Webscan Documentation
Lesson 8 · AI remediation assistance
Phase 2 · Triage & the fix workflow — Lesson 8 of 21 · All lessons
Objective: understand what webscan's AI assistant does (and deliberately does not do), generate a draft for an issue, and review it responsibly.
Before you start: an issue from Lesson 7.
What "AI assistance" means here
Remediation — the work of fixing an accessibility problem. AI remediation assistance is webscan using a large language model (an AI trained on text and code) to draft help for that work: an explanation, a suggested fix, alternative text, a summary, or even proposed code changes.
Two words matter most: it produces a draft, and it is assistance. It does not fix anything on its own, and nothing it writes is authoritative until a person approves it. This lesson is as much about that discipline as about the buttons.
Evidence-grounded, on purpose
Webscan's assistant is deliberately constrained. When it drafts something it works only from the cited evidence attached to the issue — the finding, the failing element, the rule — not from open-ended guessing. Each draft records:
- the provider and model that generated it (so you know its origin), and
- an evidence snapshot (a frozen copy of exactly what it was shown), fingerprinted with a hash so the draft can't silently drift from its source.
This grounding is what makes the output reviewable: you can check the draft against the same evidence it used.
Generate a draft
On the issue page, find the Draft assistance panel and choose Generate draft. You can request different draft types, each answering a different need:
| Draft type | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Explain the accessibility problem | A plain explanation of what's wrong and who it affects — great for stakeholders. |
| Suggest remediation | Practical guidance on how to fix it. |
| Suggest alternative text | Draft alt text for an image that's missing it. |
| Summarise the issue | A short summary for a report or ticket. |
| Propose a source-code fix | An actual code change (needs your repository connected — see Lesson 9). |
The draft appears on the issue with its content, its provenance, and a disclaimer.
The disclaimer — read it, mean it
Every draft carries a fixed note to the effect that it is a draft based only on the cited evidence, that a qualified human must verify it, and that it does not determine WCAG conformance (WCAG being the accessibility standard findings map to).
This isn't legal boilerplate to skim past. AI can be confidently wrong. It can suggest a fix that satisfies the automated rule but harms real users, or write alt text that misreads an image. You are the accessibility authority; the assistant is a fast first draft.
Review: approve or reject
A new draft has the status Awaiting human review. Under Provenance and limitations you can inspect where it came from, then decide:
- Approve draft — you've checked it and it's sound. Approving is your sign-off, and (for code fixes) unlocks the next steps in Lesson 9.
- Reject draft — it's wrong, unhelpful, or unsafe. Rejecting keeps a record without acting on it.
Approving or rejecting stamps who reviewed it and when — an accountability trail that matters if the work is ever audited.
Tips & pitfalls
- Verify every code suggestion against the real element, not just the rule. The goal is a better experience for disabled users, not a green checkmark.
- Alt text needs a human who can see the image. The assistant is working from markup and context, not eyes — treat its alt text as a starting point.
- Use "Explain" for non-technical audiences. It's an easy way to help a manager or client understand why a barrier matters, in words they'll follow.
- Rejecting is not failure. A rejected draft is a recorded, honest outcome — better than approving something you're unsure about.
Recap
- Remediation is fixing accessibility problems; the assistant drafts help, grounded only in cited evidence, with recorded provenance.
- Draft types: Explain, Suggest remediation, Alt text, Summarise, Propose a code fix.
- Every draft is Awaiting human review until you Approve or Reject it, and the disclaimer means what it says — a human decides conformance.
Try it yourself
On your issue, generate an Explain the accessibility problem draft and read it critically: is it accurate about your element? Then generate a Suggest remediation draft. Approve one only if you genuinely agree with it; otherwise reject it and note why in the discussion.
Previous: ← Lesson 7 · Issues Next: Lesson 9 · Connect your source code →