what it found and what to do next. Still stuck? Send feedback from the Support menu with error logs attached.

Why did my scan stop before it finished?

The most common causes are a lost internet connection, a site that stopped responding mid-scan, or bot protection that kicked in partway through. Check that the site is up and your connection is stable, then rescan. If it keeps happening, send feedback with error logs so we can take a look.

Why can't BetaSweep reach my website?

First, confirm the site loads in your regular browser. If it does, check for a typo in the URL, bot protection blocking automated visits (the pre-scan usually flags this), or a firewall on your network. If the site is on localhost or staging, make sure the server is actually running.

Why are my scan results different after rescanning?

Websites change more than you might expect. Content updates, rotating banners, and third-party scripts can shift results between scans, and performance scores naturally vary run to run. If a difference is large and unexpected, compare the two scans side by side — rescans are grouped together, so it's easy to spot what changed.

Why does Spell Check flag words that are correct?

Spell Check flags any word its dictionary doesn't recognize — and dictionaries don't know brand names, technical terms, or newer words. Flagged doesn't mean wrong. Add correct words to your exclude list and they'll be skipped on future scans.

How do I update BetaSweep?

BetaSweep checks for updates automatically. When a new version is available, you'll see a dialog with options to install now or be reminded in 60 minutes. Required updates install right away. You can also check for updates manually from the app menu.

How do I send feedback or report a bug?

Open the Support modal from the app menu and click Send Feedback. You can include error logs to help diagnose the issue. You can also email support@betasweep.com directly.

Account & Billing

How does pricing work?

Scans are always free — every scan includes a free overview of your site's health. You pay only to unlock detailed reports, and there are three ways to do it: pay per report, a single-site unlimited plan, or an unlimited plan that covers every site. Current pricing is at betasweep.com/pricing. Payments are processed securely through Stripe.

How do I move my Unlimited subscription to another computer?

Your Unlimited subscription is tied to one device at a time. If you need to move it — whether you got a new computer, reinstalled your operating system, or reinstalled BetaSweep — email us at support@betasweep.com and we'll transfer it for you. Your subscription stays active the entire time, and there's no extra charge.

How do promo codes work?

Enter a promo code during registration, in the app, or on your dashboard at betasweep.com. Your discount applies automatically once the code is accepted.

Can I cancel my subscription at any time?

Yes. Cancel anytime from your dashboard — no phone calls, no hoops. You keep access through the end of your current billing period, and you won't be charged again.