Accessibility

· 13 checks — Landmarks, headings, alt text, forms, and link quality rolled into one auditable list.

SCORE

GRADE

FIX

REVIEW

PASS

INFO

Checks

5 PASS 3 REVIEW 5 FIX

Landmark Structure

Action

No landmarks

FIX

No landmarks

No <main> landmark found

Screen reader users cannot quickly navigate to the primary content. Wrap your main content in <main>.

No <nav> landmark found

No banner (header) landmark

No contentinfo (footer) landmark

Skip navigation link is missing (WCAG 2.4.1)

Add a skip link as the first focusable element so keyboard users can bypass repeated navigation.

No landmarks detected

Screen reader users have no way to navigate by region.

Screen reader users cannot quickly navigate to the primary content. Wrap your main content in <main>.

Why this matters

Without a <main> landmark, screen-reader users can't skip past the navigation to the page content — every page starts with re-reading the menu.

Learn more ▾

The <main> element marks the page's primary content area. Assistive tech offers a 'jump to main' shortcut — but only if <main> exists. Without it, every page navigation forces re-reading the header. Wrap your primary content in a single <main>.

Source: WAI-ARIA / WCAG 2.4.1

Add a skip link as the first focusable element so keyboard users can bypass repeated navigation.

Why this matters

Without a skip-nav link, keyboard users tab through every nav item before reaching content — every page, every visit.

Learn more ▾

WCAG 2.4.1 (Bypass Blocks) requires a mechanism to skip past repeated content. The standard implementation is a 'Skip to main content' link that's the first focusable element, visually hidden until focused. Three lines of HTML + four of CSS.

Source: WCAG 2.1 SC 2.4.1

Favicon & Branding

Action

3 icon(s) detected

FIX

3 icon(s) detected

favicon.ico present at site root

No apple-touch-icon detected

iOS devices use this when users add your site to their home screen. Add <link rel='apple-touch-icon' sizes='180x180' href='/apple-touch-icon.png'>.

Multiple icon sizes detected

✓ favicon.ico Present

✗ PNG Icons Missing

✗ Apple Touch Missing

✗ SVG Favicon Missing

✓ Manifest Icons Present

✓ Multiple Sizes Present

Dark Mode Support

Action

No dark mode signals

FIX

No dark mode signals

No dark mode signals detected

Consider adding CSS with @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) and <meta name='color-scheme' content='light dark'>.

Detection limited to meta tags and inline styles

External CSS files may contain prefers-color-scheme rules not visible to this scan.

Dark ModeNo Dark Mode Detected

color-scheme meta Not set ✗Dark theme-color Not set ✗CSS indicators Not detected ✗

Detection limited to meta tags and inline styles.

Print Stylesheet

Action

No print styles

FIX

No print styles

No print-specific styles detected

When users print this page, they get the screen layout including navigation and non-essential elements. Add @media print rules to hide navigation and optimize layout for paper.

Print Stylesheet No Print Styles

Print stylesheet Not found ✗Inline @media print Not detected ✗

404 Error Page

Action

HTTP 404, custom page

REVIEW

HTTP 404, custom page

Correct 404 status code returned

Got: HTTP 404

Custom styled 404 page

Homepage link present on 404 page

404 Page Quality ✓ Custom 404 Page

Status Code HTTP 404 ✓Page Title 404 Page not found ✓Custom Styling ✓Navigation ✗Homepage Link ✓Search Form ✗

Web Manifest

Action

Valid manifest

REVIEW

Valid manifest

Name present: ResearchGate

192x192 icon present

512x512 icon present

PWA Install Criteria Not Installable

Name ResearchGate ✓192×192 icon ✓512×512 icon ✓Start URL ✗Display Mode ✗

Name ResearchGate Icons 2 icon(s)

Lighthouse Accessibility Audits

Score 81/100 — 3 failing, 11 passed

REVIEW

Accessibility

These checks highlight opportunities to improve the accessibility of your web app. Automatic detection can only detect a subset of issues and does not guarantee the accessibility of your web app, so manual testing is also encouraged.

Names and labels

When a button doesn't have an accessible name, screen readers announce it as "button", making it unusable for users who rely on screen readers. Learn how to make buttons more accessible.

Why this matters

Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.

Failing Elements
div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.index-discover__search > div.index-search-field > button `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.index-discover__search > div.index-search-field > button`

These are opportunities to improve the semantics of the controls in your application. This may enhance the experience for users of assistive technology, like a screen reader.

Contrast

Low-contrast text is difficult or impossible for many users to read. Learn how to provide sufficient color contrast.

Why this matters

Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.

Failing Elements
Join for free `div.index-header > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.index-header__sign-up`
Join for free `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.index-main__join-btn-link > div.index-main__join-btn > span.index-main__join-btn-label`
Engineering `div.index-connect__keywords > div.index-connect__keyword-item > a.index-connect__keyword-badge > span.index-connect__keyword-name`
Mathematics `div.index-connect__keywords > div.index-connect__keyword-item > a.index-connect__keyword-badge > span.index-connect__keyword-name`
Biology `div.index-connect__keywords > div.index-connect__keyword-item > a.index-connect__keyword-badge > span.index-connect__keyword-name`
Computer Science `div.index-connect__keywords > div.index-connect__keyword-item > a.index-connect__keyword-badge > span.index-connect__keyword-name`
Climate Change `div.index-connect__keywords > div.index-connect__keyword-item > a.index-connect__keyword-badge > span.index-connect__keyword-name`
Medicine `div.index-connect__keywords > div.index-connect__keyword-item > a.index-connect__keyword-badge > span.index-connect__keyword-name`
Physics `div.index-connect__keywords > div.index-connect__keyword-item > a.index-connect__keyword-badge > span.index-connect__keyword-name`
Social Science `div.index-connect__keywords > div.index-connect__keyword-item > a.index-connect__keyword-badge > span.index-connect__keyword-name`
Astrophysics `div.index-connect__keywords > div.index-connect__keyword-item > a.index-connect__keyword-badge > span.index-connect__keyword-name`
Chemistry `div.index-connect__keywords > div.index-connect__keyword-item > a.index-connect__keyword-badge > span.index-connect__keyword-name`
Join for free `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.index-signup__join-btn-link > div.index-signup__join-btn > span.index-signup__join-btn-label`
Find out more `div.index-footer__card > div.index-footer__info > span.index-footer__btn > span.index-footer__btn-label`
Find out more `div.index-footer__card > div.index-footer__info > span.index-footer__btn > span.index-footer__btn-label`
About us `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-other > span`
News `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-other > span`
Careers `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-other > span`
Help Center `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-other > span`
Terms `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-other > span`
Privacy `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-other > span`
Copyright `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-other > span`
Imprint `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-other > span`
Researchers `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-researcher-directory > span`
Q&A `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-qa-directory > span`
Publications `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-publication-directory > span`
Jobs `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-other > span`
Advertising `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-other > span`
Recruiting `div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > div.nova-legacy-l-flex__item > a.gtm-home-footer-other > span`
© 2008-2026 ResearchGate GmbH. All rights reserved. `div.index-content > div.index-footer > div.index-footer__content > div.index-footer__base-copyright`

These are opportunities to improve the legibility of your content.

Best practices

One main landmark helps screen reader users navigate a web page. Learn more about landmarks.

Why this matters

Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.

Failing Elements
html.js-focus-visible `html.js-focus-visible`

These items highlight common accessibility best practices.

○Interactive controls are keyboard focusable

○Interactive elements indicate their purpose and state

○The page has a logical tab order

○Visual order on the page follows DOM order

○User focus is not accidentally trapped in a region

○The user's focus is directed to new content added to the page

○HTML5 landmark elements are used to improve navigation

○Offscreen content is hidden from assistive technology

○Custom controls have associated labels

○Custom controls have ARIA roles

●`[aria-hidden="true"]` is not present on the document `<body>`

●Image elements have `[alt]` attributes

●Form elements have associated labels

●`[user-scalable="no"]` is not used in the `<meta name="viewport">` element and the `[maximum-scale]` attribute is not less than 5.

●`[aria-hidden="true"]` elements do not contain focusable descendents

●Document has a `<title>` element

●`<html>` element has a `[lang]` attribute

●`<html>` element has a valid value for its `[lang]` attribute

●Links have a discernible name

●Touch targets have sufficient size and spacing.

●Heading elements appear in a sequentially-descending order

○`[accesskey]` values are unique

○`[aria-*]` attributes match their roles

○`button`, `link`, and `menuitem` elements have accessible names

○ARIA attributes are used as specified for the element's role

○Deprecated ARIA roles were not used

○Elements with `role="dialog"` or `role="alertdialog"` have accessible names.

○ARIA input fields have accessible names

○ARIA `meter` elements have accessible names

○ARIA `progressbar` elements have accessible names

○Elements use only permitted ARIA attributes

○`[role]`s have all required `[aria-*]` attributes

○Elements with an ARIA `[role]` that require children to contain a specific `[role]` have all required children.

○`[role]`s are contained by their required parent element

○`[role]` values are valid

○Elements with the `role=text` attribute do not have focusable descendents.

○ARIA toggle fields have accessible names

○ARIA `tooltip` elements have accessible names

○ARIA `treeitem` elements have accessible names

○`[aria-*]` attributes have valid values

○`[aria-*]` attributes are valid and not misspelled

○The page contains a heading, skip link, or landmark region

○`<dl>`'s contain only properly-ordered `<dt>` and `<dd>` groups, `<script>`, `<template>` or `<div>` elements.

○Definition list items are wrapped in `<dl>` elements

○ARIA IDs are unique

○No form fields have multiple labels

○`<frame>` or `<iframe>` elements have a title

○`<html>` element has an `[xml:lang]` attribute with the same base language as the `[lang]` attribute.

○Input buttons have discernible text.

○`<input type="image">` elements have `[alt]` text

○Links are distinguishable without relying on color.

○Lists contain only `<li>` elements and script supporting elements (`<script>` and `<template>`).

○List items (`<li>`) are contained within `<ul>`, `<ol>` or `<menu>` parent elements

○The document does not use `<meta http-equiv="refresh">`

○`<object>` elements have alternate text

○Select elements have associated label elements.

○Skip links are focusable.

○No element has a `[tabindex]` value greater than 0

○Cells in a `<table>` element that use the `[headers]` attribute refer to table cells within the same table.

○`<th>` elements and elements with `[role="columnheader"/"rowheader"]` have data cells they describe.

○`[lang]` attributes have a valid value

○`<video>` elements contain a `<track>` element with `[kind="captions"]`

○Tables have different content in the summary attribute and `<caption>`.

○All heading elements contain content.

○Uses ARIA roles only on compatible elements

○Image elements do not have `[alt]` attributes that are redundant text.

○Identical links have the same purpose.

○Elements with visible text labels have matching accessible names.

○Tables use `<caption>` instead of cells with the `[colspan]` attribute to indicate a caption.

○`<td>` elements in a large `<table>` have one or more table headers.

A+

Heading Hierarchy

1 headings

PASS

1 headings

Single H1 present

H1 Access denied

A+

Alt Text Quality

No images

PASS

No images

No images on this page

No images on this page.

A+

Form Accessibility

No form controls

PASS

No form controls

No form controls on this page

No form controls found.

Link & Button Quality

1 issue(s) across 1 links and 0 buttons

PASS

1 issue(s) across 1 links and 0 buttons

1 link(s) with no accessible text

Links without text are announced as raw URLs by screen readers.

Got: https://www.researchgate.net

1 links

1 empty

0 generic text

0 new tab

0 empty buttons

Element	Text	Issue	Suggested Fix
https://www.researchgate.net	(empty)	empty	Add link text or aria-label

Links without text are announced as raw URLs by screen readers.

https://www.researchgate.net

Why this matters

Links with no accessible text (empty <a></a>, image-only no alt, icon-only no aria-label) are unidentifiable to screen readers.

Source: WCAG 2.1 SC 2.4.4

A+

Color Contrast (Screenshot)

15 text elements analyzed, 0 fail WCAG AA

PASS

Analyzes text contrast against the actual rendered page, including background images, gradients, and overlays that CSS-based tools cannot detect.

15 pass

Show all checked elements (15)

Element	Ratio	Required	FG	BG	Result
h1 Access denied	19.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
title ResearchGate - Tempo…	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
p You do not have acce…	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
p The site owner may h…	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
li Ray ID: 9ed4d2643ffc…	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
li Timestamp: 2026-04-1…	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
li Your IP address: 2a0…	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
li Requested URL: www.r…	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
li Error reference numb…	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
li Server ID: FL_598F18…	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
li User-Agent: Mozilla/…	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
p Ray ID: 9ed4d2643ffc…	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
p Client IP: 2a03:90c0…	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
span 2008-2026	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass
p ResearchGate GmbH. A…	19.43:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F6F6F6	Pass

Methodology: The top 20 text elements by font size were checked. Background color was sampled from the desktop screenshot using a 5-point pattern. WCAG 2.1 AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.

All checks on this page are automated. Results are estimates - run targeted manual reviews when the score affects a release decision.