Accessibility
· 13 checks — Landmarks, headings, alt text, forms, and link quality rolled into one auditable list.DHeading HierarchyAction122 headings, 4 skip(s)FIX
- H1 New Scientist hidden
- H3 Explore by section skipped
- H3 Explore by subject
- H3 Explore our products and services
- H4 Mathematics
- H3 How we discovered the speed limit of arithmetic – and broke it
- H4 Technology
- H3 We might finally know how to use quantum computers to boost AI
- H4 Health
- H3 Why the right kind of stress is crucial for your health and happiness
- H3 Newsletters
- H4 Society
- H3 Game theory explains why the US's goals in Iran keep changing
- H4 Space
- H3 Titan’s strange plains may be explained by unusual weather
- H4 Health
- H3 A whole new way to prevent death from sepsis shows promise
- H4 Physics
- H3 Diamonds are surprisingly elastic when you make them tiny
- H4 Health
- H3 Can we ‘vaccinate’ ourselves against stress?
- H4 Health
- H3 Can you determine your personalised stress score?
- H3 Newsletters
- H3 Explore the mysteries of the universe
- H4 Health
- H3 Beef is making a comeback – does it fit into a healthy diet?
- H4 Mind
- H3 How autoimmune conditions can unexpectedly drive mental illness
- H4 Physics
- H3 Exclusive report: Inside Chernobyl, 40 years after nuclear disaster
- H4 Humans
- H3 Are Neanderthals descendants of modern humans?
- H4 Society
- H3 My life as a meteorologist in Chernobyl under Russian occupation
- H4 Physics
- H3 The man who crawls into the perilous heart of the Chernobyl reactor
- H4 Physics
- H3 A once-fantastical collider could answer physics’ biggest mysteries
- H3 Explore the mysteries of the universe
- H2 This week's magazine
- H3 Physics Exclusive report: Inside Chernobyl, 40 years after nuclear disaster
- H3 Mind How autoimmune conditions can unexpectedly drive mental illness
- H3 Space NASA’s Artemis II mission was a historic success
- H3 Mathematics The secret project to settle controversial maths proof with a computer
- H2 Ancient civilisations
- H4 Humans skipped
- H3 The surprising origins of Britain's Bronze Age immigrants revealed
- H4 Humans
- H3 Ancient DNA may rewrite the story of Iceland's earliest settlers
- H4 Humans
- H3 Was a little-known culture in Bronze Age Turkey a major power?
- H4 Humans
- H3 Pompeii’s streets show how the city adapted to Roman rule
- H4 Popular articles
- H4 1
- H4 2
- H4 3
- H4 4
- H4 5
- H4 6
- H4 7
- H4 8
- H4 9
- H4 10
- H2 Editor's pick
- H4 Physics skipped
- H3 We're solving the fundamental mystery of how reality is glued together
- H4 Environment
- H3 Oceans are darkening all over the planet – what’s going on?
- H4 Health
- H3 The profound effect the heart-brain connection has on your health
- H4 Health
- H3 How working out like an astronaut can reduce back pain and slow ageing
- H2 Events and tours
- H4 Weekend break skipped
- H3 Mysteries of the universe: Cheshire, England
- H4 Discovery Event
- H3 Stargazing through time: How astronomy’s past, present and future shape our view of the cosmos
- H4 Discovery Tour
- H3 Arctic expedition cruise with Dr Russell Arnott, Svalbard, Norway
- H4 Free Online Event
- H3 Unfinished Business: How do we end HIV?
- H2 Podcasts
- H3 Listen to our weekly science and technology round-up show, as well as your other favourite New Scientist podcasts
- H4 The world, the universe and us
- H3 A “Super El Niño” is coming - and it could trigger global climate chaos
- H4 The world, the universe and us
- H3 Britain’s first astronaut on the new race to the moon
- H4 New Scientist's stargazing companion
- H3 How to spot the Lyrid meteor shower
- H4 Explore all of our podcasts
- H2 Video
- H3 Watch the latest science news, discoveries and big ideas from New Scientist's video team
- H4 Video
- H3 James Maynard: uncovering the secrets of prime numbers
- H4 Video
- H3 We might be wrong about humanity’s near extinction
- H4 Video
- H3 CERN upgrade: Inside the world's largest scientific experiment
- H4 Video
- H3 We did not evolve alone: The story of our origins
- H4 Video
- H3 Why prime numbers might not be random after all
- H4 Video
- H3 Professor Daisy Fancourt on the life-changing power of the arts
- H2 Engaging stories created in partnership with New Scientist CoLab
- H3 To discover more visit colab.newscientist.com
- H4 Geoscience
- H3 How geophysicists are reverse engineering the Earth
- H4 Technology
- H3 Can humanity find a place in the rewired world?
- H4 Research
- H3 UK-Spanish partnerships are solving pharma’s toughest challenges
- H4 Podcast
- H3 How UK and Spanish scientists are reimagining the future of green pharma
- H4 Find us on social media
- H4 Subscriptions
- H4 Support
- H4 Tools
- H4 Legal and privacy
- H4 © Copyright New Scientist Ltd.
Skipping heading levels breaks the document outline. Screen readers may interpret missing levels as structural errors.
Skipping heading levels breaks the document outline — screen-reader users lose track of section nesting.
Learn more ▾ ▴
Screen reader users navigate by jumping between headings (H1 → H2 → H3). Skipping (H1 → H3) breaks the sense of hierarchy. Use sequential levels even if you don't like the default styling — restyle with CSS instead. WCAG 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships) treats this as an A failure.
Source: WCAG 2.1 SC 1.3.1 / W3C WAI
Skipping heading levels breaks the document outline. Screen readers may interpret missing levels as structural errors.
Skipping heading levels breaks the document outline — screen-reader users lose track of section nesting.
Learn more ▾ ▴
Screen reader users navigate by jumping between headings (H1 → H2 → H3). Skipping (H1 → H3) breaks the sense of hierarchy. Use sequential levels even if you don't like the default styling — restyle with CSS instead. WCAG 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships) treats this as an A failure.
Source: WCAG 2.1 SC 1.3.1 / W3C WAI
Skipping heading levels breaks the document outline. Screen readers may interpret missing levels as structural errors.
Skipping heading levels breaks the document outline — screen-reader users lose track of section nesting.
Learn more ▾ ▴
Screen reader users navigate by jumping between headings (H1 → H2 → H3). Skipping (H1 → H3) breaks the sense of hierarchy. Use sequential levels even if you don't like the default styling — restyle with CSS instead. WCAG 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships) treats this as an A failure.
Source: WCAG 2.1 SC 1.3.1 / W3C WAI
Skipping heading levels breaks the document outline. Screen readers may interpret missing levels as structural errors.
Skipping heading levels breaks the document outline — screen-reader users lose track of section nesting.
Learn more ▾ ▴
Screen reader users navigate by jumping between headings (H1 → H2 → H3). Skipping (H1 → H3) breaks the sense of hierarchy. Use sequential levels even if you don't like the default styling — restyle with CSS instead. WCAG 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships) treats this as an A failure.
Source: WCAG 2.1 SC 1.3.1 / W3C WAI
DWeb ManifestActionNot foundFIX
No web manifest found.
DDark Mode SupportActionTheme color onlyFIX
Detection limited to meta tags and inline styles.
DPrint StylesheetActionNo print stylesFIX
CLink & Button QualityAction136 links, 9 buttons — all OKREVIEW
| Element | Text | Issue | Suggested Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| /article/2523669-a-whole-new-way-to-prev… | HealthA whole new way to preve… | img no alt | Add alt attribute to the image |
| /article/2522111-beef-is-making-a-comeba… | HealthBeef is making a comebac… | img no alt | Add alt attribute to the image |
| /article/2515260-the-surprising-origins-… | HumansThe surprising origins o… | img no alt | Add alt attribute to the image |
| /article/2502872-ancient-dna-may-rewrite… | HumansAncient DNA may rewrite … | img no alt | Add alt attribute to the image |
| Piano End Banner | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text | |
| Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desk… | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text | |
| /appiosns/ | Download on the apple apps sto… | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text |
| https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai… | Download on Google play | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text |
| https://www.instagram.com/newscientist | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text | |
| https://www.facebook.com/newscientist | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text | |
| https://www.twitter.com/newscientist | X / Twitter | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text |
| https://www.tiktok.com/@newscientist | Tiktok | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text |
| https://www.linkedin.com/company/new-sci… | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text | |
| https://bsky.app/profile/newscientist.co… | BlueSky | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text |
Image-only links need alt text on the image (or aria-label on the link) so screen readers can announce them.
a[href="/article/2523669-a-whole-new-way-to-prevent-death-from-sepsis-shows-promise/"]; a[href="/article/2522111-beef-is-making-a-comeback-does-it-fit-into-a-healthy-diet/"]; a[href="/article/2515260-the-surprising-origins-of-britains-bronze-age-immigrants-rev…"]; a[href="/article/2502872-ancient-dna-may-rewrite-the-story-of-icelands-earliest-settl…"]
Image-only links with no alt are unidentifiable to screen-reader users — link's destination is invisible.
Source: WCAG 2.1 SC 2.4.4
Add '(opens in new tab)' to link text or aria-label.
; ; /appiosns/; https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.newscientist.mobile; https://www.instagram.com/newscientist; https://www.facebook.com/newscientist; https://www.twitter.com/newscientist; https://www.tiktok.com/@newscientist; https://www.linkedin.com/company/new-scientist/; https://bsky.app/profile/newscientist.com
Links with target="_blank" without rel="noopener" leak the originating page's window context — security and UX issue.
Learn more ▾ ▴
Without rel="noopener", the new tab can navigate the original tab via window.opener (tab-nabbing attack). Modern browsers default to noopener for target=_blank but only since recent versions. Always set rel="noopener noreferrer" explicitly.
Source: MDN target / OWASP
C404 Error PageActionHTTP 404, custom pageREVIEW
BFavicon & Branding10 icon(s) detectedREVIEW
CColor Contrast (Screenshot)Action20 text elements analyzed, 1 fail WCAG AAREVIEW
Analyzes text contrast against the actual rendered page, including background images, gradients, and overlays that CSS-based tools cannot detect.
Show all checked elements (20)
| Element | Ratio | Required | FG | BG | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| h1 New Scientist | 21.00:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FFFFFF | Pass |
| h2 This week's magazine | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h2 Ancient civilisation… | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h2 Editor's pick | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h2 Events and tours | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h2 Podcasts | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h2 Video | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h2 Engaging stories cre… | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h3 Explore by section | 21.00:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FFFFFF | Pass |
| h3 Explore by subject | 2.03:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #324157 | Fail |
| h3 Explore our products… | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h3 How we discovered th… | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h3 We might finally kno… | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h3 Why the right kind o… | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h3 Newsletters | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h3 Game theory explains… | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h3 Titan’s strange pl… | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h3 A whole new way to p… | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h3 Diamonds are surpris… | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | Pass |
| h3 Can we ‘vaccinate… | 20.29:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #FBFBFB | 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.
BLighthouse Accessibility AuditsScore 82/100 — 5 failing, 21 passedREVIEW
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
Informative elements should aim for short, descriptive alternate text. Decorative elements can be ignored with an empty alt attribute. Learn more about the `alt` attribute.
Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.
| Failing Elements |
|---|
span.mol-ads-cmp--nobr > span.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip > a.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip-trigger > img.mol-ads-cmp--info span.mol-ads-cmp--nobr > span.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip > a.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip-trigger > img.mol-ads-cmp--info |
span.mol-ads-cmp--nobr > div.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip > a.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip-trigger > img.mol-ads-cmp--info span.mol-ads-cmp--nobr > div.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip > a.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip-trigger > img.mol-ads-cmp--info |
Screen reader users rely on frame titles to describe the contents of frames. Learn more about frame titles.
Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.
| Failing Elements |
|---|
body > iframe#mol-ads-cmp-iframe body > iframe#mol-ads-cmp-iframe |
Link text (and alternate text for images, when used as links) that is discernible, unique, and focusable improves the navigation experience for screen reader users. Learn how to make links accessible.
Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.
| Failing Elements |
|---|
h2.mol-ads-cmp--title > span.mol-ads-cmp--nobr > span.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip > a.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip-trigger h2.mol-ads-cmp--title > span.mol-ads-cmp--nobr > span.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip > a.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip-trigger |
li > span.mol-ads-cmp--nobr > div.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip > a.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip-trigger li > span.mol-ads-cmp--nobr > div.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip > a.mol-ads-cmp--tooltip-trigger |
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.
Navigation
Properly ordered headings that do not skip levels convey the semantic structure of the page, making it easier to navigate and understand when using assistive technologies. Learn more about heading order.
Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.
| Failing Elements |
|---|
Humans article.Card > div.Card__Content > div.Card__CopyWrapper > h4.Card__Category |
Physics article.Card > div.Card__Content > div.Card__CopyWrapper > h4.Card__Category |
Weekend break article.Card > div.Card__Content > div.Card__CopyWrapper > h4.Card__Category |
These are opportunities to improve keyboard navigation in your application.
Best practices
Touch targets with sufficient size and spacing help users who may have difficulty targeting small controls to activate the targets. Learn more about touch targets.
Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.
| Failing Elements |
|---|
Physics section > article > h3.ThisWeeksMagazine__Category > a.ThisWeeksMagazine__CategoryLink |
Mind section > article > h3.ThisWeeksMagazine__Category > a.ThisWeeksMagazine__CategoryLink |
Space section > article > h3.ThisWeeksMagazine__Category > a.ThisWeeksMagazine__CategoryLink |
Mathematics section > article > h3.ThisWeeksMagazine__Category > a.ThisWeeksMagazine__CategoryLink |
These items highlight common accessibility best practices.
ALandmark Structure16 landmarksPASS
Multiple navigations need aria-label to distinguish them for screen readers.
Some <nav> elements lack aria-label — screen-reader users hear 'navigation' multiple times with no way to distinguish them.
Learn more ▾ ▴
When a page has multiple <nav> regions (primary, footer, breadcrumb), each needs aria-label or aria-labelledby. AT users navigate by landmark; identical 'navigation' announcements force them to enter each one to discover purpose.
Source: WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices
AAlt Text QualityAll 47 images OKPASS
| Issue | Count |
|---|---|
| too long | 11 image(s) |
A+Form AccessibilityAll 2 controls labeledPASS
| Control | Type | Label | Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| #nav-search-field | text | Search the website | none |
| #appearance-toggle | checkbox | Toggle between light and dark mode | aria-label |