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 6 REVIEW 2 FIX

Dark Mode Support

Action

Theme color only

FIX

Theme color only

Theme-color present but no dark variant

A theme-color is set but no dark-specific variant was found. The browser toolbar may not adapt for dark mode users.

Got: #ffffff

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 ModePartial Dark Mode

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

Detection limited to meta tags and inline styles.

Form Accessibility

Action

3 of 7 controls have issues

REVIEW

3 of 7 controls have issues

3 control(s) without accessible label

Form controls need a <label>, aria-label, or aria-labelledby for screen readers.

Got: <input type="button" id="adv-search-btn">; <input type="submit" name="/form">; <input type="submit" name="/catchup" id="catchup-btn">

4 control(s) properly labeled

7 controls

4 labeled

0 placeholder only

3 unlabeled

Control	Type	Label	Method
query	text	Search term or terms	aria-label
searchtype	select	Field to search	aria-label
query	text	Search term or terms	aria-label
#search-category	select	Subject search and browse:	for/id
#adv-search-btn	button	(none)	none
/form	submit	(none)	none
#catchup-btn	submit	(none)	none

Form controls need a <label>, aria-label, or aria-labelledby for screen readers.

Why this matters

Form controls without labels — assistive tech announces 'edit text' with no context; users can't complete forms.

Source: WCAG 2.1 SC 3.3.2

Link & Button Quality

1 issue(s) across 259 links and 8 buttons

REVIEW

1 issue(s) across 259 links and 8 buttons

1 link(s) with no accessible text

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

Got: /IgnoreMe

2 link(s) open in new tab without warning

Add '(opens in new tab)' to link text or aria-label.

Got: https://tech.cornell.edu/arxiv/; https://status.arxiv.org

256 link(s) with descriptive text

259 links

1 empty

0 generic text

2 new tab

0 empty buttons

Element	Text	Issue	Suggested Fix
https://tech.cornell.edu/arxiv/	Learn about arXiv becoming an …	new tab	Add '(opens in new tab)' to text
/IgnoreMe	(empty)	empty	Add link text or aria-label
https://status.arxiv.org	arXiv Operational Status	new tab	Add '(opens in new tab)' to text

264 links and buttons have descriptive text

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

/IgnoreMe

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

Add '(opens in new tab)' to link text or aria-label.

https://tech.cornell.edu/arxiv/; https://status.arxiv.org

Why this matters

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

404 Error Page

HTTP 404, custom page

REVIEW

HTTP 404, custom page

Correct 404 status code returned

Got: HTTP 404

Custom styled 404 page

Navigation links present on 404 page

Homepage link present on 404 page

404 Page Quality ✓ Custom 404 Page

Status Code HTTP 404 ✓Page Title subscribe to arXiv mailings ✓Custom Styling ✓Navigation ✓Homepage Link ✓Search Form ✗

Favicon & Branding

6 icon(s) detected

REVIEW

6 icon(s) detected

favicon.ico present at site root

HTML icon links detected

Apple touch icon present

Multiple icon sizes detected

✓ favicon.ico Present

✓ PNG Icons Present

✓ Apple Touch Present

✗ SVG Favicon Missing

✓ Manifest Icons Present

✓ Multiple Sizes Present

Web Manifest

Action

Valid manifest

REVIEW

Valid manifest

No name or short_name

Add a name field to identify the app.

192x192 icon present

512x512 icon present

Display mode: standalone

PWA Install Criteria Not Installable

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

Display Mode standalone Theme Color #ffffff Background Color #ffffff Icons 2 icon(s)

Color Contrast (Screenshot)

Action

20 text elements analyzed, 2 fail WCAG AA

REVIEW

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

18 pass 2 fail WCAG AA 1 pass AA only

title arXiv.org e-Print archive

3.09:1

#000000

#B31B1B

needs 4.5:1 (normal text)

16px · top of page (header area)

a Skip to main content

3.09:1

#000000

#B31B1B

needs 4.5:1 (normal text)

16px · top of page (header area)

Show all checked elements (20)

Element	Ratio	Required	FG	BG	Result
h2 quick links	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Physics	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Mathematics	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Computer Science	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Quantitative Biology	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Quantitative Finance	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Statistics	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Electrical Engineeri…	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Economics	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 About arXiv	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
title arXiv.org e-Print ar…	3.09:1	4.5:1	#000000	#B31B1B	Fail
a Skip to main content	3.09:1	4.5:1	#000000	#B31B1B	Fail
a Learn about arXiv be…	6.56:1	4.5:1	#000000	#D17676	Pass
span We gratefully acknow…	21.00:1	4.5:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
a member institutions	21.00:1	4.5:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
span , and all contributo…	21.00:1	4.5:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
a Donate	21.00:1	4.5:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
button Status	21.00:1	4.5:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
a Login	21.00:1	4.5:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
a Help	21.00:1	4.5:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	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.

A+

Landmark Structure

5 landmarks

PASS

5 landmarks

<main> landmark present

2 <nav> landmark(s) found

All <nav> elements are properly labeled

Skip navigation link present

Page Structure — as a screen reader sees it

A+

Heading Hierarchy

11 headings

PASS

11 headings

Single H1 present

1 empty heading(s)

Empty headings appear in the document outline but provide no information.

H1 (empty)
H2 quick links
H2 Physics
H2 Mathematics
H2 Computer Science
H2 Quantitative Biology
H2 Quantitative Finance
H2 Statistics
H2 Electrical Engineering and Systems Science
H2 Economics
H2 About arXiv

Empty headings appear in the document outline but provide no information.

Why this matters

Empty <hN> tags break the document outline — screen-reader users navigating by heading hit dead silence.

Source: WCAG 2.4.6

A+

Alt Text Quality

All 4 images OK

PASS

All 4 images OK

4 image(s) with good alt text

4 images 4 good alt text

All images have appropriate alt text.

A+

Print Stylesheet

Print styles detected

PASS

Print styles detected

External print stylesheet detected

Got: /static/browse/0.3.4/css/arXiv-print.css?v=20200611

Print Stylesheet ✓ Print Optimized

Print stylesheet /static/browse/0.3.4/css/arXiv-print.css?v=20200611 ✓Inline @media print Not detected ✗

A+

Lighthouse Accessibility Audits

Score 96/100 — 1 failing, 25 passed

PASS

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.

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.

Why this matters

Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.

Failing Elements
Physics Mathematics Quantitative Biology Computer Science Quantitative Finance … `div.columns > div.column > form.home-search > select#search-category`
div.columns > div.column > form.home-search > input `div.columns > div.column > form.home-search > input`
div.columns > div.column > form.home-search > input#catchup-btn `div.columns > div.column > form.home-search > input#catchup-btn`
General information `div#content > ul > li > a`
How to Submit to arXiv `div#content > ul > li > a`
Membership & Giving `div#content > ul > li > a`
Who We Are `div#content > ul > li > a`

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-*]` attributes match their roles

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

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

●`[role]` values are valid

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

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

●Buttons have an accessible name

●Image elements have `[alt]` attributes

●Input buttons have discernible text.

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

●Select elements have associated label elements.

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

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

●Elements use only permitted ARIA attributes

●Background and foreground colors have a sufficient contrast ratio

●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

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

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

●Heading elements appear in a sequentially-descending order

●Document has a main landmark.

●Deprecated ARIA roles were not used

●Elements with visible text labels have matching accessible names.

○`[accesskey]` values are unique

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

○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 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

○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

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

○Form elements have associated labels

○Links are distinguishable without relying on color.

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

○`<object>` elements have alternate text

○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.

○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.

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