# Setting up and connecting the WordPress plugin

Step by step – install the plugin, create a token, enter the connection, verify the domain and start the first scan from WordPress.

**In short**

- The plugin does not scan on its own – it connects WordPress to your account, starts scans there and fetches the published statement.
- You need three values from your account – the API token, the site ID and the service address.
- The shortcode only shows text once the statement has been published in the service – possible from the Starter plan.

The plugin connects your WordPress installation to your account. Scans run in the service, in a real browser; WordPress starts them, shows the findings and embeds the published statement. Setup takes a few minutes.

## Before you start

- **In the service**, an account with the role “Owner” or “Administration”. Only these roles see the “Embedding” tab where the token is created.
- **In WordPress**, an administrator account, WordPress 6.5 or later and PHP 8.1 or later.
- **For the statement text:** the plugin only shows a **published** statement. Scanning and viewing findings work before that; text in the shortcode only appears after publication, which is included from the Starter plan.

The plugin’s admin screens are in English, or in German on a German WordPress. The labels below are the English ones.

## 1. Install the plugin

The plugin is called “Barrierepruefung.de – Web Accessibility Checker”. Install and activate it. After activation, a notice leads to *Tools → Accessibility*; the plugins list also has a “Settings” link for it.

The source code and installation notes are in the [plugin’s public repository](https://github.com/lukasboc/barrierepruefung-wordpress).

## 2. Add the website in the service

In the service, go to “Websites” → “Add website”. Enter **exactly** the address your WordPress installation is reachable at – as it appears in the browser, with or without `www`. *Tools → Accessibility* tells you this address.

If the address differs, domain verification in step 5 fails without an obvious reason.

## 3. Create a token

In the service, open “Websites” → your website → the “Embedding” tab, section “WordPress plugin and API”. Enter a “Label” – for example “WordPress on example.org” – and choose “Create token”.

The service now shows three values: “API token”, “Site ID” and “Service address”.

**The token is shown this one time only.** Copy all three values before you choose “I have saved the token”. If you lose the token, create a new one.

The token is valid for this one website only. It may start scans and read results and the statement – nothing more.

## 4. Enter the connection in WordPress

In WordPress, under *Tools → Accessibility*, section “Connect to your account”:

- **API token:** paste it complete, including the number and the vertical bar in front.
- **Site ID:** the ID from step 3.
- **Service address:** leave the pre-filled value – it is the address the plugin sends its requests to.

Then choose “Connect”. The page reports “Connected. Please verify the domain now.”

## 5. Verify the domain

Choose “Verify domain now”. The plugin serves the proof itself – as a meta element and as a file at `/.well-known/a11y-site-verification.txt`. You do not need a DNS record. The page reports “The domain is verified.”

The service re-checks the verification daily. If you verified the domain only through the plugin and deactivate it later, the verification is lost at the next check.

## 6. Start the first scan

“Scan now” starts a scan; it usually takes a few minutes. The page deliberately does not reload on its own – an automatic reload would move the focus and interrupt people using a screen reader. Choose “Check whether the scan has finished”.

The findings list then appears on the same page: [Working through findings in WordPress](https://barrierepruefung.de/en/help/wordpress-findings).

## 7. Publish and embed the statement

The plugin cannot publish. In the service, answer the [manual checks](https://barrierepruefung.de/en/help/manual-checks), complete the mandatory details and publish the statement: [From scan to published statement](https://barrierepruefung.de/en/help/publishing).

Then place the shortcode `[barrierefreiheitserklaerung]` on a page: [Showing the statement in WordPress: shortcode and block](https://barrierepruefung.de/en/help/wordpress-shortcode).

## Correcting the connection

“Stored connection” shows what is saved. “Disconnect” deletes the token, the site ID and the stored statement text from WordPress; you can then enter the connection again. Nothing changes in your account: the token stays valid until you “Revoke” it in the “Embedding” tab.

## What the plugin transmits

The address of your website, the token and the site ID – **no** content and no personal data of your visitors. Requests go to the service

- when you start a scan or verify the domain,
- when you open *Tools → Accessibility* – at most every 5 minutes, from the cache after that,
- when you expand the occurrences of a rule,
- when the statement is displayed – at most every 60 minutes, from the cache after that.

Uninstalling removes all settings and caches, including the token.

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Last checked against the product: 2026-09-13 · https://barrierepruefung.de/en/help/wordpress-setup