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https://outsideonline.com

Accessibility

· 13 checks — Landmarks, headings, alt text, forms, and link quality rolled into one auditable list.
SCORE
57
GRADE
D
FIX
5
REVIEW
4
PASS
4
INFO
0
Checks
13
4 PASS 4 REVIEW 5 FIX
D
Web Manifest
Action
Not found
FIX
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.

No web manifest found.

D
Dark Mode Support
Action
No dark mode signals
FIX
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.
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.

D
Print Stylesheet
Action
No print styles
FIX
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.
Print Stylesheet No Print Styles
Print stylesheet Not found ✗Inline @media print Not detected ✗
F
Navigation UX
Action
No navigation patterns
FIX
No navigation patterns
Info::
1 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.
Breadcrumbs
Search
Skip Link
Labeled Navigation 1 <nav> element(s)
Back to Top
Hamburger Menu
Sticky Navigation Cannot reliably detect (CSS-based)
1 of 6 testable patterns navigation patterns detected. Limited navigation support. Consider adding breadcrumbs, search, and skip link.
C
Landmark Structure
Action
7 landmarks
REVIEW
7 landmarks
Critical::
No <main> landmark found
Screen reader users cannot quickly navigate to the primary content. Wrap your main content in <main>.
Info::
1 <nav> landmark(s) found
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.
Page Structure — as a screen reader sees it
BANNER header NAV "Main Menu" MAIN (missing!) ASIDE CONTENTINFO footer

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

B
Heading Hierarchy
52 headings
REVIEW
52 headings
Critical::
No H1 heading found
Every page should have one H1 that describes the page content.
  • H2 Tick Bites Are on the Rise in These U.S. Regions. Here’s How to Protect Yourself.
  • H2 These 6 High-Protein Bean Brands Are a Game Changer for Campers
  • H2 What Happens to Your Brain During a High-Stakes Stunt? Ask Taron Egerton.
  • H2 I Traded My Favorite Daypacks for This $70 REI Sling—and I’m Never Looking Back
  • H2 You're Cold Plunging All Wrong, Science Says
  • H2 Stories Outside Readers Love
  • H3 I Have Found a New Favorite Workout Band. They Wear Masks and Play Insane Music.
  • H3 Before 'Apex’ Hits Netflix This Friday, Charlize Theron Breaks Down the Rock Climbing That Pushed Her to the Limit
  • H2 Stories Outside Readers Love
  • H3 Want to Climb the World’s Highest Peak? Mount Everest Training Is Anything But Easy.
  • H3 Amid Record Low Water Levels, Lake Powell Is Harder to Navigate Than Ever. Here’s How to Do It Right.
  • H2 Latest
  • H3 Climbing Season on Mount Everest Is Officially Delayed
  • H3 Alex Honnold Discovers Epic Trail Running in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains
  • H3 We Tested 81 Sports Bras—These Are the Ones We Actually Wanted to Keep Wearing
  • H3 An Ode to Running
  • H3 The Simple Reason Your Rain Jacket Is Leaking (and How to Fix It)
  • H3 This Surprising $14 Item Saved My Beach and River Trips Last Year
  • H3 Camping 101
  • H3 Can the Outdoors Solve a $5 Trillion Healthcare Problem? This New Alliance Says Yes.
  • H3 The Forest Service Is Moving to Utah—and Your Public Lands May Never Look the Same
  • H3 I Tested Allergy Supplements for a Month. These Are the Ones That Make Outdoor Running Tolerable.
  • H2 Long Reads
  • H3 Bears Keep Attacking People in Japan. We Traveled There to Find Out Why.
  • H4 Editors’ Picks
  • H2 Adventure
  • H3 Mount Everest Guides Predict a Challenging Future Amid a Poisoning Scandal
  • H4 Editors’ Picks
  • H2 Health
  • H3 Creatine Has Always Been the Ultimate Muscle Builder, but New Research Says It Can Supercharge Your Brain
  • H4 Editors’ Picks
  • H2 Travel
  • H3 In Defense of Visiting the Obvious Places (Like Crowded National Parks)
  • H4 Editors’ Picks
  • H2 Culture
  • H3 I Produced Survival TV Shows for 25 Years. Here’s How I Found Some of the World’s Most Intense Locations.
  • H4 Editors’ Picks
  • H2 Gear
  • H3 The (Surprisingly Cheap) Guide to Making Your Hiking Boots Last Forever
  • H4 Editors’ Picks
  • H2 Outside Apps
  • H3 Gaia GPS
  • H3 Trailforks
  • H3 Outside TV
  • H3 Outside
  • H2 Listen
  • H3 How To Walk Through—And Away From—A Digital World, with Craig Mod
  • H2 Did His Obsession with Dark Shamans Kill Him? I Traced His Footsteps to Find Out.
  • H2 Did His Obsession with Dark Shamans Kill Him? I Traced His Footsteps to Find Out.
  • H2 Latest Issue
  • H3 Outside Magazine
  • H2 Join Outside+

Every page should have one H1 that describes the page content.

Why this matters

No H1 means screen-reader users can't identify the page's primary topic, and Google's content-extraction degrades.

Learn more ▾

The H1 is the document title for assistive tech and a strong signal to search engines about page topic. Pages without one force screen readers to fall back to the <title> attribute or page chrome. Add a single H1 that names the page's primary subject.

Source: WCAG 2.4.6 / Google Search Central

B
404 Error Page
HTTP 404, custom page
REVIEW
HTTP 404, custom page
Info::
Correct 404 status code returned
Got: HTTP 404
Info::
Custom styled 404 page
Info::
Navigation links present on 404 page
Info::
Search form present on 404 page
404 Page Quality ✓ Custom 404 Page
Status Code HTTP 404 ✓Page Title Instagram Icon ✓Custom Styling ✓Navigation ✓Homepage Link ✗Search Form ✓
B
Favicon & Branding
4 icon(s) detected
REVIEW
4 icon(s) detected
Info::
favicon.ico present at site root
Info::
HTML icon links detected
Info::
Apple touch icon present
Info::
Multiple icon sizes detected
✓ favicon.ico Present
✓ PNG Icons Present
✓ Apple Touch Present
✗ SVG Favicon Missing
✗ Manifest Icons Missing
✓ Multiple Sizes Present
A+
Alt Text Quality
1 of 18 images have issues
PASS
1 of 18 images have issues
Warning::
1 image(s) with generic alt text
Info::
4 decorative image(s) correctly marked
Info::
13 image(s) with good alt text
18 images 13 good alt text 4 decorative 1 generic
IssueCount
generic1 image(s)
A
Form Accessibility
1 of 1 controls have issues
PASS
1 of 1 controls have issues
Warning::
1 control(s) rely on placeholder only
Placeholder text disappears on focus and is not a reliable label.
Got: <input type="search" name="s">
1 controls
0 labeled
1 placeholder only
0 unlabeled
ControlTypeLabelMethod
ssearch(Search)placeholder only

Placeholder text disappears on focus and is not a reliable label.

<input type="search" name="s">

Why this matters

Placeholder-only labels disappear when the user starts typing — they must remember what the field was for.

Learn more ▾

Placeholders are NOT labels. They vanish on input, fail color contrast checks (most are gray), and don't satisfy WCAG SC 3.3.2. Always use a real <label> alongside (or aria-labelledby).

Source: WCAG 2.1 SC 3.3.2 / Nielsen Norman

A+
Color Contrast (Screenshot)
20 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.

20 pass
Show all checked elements (20)
ElementRatioRequiredFGBGResult
h2 Stories Outside Read…18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Stories Outside Read…18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Latest18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Long Reads18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Adventure18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Health18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Travel18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Culture18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Gear18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Outside18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Apps18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Listen18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Did His Obsession wi…18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Latest Issue18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h2 Join Outside+18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h3 Gaia GPS18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h3 Trailforks18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h3 Outside TV18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h3 Outside18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
Pass
h3 Outside Magazine18.73:13.0:1
#000000
#F3F2ED
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
Lighthouse Accessibility Audits
Score 91/100 — 3 failing, 27 passed
PASS
91

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.l-wrap > div > div.tm-o-toast > button#toast-close-button div.l-wrap > div > div.tm-o-toast > button#toast-close-button

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.

Why this matters

Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.

Failing Elements
div.l-container > div.c-featured-belt__grid > div.c-featured-belt__item > a.c-featured-belt__item-img div.l-container > div.c-featured-belt__grid > div.c-featured-belt__item > a.c-featured-belt__item-img

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.

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 html

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
●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
●`[aria-*]` attributes have valid values
●`[aria-*]` attributes are valid and not misspelled
●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 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
●`<frame>` or `<iframe>` elements have a title
●`<html>` element has a `[lang]` attribute
●`<html>` element has a valid value for its `[lang]` attribute
●Lists contain only `<li>` elements and script supporting elements (`<script>` and `<template>`).
●List items (`<li>`) are contained within `<ul>`, `<ol>` or `<menu>` parent elements
●No element has a `[tabindex]` value greater than 0
●Touch targets have sufficient size and spacing.
●Heading elements appear in a sequentially-descending order
●Deprecated ARIA roles were not used
●Uses ARIA roles only on compatible elements
●Identical links have the same purpose.
○`[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 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
○`<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.
○The document does not use `<meta http-equiv="refresh">`
○`<object>` elements have alternate text
○Select elements have associated label elements.
○Skip links are focusable.
○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.
○Image elements do not have `[alt]` attributes that are redundant text.
○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.
All checks on this page are automated. Results are estimates - run targeted manual reviews when the score affects a release decision.

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