Accessibility

· 13 checks — Landmarks, headings, alt text, forms, and link quality rolled into one auditable list.

SCORE

GRADE

FIX

REVIEW

PASS

INFO

Checks

7 PASS 3 REVIEW 3 FIX

Web Manifest

Action

Not found

FIX

Not found

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.

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: //common.northwestern.edu/v8/icons/ieconfig.xml

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.

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

Search form present on 404 page

404 Page Quality ✓ Custom 404 Page

Status Code HTTP 404 ✓Page Title Page Not Found: Northwestern University ✓Custom Styling ✓Navigation ✓Homepage Link ✗Search Form ✓

Favicon & Branding

5 icon(s) detected

REVIEW

5 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 Missing

✓ Multiple Sizes Present

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

title Northwestern University

1.61:1

#000000

#401F68

needs 4.5:1 (normal text)

16px · top of page (header area)

a Skip to main content

1.61:1

#000000

#401F68

needs 4.5:1 (normal text)

16px · top of page (header area)

Show all checked elements (20)

Element	Ratio	Required	FG	BG	Result
h1 Northwestern Univers…	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Connect	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Quick Links	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Northwestern Resourc…	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
title Northwestern Univers…	1.61:1	4.5:1	#000000	#401F68	Fail
a Skip to main content	1.61:1	4.5:1	#000000	#401F68	Fail
span Northwestern Univers…	10.28:1	4.5:1	#000000	#C8B298	Pass
a Students	9.64:1	4.5:1	#000000	#C6AB91	Pass
a Faculty & Staff	8.19:1	4.5:1	#000000	#B89D83	Pass
a Parents & Families	8.74:1	4.5:1	#000000	#B9A48A	Pass
a Alumni	9.87:1	4.5:1	#000000	#C1AF9A	Pass
a Media	17.63:1	4.5:1	#000000	#ECEAF3	Pass
li Quick Links	17.63:1	4.5:1	#000000	#ECEAF3	Pass
a Academic Calendar	18.55:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F1F0F7	Pass
a CAESAR	19.19:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F5F4F9	Pass
a Canvas	19.19:1	4.5:1	#000000	#F5F4F9	Pass
a Office Directory	21.00:1	4.5:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
a Webmail	21.00:1	4.5:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
label Search web	21.00:1	4.5:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
span Search	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

41 headings

PASS

41 headings

Single H1 present

H1 Northwestern University Home Page
H2 News from Northwestern
H3 Announcing the 2026 honorary degree recipients
H3 Propelling the real-world impact of Northwestern research
H3 Northwestern continues to be a leading producer of Gilman Scholars
H3 SuperAgers make at least twice as many new neurons as their peers
H3 Northwestern’s Community Benefits Agreement helps build a stronger Evanston
H3 Ryan Field construction project provides a career path for some ETHS grads
H3 Committee named to search for Northwestern’s 18th president
H2 Take a Northwestern Direction
H2 Only Here
H2 University Priorities
H3 Advance the biosciences
H3 Harness the power of data analytics and artificial intelligence
H3 Foster interdisciplinary innovation among social sciences and global studies
H3 Lead in decarbonization, renewable energy and sustainability
H3 Enhance the creative and performing arts
H3 Deliver an outstanding educational experience for students
H3 Invest in our employees
H3 Build resilient students and a sense of belonging
H3 Promote access, opportunity and diversity
H3 Defend free expression and promote engagement across differences
H3 Enhance the student-athlete experience
H2 Explore our People, Places and Events
H2 Student-Athletes Nigel Prince and Reese Mayer
H2 Norris University Center
H2 Northwestern Sailing Center
H2 Alumna Greta Lee
H2 Dance Marathon
H2 Block Museum of Art
H2 Professor Andrew Papachristos
H2 March Through the Arch
H2 The Garage
H2 Follow Us
H2 Northwestern in the Media
H3 Can a single therapy session make a difference? Experts say yes, with the right mindset
H3 Judges are increasingly using AI to draft rulings and prepare for hearings
H3 How to stay steady on your feet
H2 Connect
H2 Quick Links
H2 Northwestern Resources

A+

Alt Text Quality

All 35 images OK

PASS

All 35 images OK

35 image(s) with good alt text

35 images 35 good alt text

All images have appropriate alt text.

A+

Form Accessibility

All 2 controls labeled

PASS

All 2 controls labeled

2 control(s) properly labeled

2 controls

2 labeled

0 placeholder only

0 unlabeled

Control	Type	Label	Method
#q-desktop	text	Search web	for/id
#q-mobile	text	Search web	for/id

A+

Link & Button Quality

1 issue(s) across 265 links and 3 buttons

PASS

1 issue(s) across 265 links and 3 buttons

1 link(s) with generic text

Generic link text like 'click here' doesn't describe the destination.

Got: https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2026/01/students-can-design-a-mural-for… ("LEARN MORE")

264 link(s) with descriptive text

265 links

0 empty

1 generic text

0 new tab

0 empty buttons

Element	Text	Issue	Suggested Fix
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/20…	LEARN MORE	generic text	Replace with descriptive text
Before: LEARN MORE Suggested: Students Can Design A Mural For The New Ryan Field

267 links and buttons have descriptive text

Generic link text like 'click here' doesn't describe the destination.

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2026/01/students-can-design-a-mural-for… ("LEARN MORE")

Why this matters

Generic anchor text ('click here', 'read more', 'learn more') tells screen readers and search engines nothing about the destination.

Learn more ▾

Out-of-context lists of links read by AT (one navigation pattern) become useless when every link says 'click here'. Use the destination's title or topic as anchor text. Doubles as SEO win — Google passes anchor-text relevance to the destination.

Source: WCAG 2.4.4 / Google Search Central

A+

Print Stylesheet

Print styles detected

PASS

Print styles detected

External print stylesheet detected

Got: https://common.northwestern.edu/dept/4.0/css/print.css

Print Stylesheet ✓ Print Optimized

Print stylesheet https://common.northwestern.edu/dept/4.0/css/print.css ✓Inline @media print Not detected ✗

A+

Lighthouse Accessibility Audits

Score 96/100 — 1 failing, 28 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.

Contrast

Low-contrast text is difficult or impossible for many users to read. Learn how to provide sufficient color contrast.

Why this matters

Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.

Failing Elements
stories of impact. `section > div.section-top > p.subhead > span.fade-text`

These are opportunities to improve the legibility of your content.

○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

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

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

●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

●Document has a `<title>` element

●`<html>` element has a `[lang]` attribute

●`<html>` element has a valid value for its `[lang]` attribute

●Links are distinguishable without relying on color.

●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

●No element has a `[tabindex]` value greater than 0

●Touch targets have sufficient size and spacing.

●Heading elements appear in a sequentially-descending order

●Document has a main landmark.

●Deprecated ARIA roles were not used

●`<video>` elements contain a `<track>` element with `[kind="captions"]`

●Uses ARIA roles only on compatible elements

●Elements with visible text labels have matching accessible names.

○`[accesskey]` values are unique

○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 buttons have discernible text.

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

○Form elements have associated labels

○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

○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.

○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.