# BeaverCheck Audit Report — https://sussex.ac.uk **Date:** April 22, 2026 **URL:** https://sussex.ac.uk **Overall Grade:** C (74/100) **Report:** https://beavercheck.com/results/323d4d16-298c-441c-9a23-1e5d8995dcc9 ## 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]** 2 control(s) without accessible label — Accessibility > Form Accessibility 5. **[CRITICAL]** 7 image(s) missing alt attribute — Accessibility > Alt Text Quality --- ## Lighthouse Scores | Category | Score | |----------|-------| | Performance | 58 | | Accessibility | 91 | | Best Practices | 100 | | SEO | 92 | --- ## Security ### Security Headers (F — 10/100) *2 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 - **[PASS]** Server header is present without version info ### 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 169 days) - **[PASS]** Certificate chain has 3 certificates - **[PASS]** Certificate uses modern signature algorithm - **[PASS]** Certificate covers 4 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 (A+ — 100/100) *No external resources* - **[PASS]** No external resources to protect ### 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 (A+ — 100/100) *DMARC: reject* - **[PASS]** DMARC policy is reject — strongest protection ### 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 (F — 18/100) *3.3 MB transferred, 64 requests* - **[WARNING]** Page weighs 5.0 MB (3.3 MB transferred) - **[INFO]** Fonts are 2.0 MB — consider subsetting or using system fonts — Subset fonts to include only used characters, or switch to system font stacks. - **[INFO]** 64 HTTP requests - **[INFO]** Estimated 0.69 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 (3.3 MiB of 3.3 MiB) - **[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 (C — 60/100) *40 images, 0 KB saveable* - **[WARNING]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/images/homepage/vi... is missing width/height — may cause layout shift — Set explicit width and height to prevent CLS. - **[WARNING]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/images/homepage/ea... is missing width/height — may cause layout shift — Set explicit width and height to prevent CLS. - **[WARNING]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/images/homepage/re... is missing width/height — may cause layout shift — Set explicit width and height to prevent CLS. - **[WARNING]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/images/homepage/ne... is missing width/height — may cause layout shift — Set explicit width and height to prevent CLS. - **[WARNING]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/images/homepage/st... is missing width/height — may cause layout shift — Set explicit width and height to prevent CLS. - **[WARNING]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/images/homepage/de... is missing width/height — may cause layout shift — Set explicit width and height to prevent CLS. - **[WARNING]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/images/homepage/ai... is missing width/height — may cause layout shift — Set explicit width and height to prevent CLS. - **[WARNING]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/images/homepage/ne... is missing width/height — may cause layout shift — Set explicit width and height to prevent CLS. - **[WARNING]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/images/homepage/dh... is missing width/height — may cause layout shift — Set explicit width and height to prevent CLS. - **[WARNING]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/images/homepage/la... is missing width/height — may cause layout shift — Set explicit width and height to prevent CLS. - **[WARNING]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/images/homepage/ne... is missing width/height — may cause layout shift — Set explicit width and height to prevent CLS. ### JS Execution Cost (D — 40/100) *2280ms total JS execution* - **[WARNING]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/: 1363ms CPU time - **[WARNING]** Unattributable: 582ms CPU time - **[INFO]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/js/cyclone.js: 180ms CPU time - **[INFO]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/js/libs/jquery/jqu...: 155ms CPU time - **[WARNING]** Third-party scripts: 2280ms (100% of total) ### Font Loading (A+ — 100/100) *4 fonts (2026 KB)* - **[INFO]** 4 font(s) use font-display: swap (FOUT risk but functional) ### JS Bundles (A+ — 100/100) *8 scripts, 26 KB unused* - **[WARNING]** https://www.sussex.ac.uk/assets/js/cyclone.js: 26 KB unused (57%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code. - **[INFO]** Total unused JavaScript: 26 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) *3 hints, 0 missing preconnects* - **[PASS]** Page uses 3 resource hint(s) ### Page Weight Inventory (D — 45/100) *64 resources · 3.3 MB · 26 KB savings available* - **[WARNING]** Page weight 2.3 MB over 1MB target - **[WARNING]** 63 third-party resources (100% of weight) - **[INFO]** 4 resources over 200KB ### Render-Blocking Resources (A+ — 100/100) *No render-blocking resources detected* - **[PASS]** No render-blocking resources detected in ### Third-Party Resources (A+ — 100/100) *No third-party resources detected* --- ## Content Quality ### Links (A — 91/100) *146 links checked, 143 healthy, 1 broken* - **[WARNING]** 143 of 146 links are healthy - **[INFO]** Long redirect chain: https://sussex.ac.uk/disclaimer (5 hops) - **[INFO]** Long redirect chain: http://purl.org/dc/terms/ (5 hops) - **[CRITICAL]** Broken link: https://www.linkedin.com/school/university-of-sussex — Found in . Returns HTTP 999. ### Mixed Content (B — 80/100) *1 HTTP resource(s) loaded on HTTPS page* - **[CRITICAL]** HTTP link loaded on HTTPS page — Modern browsers block or warn about HTTP resources on HTTPS pages. Change the URL to use HTTPS. ### Open Graph (F — 0/100) *No Open Graph tags found — social sharing previews will be generic.* - **[WARNING]** No Open Graph meta tags found — Without og:title, og:description, and og:image, social media platforms will generate a generic preview when your page is shared. ### Structured Data (A — 90/100) *2 JSON-LD block(s) found — structured data is well configured.* - **[WARNING]** Missing required property "name" for WebSite — The "name" property is required for the WebSite schema type. - **[INFO]** Missing recommended property "description" for WebSite — Adding "description" can improve how search engines display your content. - **[PASS]** Custom type "CollegeOrUniversity" — unable to validate specific properties - **[PASS]** 2 JSON-LD blocks found --- ## Infrastructure ### DNS Records (A — 85/100) *1 A records, 851 ms lookup* - **[PASS]** Resolves to 1 IPv4 address(es) - **[INFO]** Single A record — no DNS redundancy — Multiple A records provide failover if one server goes down. - **[INFO]** No IPv6 (AAAA) records - **[PASS]** 4 nameserver(s) configured - **[PASS]** 2 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 - **[WARNING]** DNS resolution is slow (851 ms) — Slow DNS adds latency to every page load. Consider a faster DNS provider. ### Redirect Chain (B — 70/100) *1 redirect(s), 1985 ms total* - **[PASS]** Single redirect - **[INFO]** WWW normalization redirect - **[WARNING]** Redirect overhead: 1985 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 (B — 80/100) *robots.txt present, no sitemap* - **[PASS]** robots.txt is present - **[INFO]** No sitemap.xml found — A sitemap helps search engines discover and index your pages more efficiently. - **[INFO]** robots.txt does not reference a sitemap — Add a 'Sitemap:' directive to robots.txt so search engines can discover your sitemap. ### URL Variants (D — 50/100) *www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS* - **[CRITICAL]** Both www and non-www versions serve content - **[CRITICAL]** HTTP version does not redirect to HTTPS ### Domain Intelligence (A+ — 100/100) *sussex.ac.uk — via No registrar listed. This domain is directly registered with Nominet., hosted on JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB* - **[PASS]** Registrar: No registrar listed. This domain is directly registered with Nominet. - **[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: JANET Jisc Services Limited, GB --- ## Compliance ### WCAG Compliance (A+ — 100/100) *No testable criteria* ### Cookie Consent & Privacy (A+ — 95/100) *privacy policy found* - **[PASS]** Privacy policy link found - **[INFO]** No terms of service link detected - **[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]** attribute is present - **[PASS]** value is valid - **[INFO]** No Content-Language HTTP header - **[INFO]** Language signals are inconsistent — The 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+ — 95/100) *2 trackers detected* - **[INFO]** 2 third-party trackers detected — Found 2 analytics, 0 advertising, 0 marketing, 0 tag manager trackers. ### Cookie & Tracker Inventory (A+ — 100/100) *0 cookies · 2 trackers · 0 pre-consent* - **[INFO]** 2 third-party tracker(s) detected on page --- ## Legal ### Legal Page Ecosystem (F — 10/100) *1 of 7 expected legal pages detected* - **[WARNING]** Privacy Policy not detected — No link matching common Privacy Policy URL patterns or link text was found. Most websites are expected to have a Privacy Policy, especially those collecting user data. - **[WARNING]** Terms of Service not detected — No link matching common Terms of Service URL patterns or link text was found. Most websites are expected to have a Terms of Service, especially those collecting user data. - **[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. - **[PASS]** Accessibility Statement detected — Found at /about/website/accessibility. - **[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) *Copyright 2026 University of Sussex* - **[PASS]** Copyright notice is up to date — Copyright notice is up to date: Copyright 2026 University of Sussex - **[PASS]** Copyright holder: University of Sussex ### Regulatory Indicators *2 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 (moderate confidence) — Indicators suggesting GDPR may be relevant: Privacy policy page found. EU General Data Protection Regulation — governs collection and processing of personal data of EU residents. - **[INFO]** ADA indicators detected (moderate confidence) — Indicators suggesting ADA may be relevant: Accessibility statement page found. Americans with Disabilities Act / Section 508 — requires digital accessibility for people with disabilities. ### Third-Party Data Sharing *0 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]** No recognized third-party data-sharing services detected — This page does not appear to load external tracking, analytics, or advertising scripts. ### 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 (A — 90/100) *max-age=300 (5 minutes)* - **[PASS]** Cache-Control header is set - **[PASS]** Effective TTL: 5 minutes (max-age=300) - **[INFO]** No ETag or Last-Modified header — Conditional requests (304 Not Modified) are not possible without validators. ### 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 (A — 90/100) *8 landmarks* - **[PASS]**
landmark present - **[PASS]** 4