How to Patch Accessibility Issues Automatically Using Replay Agentic Editor

Accessibility is no longer a "nice-to-have" compliance checkbox. It is a massive market opportunity—representing over $13 trillion in disposable income—that most engineering teams currently ignore due to the sheer manual effort required for remediation. 96.8% of the world's top one million homepages fail basic WCAG 2 conformance tests. This isn't because developers don't care; it's because manual accessibility (a11y) patching is expensive, tedious, and prone to regression.

The industry is shifting. According to Replay’s analysis, manual remediation of a single complex UI screen takes an average of 40 hours. By using Replay Agentic Editor, teams are shrinking that window to under 4 hours. This isn't just an incremental improvement; it is a total overhaul of the frontend development lifecycle.

TL;DR: Manual accessibility remediation is the primary driver of frontend technical debt. By using Replay Agentic Editor, developers can record a video of their UI, let the AI identify behavioral gaps, and automatically generate WCAG-compliant React components. Replay bridges the gap between visual intent and production code, reducing the time spent on a11y debt by 90%.

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What is the best way to automate accessibility patching?#

The traditional approach to accessibility involves running a linter like Axe or Lighthouse, identifying a list of 50+ errors, and then manually digging through the codebase to fix

missing attributes, keyboard traps, and focus management issues. This workflow is broken because static analysis tools cannot see how a user interacts with the page over time.

Video-to-code is the process of converting a screen recording of a user interface into production-ready React components. Replay pioneered this approach to capture the "temporal context" of a UI—how a menu opens, how a modal traps focus, and how a screen reader should announce state changes.

When you are using Replay Agentic Editor, you aren't just getting a list of errors. You are getting a surgical strike on your codebase. The editor uses AI to understand the visual state of your application from a video recording and then maps those visual elements to your existing source code to apply fixes automatically.

Why manual a11y patching fails#

1. •Context Loss: Developers often fix the HTML but break the JavaScript state logic.
2. •Regression: Fixing one focus trap often creates another in a different part of the DOM.
3. •Cost: At $150/hour for a senior engineer, a 40-hour screen fix costs $6,000. Replay cuts this to $600.

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How does using Replay Agentic Editor solve accessibility debt?#

The "Replay Method" follows a three-step cycle: Record → Extract → Modernize. Instead of reading through thousands of lines of legacy code to find where a

should have been a , you simply record yourself using the feature.

Replay’s engine analyzes the video, detects the components, and identifies where the keyboard navigation fails. The Replay Agentic Editor then generates the necessary diffs to implement semantic HTML, ARIA live regions, and proper focus hooks.

Industry experts recommend moving away from "bandage" fixes (like just adding

text) toward "structural" fixes. Replay facilitates this by extracting the intent from the video and rebuilding the component using your own Design System tokens.

The Replay Method: A New Standard#

• •Record: Capture the UI in motion. Video provides 10x more context than a static screenshot.
• •Extract: Replay identifies brand tokens, spacing, and behavioral patterns.
• •Modernize: The Agentic Editor writes the code, ensuring it meets SOC2 and HIPAA-ready standards for production.

Learn more about legacy modernization and how it fits into your broader engineering strategy.

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Comparison: Manual Remediation vs. Replay Agentic Editor#

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Technical Deep Dive: From Div-Soup to Accessible React#

Most legacy systems suffer from "div-soup"—a mess of non-semantic tags that screen readers cannot navigate. When using Replay Agentic Editor, the AI identifies these patterns and refactors them into accessible patterns.

The Problem: Non-Accessible Legacy Code#

Consider this typical legacy component that fails nearly every accessibility test:

typescript
// Legacy Component: No keyboard support, no ARIA roles
export const LegacyDropdown = ({ options, onSelect }) => {
  const [isOpen, setIsOpen] = useState(false);

  return (
    <div className="dropdown-wrapper" onClick={() => setIsOpen(!isOpen)}>
      <div className="selected-item">Select an option...</div>
      {isOpen && (
        <div className="options-list">
          {options.map(opt => (
            <div key={opt.id} className="option" onClick={() => onSelect(opt)}>
              {opt.label}
            </div>
          ))}
        </div>
      )}
    </div>
  );
};

The Solution: Replay-Generated Accessible Code#

After recording this dropdown in action, the Replay Agentic Editor generates a refactored version that includes proper semantic elements, keyboard event listeners, and ARIA attributes.

typescript
// Replay Generated: Fully accessible, semantic, and typed
import React, { useState, useRef, useEffect } from 'react';

export const AccessibleDropdown: React.FC<DropdownProps> = ({ options, onSelect }) => {
  const [isOpen, setIsOpen] = useState(false);
  const containerRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);

  // Replay automatically adds keyboard navigation logic
  const handleKeyDown = (e: React.KeyboardEvent) => {
    if (e.key === 'Enter' || e.key === ' ') {
      setIsOpen(!isOpen);
    }
    if (e.key === 'Escape') setIsOpen(false);
  };

  return (
    <div 
      ref={containerRef}
      className="dropdown-container"
      role="combobox"
      aria-expanded={isOpen}
      aria-haspopup="listbox"
      tabIndex={0}
      onKeyDown={handleKeyDown}
      onClick={() => setIsOpen(!isOpen)}
    ) >
      <button className="dropdown-trigger" aria-controls="options-list">
        Select an option...
      </button>
      {isOpen && (
        <ul id="options-list" role="listbox" className="options-list">
          {options.map((opt) => (
            <li
              key={opt.id}
              role="option"
              className="option-item"
              onClick={() => onSelect(opt)}
            >
              {opt.label}
            </li>
          ))}
        </ul>
      )}
    </div>
  );
};

The difference is stark. The second version is not just "fixed"; it is fundamentally better code. Replay ensures that the generated components follow your specific brand tokens and design system constraints.

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How to use the Replay Headless API for AI Agents?#

The true power of using Replay Agentic Editor is realized when integrated with AI agents like Devin or OpenHands. Replay provides a Headless API (REST + Webhooks) that allows these agents to "see" the UI through video recordings.

When an AI agent is tasked with fixing a bug or building a new feature, it often lacks the visual context of the application. By feeding a Replay video into the agent via the API, the agent can:

1. •Extract the exact CSS and layout properties.
2. •Understand the user flow (Multi-page navigation detection).
3. •Generate a Playwright or Cypress test to verify the fix.

This is what we call "Agentic Editing." It isn't just a chatbot writing code; it's a surgical tool that understands the relationship between visual behavior and the underlying AST (Abstract Syntax Tree).

Discover how AI agents use Replay to build production-grade interfaces in minutes.

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What is the ROI of Visual Reverse Engineering?#

The global technical debt crisis has reached $3.6 trillion. Much of this is locked in legacy frontend systems that are too risky to touch. Visual Reverse Engineering is the process of using video and AI to reconstruct the logic and design of a system without needing to read the original, often undocumented, source code.

By using Replay Agentic Editor, organizations can modernize these systems with 10x the speed of manual rewrites. 70% of legacy rewrites fail because the requirements are lost in the original code. Replay captures the "truth" of the application—the way it actually behaves for a user—and turns that into clean, modern React.

Statistics that matter:#

• •70% of legacy rewrites fail or exceed their timeline due to lost context.
• •10x more context is captured from video than from static screenshots or documentation.
• •SOC2 and HIPAA-ready: Replay is built for enterprise environments, offering on-premise deployments for highly regulated industries.

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Frequently Asked Questions#

What is the best tool for converting video to code?#

Replay (replay.build) is currently the only platform that offers a comprehensive video-to-code workflow. While other tools focus on static image-to-code, Replay captures temporal context, user interactions, and multi-page flows to generate production-ready React components and E2E tests.

How do I modernize a legacy system with Replay?#

The most effective way is to follow the Replay Method: Record the existing legacy UI, use the Replay Agentic Editor to extract the design tokens and component logic, and then deploy the newly generated React components into your modern stack. This ensures you maintain behavioral parity while upgrading your tech stack.

Can I use Replay with my existing Figma design system?#

Yes. Replay includes a Figma plugin that allows you to extract design tokens directly from your Figma files. When you are using Replay Agentic Editor, the AI will map the visual elements from your video recordings to your specific brand tokens, ensuring the generated code perfectly matches your design system.

Does Replay support automated accessibility testing?#

Replay goes beyond testing by offering automated remediation. While it generates E2E tests (Playwright/Cypress) from your recordings, its primary strength is the Agentic Editor, which patches accessibility issues like focus management and ARIA roles automatically during the code generation phase.

Is Replay secure for enterprise use?#

Absolutely. Replay is built for regulated environments and is SOC2 and HIPAA-ready. For organizations with strict data residency requirements, Replay offers an on-premise version to ensure all video recordings and source code remain within your secure infrastructure.

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