Chrome Extensions for Designers: The Complete List from Design-Resources-for-Developers

The bradtraversy/design-resources-for-developers repository maintains a curated collection of 32 Chrome extensions for designers and frontend developers, documented in lines 51-86 of the readme.md file, covering typography analysis, color extraction, responsive testing, and accessibility auditing.

The design-resources-for-developers repository by Brad Traversy serves as a comprehensive catalog of tools for frontend developers and UI designers. Among its most referenced sections is the curated list of Chrome extensions for designers, which spans font identification, responsive layout testing, and WCAG compliance validation. According to the repository's source code, these extensions are specifically selected to streamline visual design workflows directly within the browser.

Typography and Font Analysis Tools

The repository lists dedicated utilities for identifying and extracting typefaces from live websites.

WhatFont (line 51) enables instant font identification on any web page. Hovering over text reveals the font family, size, weight, and line height without inspecting element code.

Fonts Ninja (line 78) detects fonts used on a page and provides direct download links for the identified typefaces, bridging the gap between inspiration and implementation.

Color Extraction and Accessibility Validation

Several Chrome extensions for designers focus on palette extraction and contrast compliance.

ColorZilla (line 66) provides an advanced eyedropper, color picker, and gradient generator for extracting hex and RGB values directly from web pages.

Site Palette (line 65) automatically extracts the exact color values from any site, generating shareable palettes for design work.

ColorPick Eyedropper (line 71) offers a zoomed eyedropper interface that lets you pick color values from any pixel on the page with precision.

Kontrast – WCAG Contrast Checker (line 62) performs real-time contrast validation to ensure text meets WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards, helping designers avoid compliance issues early in the development cycle.

Layout Debugging and Responsive Testing

The repository emphasizes tools for visualizing structure and testing across viewport sizes.

Pesticide (line 64) injects CSS outlines around every DOM element, making it easy to visualize layout structure and spot overlapping or misaligned elements during development.

Debug CSS (line 80) adds outlines to every element to quickly identify which CSS rules are affecting specific components, complementing browser DevTools.

CSSViewer (line 77) displays a simple tooltip showing computed CSS properties for any element under the cursor, streamlining the inspection workflow.

Window Resizer (line 58) simulates different screen resolutions by resizing the browser window, essential for manual responsive breakpoint testing.

Responsive Viewer (line 59) shows multiple device viewports simultaneously, allowing designers to verify layouts across mobile, tablet, and desktop breakpoints in a single glance.

Page Ruler Redux (line 75) provides an on-screen ruler displaying pixel dimensions for any element, aiding in precise spacing and alignment checks.

PerfectPixel (line 63) overlays a semi-transparent reference image on top of the implementation, enabling pixel-perfect comparison between design mockups and coded output.

Visual Editing and Prototyping

For rapid iteration without leaving the browser, the repository includes several manipulation tools.

VisBug (line 61) is an open-source visual debugging tool that allows direct editing of layout, colors, spacing, and typography on the live page using point-and-click interactions.

Stylebot (line 70) enables instant modification of a site's appearance—including fonts, colors, and layout—through custom CSS rules applied directly in the browser for quick prototyping.

Web Editor (line 76) provides an inline editor for modifying HTML, CSS, and JavaScript of any page directly within the browser, facilitating rapid experimentation.

Screenshot and Asset Capture

Documentation and asset collection utilities feature prominently in the list.

Awesome Screenshot & Screen Recorder (line 54) captures full-page screenshots or records screen activity with built-in annotation tools for immediate sharing.

GoFullPage (line 69) generates one-click full-page screenshots without requiring additional permissions, capturing entire scrollable pages as PNG or PDF files.

Imageye – Image Downloader (line 68) bulk-downloads every image on a page, streamlining the process of collecting reference assets and design inspiration.

Technology Stack Detection

Understanding the underlying architecture of competitor or reference sites is facilitated by detection tools.

WhatRuns (line 52) detects frameworks, analytics tools, WordPress plugins, fonts, and other technologies powering a website, useful for tech-stack scouting and competitive analysis.

Wappalyzer (line 73) identifies the content management systems, frameworks, libraries, and server software used on any site, displaying results in a clean popup interface.

Framework-Specific Developer Tools

The repository includes specialized extensions for modern JavaScript frameworks.

React Developer Tools (line 72) adds a Chrome DevTools panel for inspecting the React component hierarchy, props, and state in applications built with React.

Angular Developer Tools (line 82) allows inspection of Angular component trees, visualization of change detection cycles, and monitoring of performance metrics.

Redux Developer Tools (line 83) provides time-travel debugging, state change visualization, and action inspection for Redux-managed applications.

Data Formatting and Testing Utilities

Developer productivity extensions round out the collection.

JSONView (line 56) formats and color-codes JSON documents for readability directly in the browser, while JSON Lite (line 57) offers a lightweight alternative with a clean UI for viewing JSON files.

JSON Formatter (line 85) provides collapsible node navigation and syntax highlighting for complex JSON structures.

Fake Filler (line 74) automatically populates forms with realistic dummy data, accelerating UI flow testing and form validation workflows.

JavaScript and CSS Code Beautifier (line 67) formats and minifies JavaScript, CSS, and JSON files opened directly in the browser, improving readability of minified production code.

Performance Auditing and SEO

Quality assurance tools complete the designer's toolkit.

Lighthouse (line 79) audits performance, accessibility, SEO, and best practices, generating detailed reports with actionable improvement recommendations.

UX Check (line 81) runs heuristic usability reviews based on established UX principles, surfacing common interface issues and friction points.

SEO Minion (line 86) provides on-page SEO analysis, broken-link checking, and search engine results page (SERP) preview tools for optimizing content visibility.

BrowserStack (line 60) integrates with the BrowserStack service to instantly test pages on real desktop and mobile browsers without leaving the current tab.

News and Productivity

daily.dev – News for Busy Developers (line 55) replaces the new tab page with a curated feed of developer news and tutorials, keeping designers updated while they work.

Hackertab.dev (line 84) aggregates news, podcasts, and development resources in a customizable new-tab dashboard.

Web Developer (line 53) adds a comprehensive toolbar with utilities to disable CSS, view form details, resize images, and access other rapid debugging functions.

Programmatically Checking Extension Installation

For developers building meta-extensions or internal tools that interact with these Chrome extensions for designers, the repository's context supports using the Chrome management API. The following background.js snippet demonstrates how to check if WhatFont is installed and open its store page if not:

// background.js – Check WhatFont installation status
chrome.action.onClicked.addListener(() => {
  const whatFontId = 'jabopobgcpjmedljpbcaablpmlmfcogm';
  const storeUrl = `https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/whatfont/${whatFontId}`;

  // Check if the extension is already installed
  chrome.management.get(whatFontId, (extInfo) => {
    if (chrome.runtime.lastError) {
      // Not installed – open the Chrome Web Store page
      chrome.tabs.create({ url: storeUrl });
    } else {
      // Installed – open its options page or trigger custom action
      chrome.runtime.sendMessage(whatFontId, { action: 'openOptions' });
    }
  });
});

This pattern uses chrome.management.get to lookup the extension by its Web Store ID (the alphanumeric string found in the Chrome Web Store URL). If chrome.runtime.lastError is set, the extension is not present, and the code redirects the user to the installation page. Adapt the whatFontId variable to match any extension from the list above.

Summary

• The readme.md file (lines 51-86) in bradtraversy/design-resources-for-developers catalogs 32 curated Chrome extensions specifically selected for design and frontend development workflows.
• Extensions are organized into functional categories: typography identification (WhatFont, Fonts Ninja), color extraction (ColorZilla, Site Palette), layout debugging (Pesticide, VisBug, PerfectPixel), and responsive testing (Window Resizer, Responsive Viewer).
• Accessibility compliance is supported through tools like Kontrast for WCAG contrast checking and Lighthouse for comprehensive audits.
• Framework-specific tools include React Developer Tools, Angular Developer Tools, and Redux Developer Tools for inspecting component states and hierarchies.
• Developers can programmatically detect installation status using the Chrome management API by referencing the unique Web Store IDs listed in the repository.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I identify fonts used on any website using these Chrome extensions?

WhatFont and Fonts Ninja are the primary typography tools listed in the repository. WhatFont (line 51) allows you to hover over text to see font families and sizes instantly, while Fonts Ninja (line 78) additionally provides download links for the detected typefaces.

Which extension helps verify responsive designs across multiple screen sizes?

Responsive Viewer (line 59) displays multiple device viewports simultaneously, while Window Resizer (line 58) simulates specific screen resolutions by resizing the browser window. Both tools are documented in the repository's Chrome extensions section for comprehensive responsive testing.

Is there a way to check if these extensions are already installed programmatically?

Yes. According to the repository's technical context, you can use the Chrome management API in a background script to check installation status by the extension's Web Store ID. The code example above demonstrates checking for WhatFont using chrome.management.get with the ID jabopobgcpjmedljpbcaablpmlmfcogm.

What tool should I use for WCAG color contrast compliance testing?

Kontrast – WCAG Contrast Checker (line 62) is specifically listed for real-time contrast validation against WCAG 2.1 standards. Alternatively, Lighthouse (line 79) provides comprehensive accessibility audits including contrast checks as part of its broader performance and SEO analysis.

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