January 2021

February 2021

March 2021

April 2021

May 2021

June 2021

July 2021

August 2021

September 2021

October 2021

November 2021

December 2021

January 2022

February 2022

March 2022

April 2022

May 2022

June 2022

July 2022

August 2022

September 2022

October 2022

November 2022

December 2022

January 2023

February 2023

March 2023

May 2023

June 2023

July 2023

August 2023

September 2023

October 2023

November 2023

December 2023

January 2024

February 2024

March 2024

April 2024

May 2024

June 2024

July 2024

September 2024

October 2024

November 2024

December 2024

January 2025

February 2025

March 2025

April 2025

May 2025

Merrimack Education Center

Screen reader users will see links on a page listed without context, 
so you should ensure the same link text is not used to point to different web
addresses.

For example:

```html
<p>
    Learn the latest about our products: 
    <a href="/products/news">News</a>
</p>

<p>
    Learn the latest about our services: 
    <a href="/company/news">News</a>
</p>
``` 

To a screen reader who is listing links, they will only hear:

* News
* News

These links appear to be the same, but they both behave differently. 
One solution, which doesn't require the page design to change, is to add an 
`aria-label` for each link:

```html
<p>
    Learn the latest about our products: 
    <a href="/products/news" aria-label="Product news">News</a>
</p>

<p>
    Learn the latest about our services: 
    <a href="/company/news" aria-label="Company news">News</a>
</p>
``` 

Which will be heard as:

* Product news
* Company news

To pass this checkpoint, make sure that links which point to different pages 
have distinct text inside them, or that they specify ARIA labels (`aria-labelledby` or
`aria-label`), or they use hidden text only visible to screen readers
(e.g. `<span class="sr-only">...</span>`) to distinguish them from each 
other.

If links point to the same page (e.g., they redirect or use tracking
parameters, but are functionally equivalent to the user) you can ignore
this issue.

a-duplicate-link-text-for-different-destinations

To comply with WCAG AA, the colour of text must sufficiently contrast with
its background color, so that people with moderate visual impairments can read it.

The [contrast ratio](https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/visual-audio-contrast-contrast.html#contrast-ratiodef) 
must be at least 4.5:1 for body text, and 3:1 for large text.

A much more demanding version of this check (1.4.6) exists for WCAG AAA. Ignoring an issue in this check 
will also ignore it in that check, and vice versa.

aa-text-contrast

To comply with the strictest accessibility standard (WCAG AAA), the colour of text must 
strongly contrast with its background color, so that people with significant visual impairments 
can read it.

The [contrast ratio](https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/visual-audio-contrast-contrast.html#contrast-ratiodef)
must be at least 7:1 for body text, and 4.5:1 for large text.

A far less demanding version of this check (1.4.3) exists for WCAG AA. All websites should aim to 
meet the easier AA standard at a minimum. The AAA standard is desirable but far more challenging,
and may not be practical for your website.

aaa-text-contrast

Each page should have a well-defined page title (as defined by a single `<title>` tag).

add-page-title

All controls on the page - including links, buttons, and fields - should clearly 
indicate when they have been selected by the keyboard.

This is a stricter version of [WCAG 2.4.7](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/focus-visible.html),
which requires that the focus indicator is visible, but doesn't specify how clearly
it should be visible.

You can confirm this yourself by loading a webpage and using the Tab key to navigate 
through it. Anything you can select should clearly alter its appearance when selected. 
For example, a text field might change color, or have a distinctive border applied. 

## The requirements

The [official requirements](https://w3c.github.io/wcag/understanding/focus-appearance.html) are 
complicated. A simplified version is:

* Surround the control with a solid outline
* The outline must have at least 3:1 contrast with its background
* The outline must have at least 3:1 contrast with its surroundings, or be at least 2px thick

The actual requirements allow for more variation, but generally require that you 
calculate the perimeter and/or area of the focus area, which can be very difficult.

## How to fix

Links and form controls should use a focus selector which contrasts with their
unfocused state, as well as any surroundings of the focus state. 

In practice, the easiest way to accomplish this is to use a two-color focus, like so:

```css
/* ensure high-contrast mode still has an indicator */
outline: 2px transparent solid;

/* Apply a thick yellow box-shadow with 
   a thin dark blue indicator in the middle */
box-shadow: 0 0 0 2px #F9F9D1, 0 0 0 4px #396196, 0 0 4px 8px #F9F9D1;
``` 

From [Technique C40](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Techniques/css/C40).

Using two contrasting colors guarantees that the focus state will be visible, 
regardless of the background or surrounding colors.

## Troubleshooting

### Elements appear to change in the browser

Focus states should be defined in CSS alone, and not require JavaScript to work. 

Try disabling JavaScript on the page, and see if focus is still visible. If it not, 
then the focus state won't work with assistive technologies that don't have a physical
keyboard, e.g. mobile phones.

Some more unusual means of implementing a focus state cannot be detected or measured
automatically. These include:

* Focus implemented via pseudo-elements - such as `::after` or `::before`. 
* Focus using `:focus-within` (JavaScript current provides no way to access these).
* Focus cascaded to child elements, e.g. a `<span>` inside an `<a>` tag. We detect
  some of these cases, but there are variations that we cannot detect.

Currently, there is no practical way to assess these focus states automatically.

### Elements over images not analyzed

Silktide cannot assess the contrast of elements that are over images. This is because
the contrast of an element is calculated by comparing the color of the element with the
color of the background. 

If the element is over an image, the background color is the
color of the image, which varies from pixel-to-pixel, and may vary further as the page
is resized, due to responsive design.

### Unexpected elements are focusable

You may be surprised to see tags like `<div>` or `<span>` being shown as focusable.
If an element has a `tabindex` of 0 or higher, it becomes focusable. Any HTML tag can be made 
focusable in this way, this is so that custom controls (e.g. your own drop-down menus, or 
sliders) can support keyboard navigation. [Learn more about tabindex on MDN](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_attributes/tabindex).

## Further reading

This is part of the draft WCAG 2.2 specification and is subject to change.

* [WCAG 2.4.11](https://w3c.github.io/wcag/understanding/focus-appearance.html)

ensure-focus-appearance

All interactive components on a page, such as buttons or menus, should be far enough apart 
from other interactive areas, to avoid them being used by mistake. 

This ensures people with motor impairments can easily click or tap on the right element.

## Methodology

This check is run on both the mobile and desktop versions of every page. Results
for each may differ.

1. All interactive elements are identified, including buttons, links, and form controls.
2. If an element is not normally visible, it is ignored. This includes elements which
   are positioned offscreen or cropped (e.g. for 'screen-reader only' text).
3. If an element is larger than 24 CSS pixels in both dimensions, it passes.
4. Otherwise, the element is compared to all other elements on the page.
5. The minimum horizontal gap between the element is calculated as 24 CSS pixels,  
   minus the width of the element.
6. The minimum vertical gap between the element is calculated as 24 CSS pixels,  
   minus the height of the element.
7. If another element falls within the minimum horizontal or vertical gap, the 
   element fails, unless both are links that point to the same place.

## Further reading

This is part of the draft WCAG 2.2 specification and is subject to change.

* [Target Size (Minimum)](https://w3c.github.io/wcag/understanding/target-size-minimum.html)

ensure-minimum-target-size

Most content should be written so people with a lower secondary level of education can understand it.
Where this is not possible, supplemental content or an alternative version should be provided.

This check highlights pages with a reading age of 16 years or higher. Only pages with at least 100 words
of content (excluding navigation, footers, etc) are considered.  

For more information, see [WCAG SC 3.1.5](https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/meaning-supplements.html).

ensure-reading-ability-is-not-advanced

All interactive components on a page, such as buttons or fields, should ideally be large enough 
to be easily used by people with motor impairments. 

This ensures people with motor impairments can easily click or tap on the element.

The recommended size is 44 x 44 CSS pixels, with some exceptions:

* **Equivalent available** - the functionality provided by
  the control is available elsewhere, and large enough, on the same page.
* **Inline text** - the control appears inside a sentence or block of text. 
* **User Agent control** - the size of the target is determined by the user agent 
  and is not modified by the author. Generally this is not the case for web content.
* **Essential** - the size of the target is essential to the information being conveyed,
  e.g. a tutorial demonstrating what a small button looks like. This exception is rare.

## Applying this check

Nearly all websites will fail this check by default. The minimum size requirement
is larger than most links and controls on most websites.

This is the much stricter version of the WCAG 2.2 AA check for target size. Most websites
should focus on the AA check before considering this AAA check:

* [Target Size (Minimum)](https://w3c.github.io/wcag/understanding/target-size-minimum.html)

## Methodology

This check is run on both the mobile and desktop versions of every page. Results
for each may differ.

1. All interactive elements are identified, including buttons, links, and form controls. 
2. If an element is preceded or followed directly by a non-empty text node, the control
   is ignored.
3. If an element is not normally visible, it is ignored. This includes elements which 
   are positioned offscreen or cropped (e.g. for 'screen-reader only' text).
4. If an element is a link, and another visible link on the page points to the same URL, with 
   that other link meeting the size requirements, the element is ignored.
5. Otherwise, the element must have a minimum size of 44 x 44 CSS pixels.

## Troubleshooting

Silktide only records the first 100 instances of a failure on a page. Because failures
of this check are common, it is possible that your page has more than 100 failures, but
only the first 100 will be shown.

## Further reading

* [Target Size (Enhanced)](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/target-size-enhanced)

ensure-reasonable-target-size

People using screen readers are not able to see the layout of a form. To make forms
accessible, they must define explicit text labels for each form control. 

Usually the best solution is to use a `<label>` element. The label may be linked to 
by the form control:

```html
<label for="name">Full name</label>
<input type="name" id="name">
```

or the `<label>` can be wrapped around the form control:

```html
<label>
    Full name <input type="name">
</label>
```

Buttons are different, as their labels are specified by the code for the button, e.g.

```html
<input type="submit" value="Send message">
<button>Send message</button>
```

Alternatively ARIA attributes, such as `aria-label` may be used, but this information
will not be conveyed to visual users. For more information, see [W3C's guide to labeling controls](https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/forms/labels/).

Hidden input fields (`<input type="hidden">`) do not require labels.
Note that the `placeholder` attribute 
[should not be used as an alternative to a label](https://www.w3.org/TR/html/sec-forms.html#the-placeholder-attribute),
nor should the `title` attribute.

## Custom roles

Note that this check considers the underlying accessible role of an element, which can be 
different from the tag itself.

For example, this `<div>` has a `role` of `button`, and so is expected to have a label, like
a button would.

```html
<div role="button"></div>
```

form-control-labels

All frames must define a readable title, which briefly described the contents of that frame.

Note that this is not the same as a `<title>` tag inside the iframe, which is insufficient.
You must provide a meaningful description for the frame using the `title` attribute.

Examples:

```html
<iframe title="Advertisement" src="ad.html">
```

```html
<frame title="Advertisement" src="ad.html">
```

# Why this matters

Accessible technologies such as screen readers rely on the `title` attribute to list
the frames on a given page. 

Without a title, it is impossible to know what the frame contains, and the user must
navigate inside it, and explore the contents of the frame to figure this out.

Often iframes are used for technologies like banner adverts, videos, or chat widgets. The 
absence of a `title` makes these areas of the page much harder to identify, understand, 
or use.

# How titles are tested

Frames which are not presented to screen readers are ignored. This includes invisible
frames, and frames marked with `aria-hidden`.

A `title` attribute must contain meaningful text, e.g. numbers / letters, to be considered
valid. A title containing just spaces, or non-readable text (e.g. an emoji) will
be flagged as invalid.

# More information

Learn about [Technique H64](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Techniques/html/H64)
as part of [SC 2.4.1 - Bypass Blocks](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/bypass-blocks).

has-frame-title

An `<img>` element inside a link must not specify alternative text that duplicates the
content of a text link inside or beside it.

For example, this code should be avoided:

```html
<a href="/apple">
    <img src="apple.png" alt="Apple">
    Apple
</a>
```

Accessible technologies will tend to see this as "Apple Apple". The correct behaviour is to
specify either a null (empty) `alt` attribute:

```html
<a href="/apple">
    <img src="apple.png" alt="">
    Apple
</a>
```

or to hide the image via `aria-hidden`:

```html
<a href="/apple">
    <img src="apple.png" aria-hidden="true">
    Apple
</a>
```

# Learn more

Read about [Technique H2](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/H2) on how to combine
an adjacent image and texts links. 

See the [WAI Tutorial on decorative images](https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/decorative/).

img-duplicate-alt

Links must be appear visually distinct from regular text. A common mistake is to make links
only differ subtly in color. Users with visual impairments cannot see these links.   

There are two ways to comply with this requirement:

1. You can make links appear differently from regular text without relying on color alone.
   For example, you can add an underline to your links. This makes links easy to identify, even
   to people who cannot see color at all.
2. You can make links a color which is very different from the surrounding text (a 3:1 ratio), 
   AND ensure that when the link is selected with the keyboard or mouse that it appears   
   differently from regular text without relying on color alone.

Unless you have disabled the `outline` CSS style, links will automatically appear visually distinct
when selected with the keyboard.

link-contrast

The purpose of a link should be clear from the text inside the link. Links like "learn more" are
not helpful to users with accessible technology.

Links should also avoid redundantly saying that they are links, e.g. "link to page" as screen
readers will read these out with the word "link" added, e.g. "link link to page".

Exceptions to these rules are allowed where the purpose of a link would be ambiguous to users 
in general.

link-purpose-a

Avoid opening links in a new tab or window. Where you must do this, include an explanation
in the text of the link.

## Why this matters

Opening links in a new tab or window breaks the back button and can be disorientating for 
novice web users, and the visually impaired. Generally you should avoid opening links in a
new tab or window, but if you have to, you should include text explaining that this will happen.

## How to fix

An explanation must be clear in the accessible text for the link. For example:

```html
<a href="products.html" target="_blank">
    Products (opens in new window)
</a>
```

Or, for an image inside a link:

```html
<a href="products.html" target="_blank">
    <img src="products.jpg" alt="Products (opens in new window)">
</a>
```

Rather than updating all of your links manually to do this, you can add a simple CSS
selector, such as:

```css
a[target="_blank"]:after {
    content: " (opens in new window)";
}
```

Note that doing this with an icon, is not sufficient to pass this check. The text must be
readable by screen readers.

Alternatively you can override the link text for accessible technologies (like screenreaders),
so that the appearance of the link does not change. For example:

```html
<a href="products.html" target="_blank" aria-label="Products (opens in new window)">
    Products
</a>
```

Note that if you do this, the `aria-label` will replace the text content of the link completely,
so it must still make sense in isolation.

## Terminology

Although it is common to say "opens in new window", almost all browsers now use tabs, and
so this terminology is potentially confusing. You may prefer: "opens in new tab".

## Methodology

1. Silktide considers all links on a page with a `target` attribute of `_blank`.
2. For each link, Silktide considers the screen-readable text of the link, which includes:
   * The text content of the link
   * Any `alt` text inside any images inside the link
   * Any `aria-label` or `aria-labelled-by` text
   * The `content` of the pseudo-elements `:before` and `:after`
3. This text is analysed for the presence of common text, including "opens new tab"
    and "opens new window". If the text is not found, the link fails the test.

## Further reading

Generally best practice is to avoid opening links in a new tab or window.  

The W3C provides detailed guidance on 
[when opening a link in a new window may be appropriate](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/G200.html).

link-text-explains-open-in-new-window

Every page should have a clearly defined heading, known as a "H1" (Heading 1).

A `H1` is the main heading of the page. It helps accessibility by allowing uses to
skip to the main content of the page. It helps all users identify what the page is about. 
It helps SEO by giving special emphasis to the topic of the page.

It is not enough to simply include large text. Headings must be coded 
[semantically](https://html.com/semantic-markup/) as `<h1>` tags, like so:

```html
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
```

Note that headings must contain some machine readable text to be considered valid. 
For example, this heading is not valid:

```html
<h1>
    <img src="company-logo.png">
</h1>
``` 

But with the addition of `alt` text, this heading is valid:

```html
<h1>
    <img src="company-logo.png" alt="About Company Inc.">
</h1>
``` 

Generally we recommend you just use plain text for your headings.
See [Technique H42](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/H42) for more details.

missing-h1

Form controls must appear sufficiently distinct from their surroundings, so that people 
with visual impairments are still able to clearly see them.    

Either the border or the form control itself must have a 3:1 colour contrast with the 
surrounding area. 

## Methodology

* All `<input>`, `<textarea>`, and `<select>` elements are checked.
* For `<input>` elements, these types are ignored as their
  appearance is controlled by the browser or operating system:
  `checkbox`, `radio`, `submit`, `reset`, `image`, `hidden`, `file`. 
* The flattened background color of the control is determined. This is the color of the
  control itself, combined with any parent elements if the control is transparent.
* If the control has a border or outline:
  * The flattened background color of each edge is determined. 
    This is the color of the edge itself, combined with any parent elements
    if the edge is transparent.
  * If any edge has sufficient contrast with the flattened background color of the control, 
    the control is considered to have sufficient contrast.
* If the control does not have a border or outline:
  * The flattened background color of the surrounding 
    area is determined. This is the color of the first control's parent element which is at least 
    one pixel larger around the element in every dimension, i.e. above, below, left, and right.
  * If the background color of the element has sufficient contrast with surrounding area color
    the control is considered to have sufficient contrast.

## Troubleshooting

There are some limitations to the contrast checker:

* The use of drop shadows, glowing effects, gradients, and other complex effects 
  mean there is no one clear color to determine the contrast ratio against. 
  In these cases, the contrast ratio cannot currently be determined.
* It is possible for an element to be positioned over multiple elements, e.g. via
  `position: absolute` or `position: fixed`. In this case, the contrast ratio cannot 
  currently be determined.

## Further reading

* [WCAG 1.4.11](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/non-text-contrast.html)

non-text-contrast

PDFs should have a default document language set to help render text accurately and help screen readers pronounce words correctly. 
See [WCAG](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/pdf.html#PDF16) for reference.

pdf-missing-default-language

PDF files should have headings.
 See [WCAG](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/pdf.html#PDF9)

pdf-missing-headings

PDFs need to be tagged in a valid reading order for accessibility. See [Adobe's guide](https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/acrobat/using/creating-accessible-pdfs.html#tag_the_pdf) and [WCAG](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/pdf.html#PDF3) for advice.

pdf-must-be-tagged

PDFs need to be machine readable for accessibility software to be able to access them. 
Scanned documents or password protected ones are usually not machine readable.

pdf-not-machine-readable

Webpages should provide a way to skip to the main content of the page. There are 
several ways to accomplish this.

The most common solution is a "Skip to content" link:

```html
<a href="#main">Skip to main content</a>
...
<div id="main">
<h1>Welcome to this page</h1>
```

This link is usually hidden from users unless selected, so it doesn't need to compromise the look of 
your page.

Alternatively, you can use the `<main>` HTML landmark:

```html
<main>
<h1>Welcome to this page</h1>
``` 

or an ARIA role of `main`:

```html
<div role="main">
<h1>Welcome to this page</h1>
``` 

Generally best practice is to combine these approaches, using `<main>` landmark with a link pointing to it:

```html
<a href="#main">Skip to main content</a>
...
<main id="main">
<h1>Welcome to this page</h1>
```

This approach will be most widely supported by screen readers and understood by the highest number of users.

# Justification

Many users of assistive technology are only able to experience content sequentially - that is, they must
step through each part of the page, one part at a time. Often this is a slow process, potentially 
hampered by a physical impediment.

Most web pages have a header containing branding and navigation on every page. Stepping through 
this repetitive part of the page can be hugely frustrating for users of assistive technology. For example, 
a blind user may have to listen to hundreds of navigation links before they can reach the content on a page.

Adding a means to skip directly to the page content massively enhances the experience for these users.

Skip to content links do not need to be visible to everyone. A common implementation means they are only 
experienced by users via the tab key or other assistive technology 
(see [skipping to navigation links](https://webaim.org/techniques/skipnav/) from WebAIM). 

# Methodology

It is not sufficient to include a "skip to content" link. The link must work, and it must appear early
enough in the page to be useful.

* If the page has less than 500 visible characters, it does not require a "skip to content" link.
* If the page has a main landmark (e.g. `<main>` or `role="main"`) it does not require a "skip to content" link.
* Silktide looks for a link with a fragment (e.g. `#main`) pointing to a lower part of the page. The link 
  must not be adjacent to other text nodes. 
* The fragment must point to an ID that exists, or this check will raise an error.
* The link must appear before 500 visible characters of text in the page, or this check will raise an error.

The text inside the link is not considered, as this test must support a wide range of languages.

# Learn more

More about [skipping to navigation links](https://webaim.org/techniques/skipnav/) from WebAIM and 
see [W3C's recommended technique](https://www.w3.org/TR/2016/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20161007/G1).

Priority	Recommendation	Progress
	Ensure controls clearly indicate when they are selected WCAG 2.2 AA 2.4.11	19.8%
	Ensure PDFs are machine readable WCAG 2.0 A 1.1.1	0%
	Ensure text has sufficient contrast (AA) WCAG 2.0 AA 1.4.3	0%
	Ensure form controls have labels WCAG 2.0 A 1.3.1	0%
	Tag all PDFs WCAG 2.0 A 1.3.1	0%

Merrimack Education Center

Accessibility

WCAG Levels

Recommendations

The best free accessibility checker