# BeaverCheck Audit Report — https://couchsurfing.com

**Date:** April 22, 2026  
**URL:** https://couchsurfing.com  
**Overall Grade:** C (75/100)  
**Report:** https://beavercheck.com/results/191a2e7a-8552-493b-add6-f524d925032c

## Top Findings

1. **[CRITICAL]** Content-Security-Policy header is missing — Security > Security Headers
2. **[CRITICAL]** HSTS header is missing — Security > Security Headers
3. **[CRITICAL]** No Content-Security-Policy header found — Security > Content Security Policy
4. **[CRITICAL]** 6 link(s) with no accessible text — Accessibility > Link & Button Quality
5. **[WARNING]** 68 third-party resources (100% of weight) — Performance > Page Weight Inventory

---

## Lighthouse Scores

| Category | Score |
|----------|-------|
| Performance | 59 |
| Accessibility | 89 |
| Best Practices | 96 |
| SEO | 100 |

---

## Security

### Security Headers (F — 5/100)

*1 of 10 headers properly configured*

- **[CRITICAL]** HSTS header is missing — Strict-Transport-Security forces browsers to use HTTPS, preventing downgrade attacks. Add the header with a max-age of at least 1 year.
- **[WARNING]** X-Content-Type-Options header is missing — This header prevents MIME-type sniffing, which can lead to XSS attacks. Set it to 'nosniff'.
- **[WARNING]** X-Frame-Options header is missing — This header prevents clickjacking by controlling who can embed your page in a frame. Set it to DENY or SAMEORIGIN.
- **[WARNING]** Referrer-Policy header is missing — Controls how much referrer information is sent with requests. Set to 'strict-origin-when-cross-origin' or stricter.
- **[WARNING]** Permissions-Policy header is missing — Controls which browser features (camera, microphone, geolocation) are allowed. Set it to restrict unused features.
- **[CRITICAL]** Content-Security-Policy header is missing — CSP is the most important header for preventing XSS attacks. See the CSP section for detailed analysis.
- **[WARNING]** Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy header is missing — COOP isolates your browsing context, preventing cross-origin side-channel attacks. Set to 'same-origin'.
- **[WARNING]** Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy header is missing — COEP prevents loading cross-origin resources without explicit permission. Required for SharedArrayBuffer and high-resolution timers.
- **[PASS]** X-Powered-By header is not present
- **[WARNING]** Server header reveals version information — The Server header discloses the software version, aiding attackers in targeting known vulnerabilities. Remove the version number.

### Content Security Policy (F — 0/100)

*No enforcing CSP policy found*

- **[CRITICAL]** No Content-Security-Policy header found — CSP is the most effective defense against XSS attacks. Add a Content-Security-Policy header to restrict resource loading.

### TLS & Certificates (A+ — 100/100)

*TLS 1.2, 7 checks passed*

- **[PASS]** TLS 1.2 is used
- **[INFO]** TLS 1.3 is not negotiated — TLS 1.3 offers improved performance and security. Consider enabling it.
- **[PASS]** Strong cipher suite is used
- **[INFO]** HTTP/2 is not negotiated — HTTP/2 provides multiplexing and header compression for better performance.
- **[PASS]** Certificate is valid (expires in 171 days)
- **[PASS]** Certificate chain has 3 certificates
- **[PASS]** Certificate uses modern signature algorithm
- **[PASS]** Certificate covers 2 domain(s)
- **[PASS]** Certificate is issued by a trusted CA

### Cookie Security (A+ — 100/100)

*No cookies set — no cookie security risks*

- **[PASS]** No cookies set — no cookie security risks

---

## Advanced Security

### Subresource Integrity (F — 20/100)

*0 of 5 external resources have SRI*

- **[WARNING]** External script from connect.facebook.net lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from connect.facebook.net lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from static.hotjar.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.cookielaw.org lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from www.googletagmanager.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.

### JS Library Vulnerabilities (A+ — 100/100)

*No known vulnerabilities*

- **[PASS]** No known JavaScript library vulnerabilities detected

### Information Leakage (A+ — 100/100)

*No exposures*

- **[INFO]** No security.txt found — Consider adding a security.txt at /.well-known/security.txt.
- **[PASS]** No sensitive files exposed

### Email Security (D — 50/100)

*DMARC: none*

- **[WARNING]** DMARC policy is none — monitoring only — This only monitors, it doesn't block spoofed emails. Change to p=quarantine or p=reject.

### Permissions-Policy (D — 40/100)

*No header set*

- **[WARNING]** No Permissions-Policy header — Consider adding a Permissions-Policy header to restrict browser feature access from embedded content.

### CORS Configuration (B — 80/100)

*No CORS headers*

- **[PASS]** No CORS headers present — secure default

---

## Performance

### Page Weight Budget (A — 91/100)

*850 KB transferred, 69 requests*

- **[PASS]** Page weighs 2.3 MB (850 KB transferred)
- **[WARNING]** JavaScript is 646 KB — consider code splitting or lazy loading — Large JavaScript bundles delay interactivity. Split code by route or defer non-critical scripts.
- **[INFO]** 69 HTTP requests
- **[INFO]** Estimated 0.17 g CO2 per page load

### Third-Party Impact (D — 50/100)

*100% third-party, 0 ms blocking*

- **[WARNING]** Third-party code accounts for 100% of page weight (849.4 KiB of 849.5 KiB)
- **[PASS]** Third-party blocking time is low (0 ms)

### Text Compression (A+ — 100/100)

*All text resources are compressed*

- **[PASS]** All text resources are compressed

### Image Optimization (A+ — 95/100)

*4 images, 0 KB saveable*

- **[PASS]** All images are well-optimized

### JS Execution Cost (D — 40/100)

*2116ms total JS execution*

- **[WARNING]** https://www.couchsurfing.com/_next/static/chunks/6...: 546ms CPU time
- **[WARNING]** Unattributable: 390ms CPU time
- **[WARNING]** https://www.couchsurfing.com/welcome: 387ms CPU time
- **[INFO]** https://www.couchsurfing.com/_next/static/chunks/1...: 238ms CPU time
- **[INFO]** https://script.hotjar.com/modules.6a0f3932cb1341a3...: 172ms CPU time
- **[WARNING]** Third-party scripts: 2116ms (100% of total)

### Font Loading (A+ — 100/100)

*6 fonts (86 KB)*

- **[INFO]** 6 font(s) use font-display: swap (FOUT risk but functional)

### JS Bundles (C — 60/100)

*41 scripts, 192 KB unused*

- **[WARNING]** https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=GTM-KC...: 55 KB unused (65%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code.
- **[WARNING]** https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/bundle/sdk.js/: 54 KB unused (70%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code.
- **[WARNING]** https://script.hotjar.com/modules.6a0f3932cb1341a3...: 38 KB unused (67%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code.
- **[WARNING]** https://www.couchsurfing.com/_next/static/chunks/1...: 24 KB unused (55%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code.
- **[WARNING]** https://www.couchsurfing.com/_next/static/chunks/6...: 20 KB unused (46%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code.
- **[INFO]** Total unused JavaScript: 192 KB

### Resource Caching (A+ — 100/100)

*All resources properly cached*

- **[PASS]** No caching issues found

### Critical Rendering Path (A+ — 100/100)

*No render-blocking resources*

- **[PASS]** No render-blocking resources detected

### Resource Hints (A+ — 100/100)

*6 hints, 0 missing preconnects*

- **[PASS]** Page uses 6 resource hint(s)

### Page Weight Inventory (A — 85/100)

*69 resources · 850 KB · 192 KB savings available*

- **[PASS]** Within 1MB page-weight target
- **[INFO]** ~192 KB of savings available
- **[WARNING]** 68 third-party resources (100% of weight)

### Render-Blocking Resources (A+ — 100/100)

*No render-blocking resources detected*

- **[PASS]** No render-blocking resources detected in <head>

### Third-Party Resources (A+ — 100/100)

*No third-party resources detected*


---

## Content Quality

### Links (B — 88/100)

*61 links checked, 58 healthy, 2 broken*

- **[WARNING]** 58 of 61 links are healthy
- **[WARNING]** Broken link: https://couchsurfing.com/icon.ico?92c0960e5187896d — Found in <link href>. Returns HTTP 404.
- **[WARNING]** Broken link: https://couchsurfing.com/apple-icon.png?c159d394c34a13cf — Found in <link href>. Returns HTTP 404.
- **[INFO]** Long redirect chain: https://support.couchsurfing.com/ (3 hops)

### Mixed Content (A+ — 100/100)

*No mixed content detected — all resources use HTTPS.*

- **[PASS]** No mixed content detected — all resources use HTTPS

### Open Graph (A+ — 100/100)

*Open Graph tags are well configured for social sharing.*

- **[INFO]** og:title is short (12 characters) — Ideal length is 25–60 characters for social sharing previews.
- **[INFO]** og:description is short (44 characters) — Ideal length is 55–200 characters for social sharing previews.

### Structured Data (C — 40/100)

*No structured data (JSON-LD) found.*

- **[INFO]** No structured data (JSON-LD) found — Adding structured data helps search engines understand your content and can enable rich results.

---

## Infrastructure

### DNS Records (A+ — 100/100)

*2 A records, 46 ms lookup*

- **[PASS]** Resolves to 2 IPv4 address(es)
- **[INFO]** No IPv6 (AAAA) records
- **[PASS]** 4 nameserver(s) configured
- **[PASS]** 7 mail exchanger(s) configured
- **[INFO]** CAA records not checked — CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.
- **[PASS]** SPF record present in TXT
- **[PASS]** DNS resolution time: 46 ms

### Redirect Chain (D — 50/100)

*2 redirect(s), 1099 ms total*

- **[WARNING]** 2 redirects before reaching final URL — Each redirect adds latency. Try to minimize the chain to 1 hop.
- **[INFO]** WWW normalization redirect
- **[INFO]** Uses 302 (temporary) redirect — If permanent, use 301 instead.
- **[WARNING]** Redirect overhead: 1099 ms total

### IPv6 Readiness (C — 60/100)

*No IPv6 support*

- **[INFO]** No IPv6 (AAAA) records found — IPv6 support is increasingly important for global accessibility. About 40% of internet users have IPv6 connectivity.

### Crawlability (A+ — 100/100)

*robots.txt present, sitemap with 2 URLs*

- **[PASS]** robots.txt is present
- **[PASS]** sitemap.xml is present
- **[PASS]** sitemap.xml is valid XML
- **[PASS]** sitemap.xml contains 2 entries
- **[PASS]** Sitemap index with 2 child sitemaps
- **[PASS]** robots.txt references sitemap

### URL Variants (A+ — 100/100)

*www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS*

- **[PASS]** www/non-www redirect configured correctly (preferred: non-www)
- **[PASS]** HTTP correctly 301-redirects to HTTPS

### Domain Intelligence (A+ — 100/100)

*couchsurfing.com — via Register.com - Network Solutions, LLC, 27 years, 3 months old, hosted on AWS*

- **[PASS]** Domain registered until Jun 13, 2034 (8 years, 3 months remaining)
- **[INFO]** DNSSEC is not enabled — DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it.
- **[PASS]** Registrar: Register.com - Network Solutions, LLC
- **[WARNING]** Registrar lock is NOT enabled — The domain can be transferred without an unlock step. Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) in your registrar's control panel to protect against unauthorized or accidental transfers.
- **[PASS]** Hosting: AWS

---

## Compliance

### WCAG Compliance (A+ — 100/100)

*No testable criteria*


### Cookie Consent & Privacy (A+ — 100/100)

*privacy policy found*

- **[PASS]** Privacy policy link found
- **[PASS]** Terms of service link found
- **[INFO]** No cookie consent banner detected
- **[INFO]** This is an automated check, not legal advice — BeaverCheck detects technical indicators of consent management. This does not constitute a legal compliance assessment. Consult a privacy professional for GDPR/CCPA compliance.

### Language & i18n (A — 90/100)

*Lang attribute present*

- **[PASS]** <html lang> attribute is present
- **[PASS]** <html lang> value is valid
- **[INFO]** No Content-Language HTTP header
- **[INFO]** Language signals are inconsistent — The <html lang> attribute and Content-Language header should agree.

### Readability & Typography (A+ — 100/100)

*Font sizes and tap targets checked*


### Viewport Configuration (A+ — 100/100)

*Viewport properly configured*

- **[PASS]** Viewport meta tag is present
- **[PASS]** width=device-width is set
- **[PASS]** User zooming is allowed

### Third-Party Trackers (A — 85/100)

*5 trackers detected*

- **[INFO]** 5 third-party trackers detected — Found 4 analytics, 0 advertising, 0 marketing, 1 tag manager trackers.
- **[WARNING]** Session replay tool detected: Hotjar — Session replay tools record user interactions. These require clear disclosure and often explicit consent under GDPR.

### Cookie & Tracker Inventory (A+ — 100/100)

*0 cookies · 5 trackers · 0 pre-consent*

- **[INFO]** 5 third-party tracker(s) detected on page

---

## Legal

### Legal Page Ecosystem (C — 60/100)

*2 of 7 expected legal pages detected*

- **[PASS]** Privacy Policy detected — Found at https://www.couchsurfing.com/about/privacy-policy, linked from footer.
- **[PASS]** Terms of Service detected — Found at https://www.couchsurfing.com/about/terms-of-use, linked from footer.
- **[INFO]** Cookie Policy not detected — No link matching common Cookie Policy URL patterns or link text was found. Most websites are expected to have a Cookie Policy, especially those collecting user data.
- **[INFO]** Accessibility Statement not detected — No link matching common Accessibility Statement URL patterns or link text was found. Most websites are expected to have a Accessibility Statement, especially those collecting user data.
- **[INFO]** DMCA / Copyright Notice not detected — No link matching common DMCA / Copyright Notice URL patterns or link text was found. Most websites are expected to have a DMCA / Copyright Notice, especially those collecting user data.
- **[INFO]** Refund / Returns Policy not detected — No link matching common Refund / Returns Policy URL patterns or link text was found. Most websites are expected to have a Refund / Returns Policy, especially those collecting user data.
- **[INFO]** Acceptable Use Policy not detected — No link matching common Acceptable Use Policy URL patterns or link text was found. Most websites are expected to have a Acceptable Use Policy, especially those collecting user data.

### Copyright Notice (A+ — 100/100)

*© 1999 - 2026 Couchsurfing International*

- **[PASS]** Copyright notice is up to date — Copyright notice is up to date: © 1999 - 2026 Couchsurfing International
- **[PASS]** Copyright holder: Couchsurfing International

### Regulatory Indicators

*1 regulatory indicator(s) detected*

- **[INFO]** This is a technical scan, not a legal assessment — BeaverCheck detects technical indicators that may suggest regulatory relevance. This is not a compliance audit and should not be relied upon for legal decisions. Consult qualified legal counsel for compliance assessments.
- **[INFO]** GDPR indicators detected (strong confidence) — Indicators suggesting GDPR may be relevant: Consent management platform detected: cookielaw.org; Privacy policy page found. EU General Data Protection Regulation — governs collection and processing of personal data of EU residents.

### Third-Party Data Sharing

*3 third-party service(s) detected*

- **[INFO]** Data inventory for transparency purposes — This inventory identifies third-party services that receive data from your site visitors. Under regulations like GDPR (Article 30), maintaining records of data processing activities is commonly considered a best practice. This automated scan provides a starting point — it may not capture all data flows.
- **[INFO]** 3 third-party services across 3 categories — 3 third-party services detected across 3 categories: Analytics (1), Advertising (1), Session Recording (1). Each of these services receives some user data from your site visitors.
- **[INFO]** Google Analytics (Analytics) — Detected via script URL. Typically collects: Page views, User behavior, Demographics, Device info, IP address. Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy. Data Processing Agreement available.
- **[INFO]** Facebook Pixel (Advertising) — Detected via script URL. Typically collects: Page views, Conversions, User behavior, Ad targeting. Privacy policy: https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy. Data Processing Agreement available.
- **[INFO]** Hotjar (Session Recording) — Detected via script URL. Typically collects: Session recordings, Heatmaps, Click patterns, Form interactions. Privacy policy: https://www.hotjar.com/privacy/. Data Processing Agreement available.

### Compliance Badges (C — 55/100)

*0 compliance badge(s) detected*

- **[INFO]** No compliance badges detected — No recognized compliance certification badges or seals were found. This is common — many sites do not display compliance badges.

---

## Availability

### CDN & Delivery (D — 50/100)

*No CDN detected*

- **[WARNING]** No CDN detected — A CDN can significantly improve load times for users around the world by caching content at edge nodes closer to them.

### HTTP Caching (F — 30/100)

*No cache headers*

- **[WARNING]** No Cache-Control header found — Browsers will use heuristic caching, which can be unpredictable. Set explicit cache headers.

### Transport Security (B — 75/100)

*HTTP/3, HSTS, and TLS version analysis*

- **[INFO]** HTTP/3 (QUIC) not advertised — HTTP/3 eliminates head-of-line blocking. If your CDN supports it, consider enabling it.
- **[WARNING]** Missing Strict-Transport-Security header — HSTS tells browsers to only use HTTPS, preventing SSL stripping attacks.

---

## Accessibility

### Landmark Structure (B — 75/100)

*8 landmarks*

- **[PASS]** <main> landmark present
- **[PASS]** 5 <nav> landmark(s) found
- **[WARNING]** 5 of 5 <nav> elements are unlabeled — Multiple navigations need aria-label to distinguish them for screen readers.
- **[WARNING]** 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.

### Heading Hierarchy (A+ — 100/100)

*7 headings*

- **[PASS]** Single H1 present

### Alt Text Quality (A+ — 97/100)

*1 of 3 images have issues*

- **[WARNING]** 1 image(s) with generic alt text
- **[PASS]** 2 image(s) with good alt text

### Form Accessibility (A+ — 100/100)

*All 4 controls labeled*

- **[PASS]** 4 control(s) properly labeled

### Link & Button Quality (C — 58/100)

*6 issue(s) across 20 links and 4 buttons*

- **[CRITICAL]** 6 link(s) with no accessible text — Links without text are announced as raw URLs by screen readers.
- **[WARNING]** 10 link(s) open in new tab without warning — Add '(opens in new tab)' to link text or aria-label.
- **[PASS]** 4 link(s) with descriptive text

---

## UX

### 404 Error Page (B — 80/100)

*HTTP 404, custom page*

- **[PASS]** Correct 404 status code returned
- **[PASS]** Custom styled 404 page
- **[PASS]** Navigation links present on 404 page
- **[PASS]** Homepage link present on 404 page

### Favicon & Branding (B — 70/100)

*4 icon(s) detected*

- **[PASS]** favicon.ico present at site root
- **[PASS]** HTML icon links detected
- **[PASS]** Apple touch icon present
- **[PASS]** Multiple icon sizes detected

### Web Manifest (D — 40/100)

*Not found*

- **[INFO]** No web manifest found — No manifest at standard paths (/manifest.json, /site.webmanifest). A manifest is optional but enables PWA features like home screen installation and standalone display.

### Dark Mode Support (D — 40/100)

*No dark mode signals*

- **[INFO]** No dark mode signals detected — Consider adding CSS with @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) and <meta name='color-scheme' content='light dark'>.
- **[INFO]** Detection limited to meta tags and inline styles — External CSS files may contain prefers-color-scheme rules not visible to this scan.

### Print Stylesheet (D — 40/100)

*No print styles*

- **[INFO]** 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.

### Navigation UX (F — 15/100)

*No navigation patterns*

- **[PASS]** 5 navigation landmark(s) detected
- **[INFO]** No breadcrumbs, search, or skip link detected — These navigation aids help users orient themselves and find content efficiently, especially on large sites.

---

## SEO

### Canonical URL (B — 80/100)

*Minor issues*

- **[WARNING]** No canonical tag found — Search engines will determine the canonical URL themselves, which may cause duplicate content issues.

### Meta Tags (A+ — 100/100)

*Title optimized*

- **[PASS]** Page title is set
- **[PASS]** Title length (59 chars) is optimal
- **[PASS]** Title and H1 are well-aligned

### Content Depth (F — 25/100)

*105 words, Difficult*

- **[WARNING]** Page has 105 words — thin content — Most well-ranking pages have 300+ words of substantive content.
- **[INFO]** Text-to-HTML ratio is 0% — Very low ratio suggests heavy framework overhead or boilerplate.
- **[INFO]** Reading level: Difficult (grade 16)
- **[WARNING]** Thin content — only 105 words

### Internal Links (A+ — 100/100)

*2 internal, 18 external*

- **[PASS]** 2 internal links (10%)
- **[PASS]** 70% of links use descriptive anchor text
- **[INFO]** 2 internal / 18 external links

### Image SEO (B — 80/100)

*3 images, 0 descriptive filenames*

- **[WARNING]** 100% of images have non-descriptive filenames — Search engines use filenames as a signal. Rename to descriptive names like 'team-photo.jpg'.

### Hreflang

*0 hreflang tags*


---

## Sustainability

### CO2 Per Page Load (A — 85/100)

*0.23g CO2 per view*

- **[PASS]** 0.23g CO2 per page view — This page transfers 0.8 MB, producing an estimated 0.23g of CO2 per visit using the Sustainable Web Design model (v4). Breakdown: data center 0.04g, network 0.04g, end-user device 0.15g.
- **[INFO]** At 10,000 monthly views: 28.2 kg CO2/year — With 10,000 page views per month, this page would generate approximately 28.2 kg of CO2 annually — equivalent to charging 3524 smartphones.

### Green Hosting (D — 40/100)

*Not green*

- **[INFO]** No confirmed renewable energy commitment detected — Consider providers like Cloudflare, Google Cloud, or Vercel that match 100% of their energy use with renewables.
- **[INFO]** Green hosting status based on known provider commitments — Green hosting detection uses a curated database of provider renewable energy commitments. This is not a real-time verification. For authoritative checks, visit thegreenwebfoundation.org.

### Repeat Visit Weight (A+ — 100/100)

*96% cached*

- **[PASS]** 96% reduction on repeat visits — Returning visitors download only 36 KB (vs 849 KB first visit). 68 of 69 resources are served from browser cache, saving 0.22g CO2 per repeat visit.
- **[INFO]** Repeat visit: 0.01g CO2 (first visit: 0.23g)

### Carbon Budget (A — 85/100)

*13th percentile*

- **[PASS]** 0.23g CO2 — below the sustainability target of 0.50g — Cleaner than an estimated 87% of websites analyzed. This page meets the Web Sustainability Guidelines target.
- **[INFO]** Estimated 13th percentile — Compared to: top 10% = 0.20g, target = 0.50g, median = 0.60g per page view.

### Transfer Efficiency (B — 80/100)

*77% efficient*

- **[INFO]** Transfer efficiency: 77% — An estimated 192 KB (23%) could be eliminated: 0 KB via better compression, 0 KB via modern image formats, 192 KB of unused JavaScript. This wasted data produces 0.05g of unnecessary CO2 per page view.

---

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*Generated by [BeaverCheck](https://beavercheck.com) — https://beavercheck.com/results/191a2e7a-8552-493b-add6-f524d925032c*