# BeaverCheck Audit Report — https://www.theverge.com

**Date:** May 9, 2026  
**URL:** https://www.theverge.com  
**Overall Grade:** C (78/100)  
**Report:** https://beavercheck.com/results/ff126952-4b12-4d11-b557-a39020b84c2d

## Top Findings

1. **[CRITICAL]** Cookie '_vm_consent_type' is missing the Secure flag — Security > Cookie Security
2. **[CRITICAL]** Page weighs 14.0 MB (4.6 MB transferred) — Performance > Page Weight Budget
3. **[CRITICAL]** 1 control(s) without accessible label — Accessibility > Form Accessibility
4. **[CRITICAL]** No H1 heading found — Accessibility > Heading Hierarchy
5. **[WARNING]** 1 render-blocking <script src> tag(s) without async/defer — Performance > JavaScript Blocking

---

## Lighthouse Scores

| Category | Score |
|----------|-------|
| Performance | 35 |
| Accessibility | 97 |
| Best Practices | 96 |
| SEO | 92 |

---

## Security

### Security Headers (F — 35/100)

*2 of 10 headers properly configured*

- **[WARNING]** HSTS is missing includeSubDomains — Without includeSubDomains, subdomains can still be accessed over HTTP.
- **[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.
- **[PASS]** Content-Security-Policy is present
- **[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.
- **[WARNING]** X-Powered-By header reveals technology stack — This header discloses server technology (e.g. Express, PHP), helping attackers target known vulnerabilities. Remove it.
- **[PASS]** Server header is not present
- **[INFO]** Domain is not in the Chrome HSTS preload list (status: unknown) — Submit your domain to hstspreload.org to close the trust-on-first-use gap. Requires a preload-ready HSTS header (max-age=31536000+, includeSubDomains, preload).

### Content Security Policy (B — 70/100)

*2 of 10 CSP checks passed*

- **[INFO]** Raw CSP policy
- **[WARNING]** default-src directive is missing — default-src provides a fallback for other directives. Set it to restrict default resource loading.
- **[INFO]** No script-src or default-src to check for 'unsafe-inline'
- **[INFO]** No script-src or default-src to check for 'unsafe-eval'
- **[INFO]** No script-src or default-src to check for wildcard
- **[PASS]** object-src falls back to default-src
- **[WARNING]** base-uri directive is missing — Without base-uri, attackers can inject a <base> tag to hijack relative URLs. Set it to 'self' or 'none'.
- **[PASS]** frame-ancestors directive is set
- **[WARNING]** form-action directive is missing — form-action restricts where forms can submit data, preventing form hijacking.
- **[INFO]** upgrade-insecure-requests is not set — This directive upgrades HTTP resources to HTTPS automatically, preventing mixed content.

### TLS & Certificates (A+ — 100/100)

*TLS 1.3, 8 checks passed*

- **[PASS]** TLS 1.3 is used
- **[PASS]** Strong cipher suite is used
- **[INFO]** HTTP/2 is not negotiated — HTTP/2 provides multiplexing and header compression for better performance.
- **[PASS]** OCSP stapling enabled
- **[PASS]** Certificate is valid (expires in 78 days)
- **[PASS]** Certificate chain has 2 certificates
- **[PASS]** Certificate uses modern signature algorithm
- **[PASS]** Certificate covers 26 domain(s)
- **[PASS]** Certificate is issued by a trusted CA

### Cookie Security (B — 70/100)

*2 cookies analyzed, 2 checks passed*

- **[PASS]** Cookie 'vmidv1' has the Secure flag
- **[WARNING]** Cookie 'vmidv1' is missing the HttpOnly flag — Without HttpOnly, this cookie can be accessed by JavaScript, making it vulnerable to XSS-based theft.
- **[PASS]** Cookie 'vmidv1' has SameSite=Lax
- **[CRITICAL]** Cookie '_vm_consent_type' is missing the Secure flag — Without the Secure flag, this cookie can be sent over unencrypted HTTP, exposing it to interception.
- **[WARNING]** Cookie '_vm_consent_type' is missing the HttpOnly flag — Without HttpOnly, this cookie can be accessed by JavaScript, making it vulnerable to XSS-based theft.
- **[WARNING]** Cookie '_vm_consent_type' has no SameSite attribute — Without an explicit SameSite attribute, browser default behavior varies. Set SameSite=Lax or Strict.

### Cookie Hygiene (A+ — 100/100)

*All 2 cookie(s) pass hygiene checks*

- **[PASS]** All 2 cookie(s) pass hygiene checks

### WAF / Bot Protection (B — 75/100)

*No WAF detected via response headers*

- **[INFO]** No WAF detected — Response headers don't match any known WAF or bot-management product. Sites exposed to abuse (login, signup, payment) typically benefit from a WAF such as Cloudflare, Akamai, AWS WAF, or Imperva.

### security.txt (C — 60/100)

*No security.txt file found*

- **[INFO]** No security.txt file found — security.txt (RFC 9116) provides a standardized way for security researchers to report vulnerabilities. Create one at /.well-known/security.txt with at least a Contact field.

### Cross-Origin Tab Safety (C — 75/100)

*2 of 16 new-tab link(s) missing rel=noopener*

- **[WARNING]** 2 link(s) open in a new tab without rel=noopener — Without rel="noopener", the destination tab can navigate the original tab via window.opener -- a reverse-tabnabbing phishing primitive. Modern browsers default to noopener since Chrome 88 / Firefox 79 / Safari 12.1, but explicit rel="noopener noreferrer" remains the documented best practice for older browsers, in-app webviews, and security scanners.

### CSP Inline-Style Readiness (D — 60/100)

*200 inline style attribute(s) detected*

- **[WARNING]** 200 inline style attribute(s) detected — Each `style=""` attribute forces `style-src 'unsafe-inline'` in any Content-Security-Policy, which negates most of CSP's XSS-mitigation value. 200 inline style(s) is high. Affected element types include: div, section, img, p, textarea. Move styles to a stylesheet; use CSS custom properties for runtime-dynamic values; or adopt a nonce/hash CSP policy. Most teams take the stylesheet path because it's also a maintainability win.

### Trusted Types (XSS Sink Hardening) (B — 95/100)

*Trusted Types not enabled*

- **[INFO]** Trusted Types not enabled — Trusted Types (CSP3) is a Chrome 83+ defense that requires DOM-XSS sinks (innerHTML, document.write, eval, ...) to receive a typed-and-sanitized value rather than a raw string. Adding `Content-Security-Policy: require-trusted-types-for 'script'; trusted-types default` neutralizes most DOM-XSS even when a payload reaches a sink. Adoption is currently ~0.1% of pages so this is informational; a roll-out usually starts in report-only mode.

### Source Map Exposure (A+ — 100/100)

*No source maps accessible (probed 10 candidate URL(s))*

- **[PASS]** No source maps accessible across 10 probed candidate(s)

### HTML Version Disclosure (A+ — 100/100)

*No software-version disclosures in HTML*

- **[PASS]** No software-version disclosures in HTML

### Open Redirect Surface (A+ — 100/100)

*No redirect-shaped query parameters in DOM links*

- **[PASS]** No redirect-shaped query parameters in DOM links

### Subdomain Inventory Exposure (A+ — 100/100)

*No risky subdomain names in certificate SANs*

- **[PASS]** No risky subdomain names in certificate SANs

---

## Advanced Security

### Subresource Integrity (F — 20/100)

*0 of 19 external resources have SRI*

- **[WARNING]** External script from config.aps.amazon-adsystem.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from client.aps.amazon-adsystem.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from www.google.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.cookielaw.org lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from www.googletagservices.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.concert.io lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.concert.io lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from pub.doubleverify.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from assets.zephr.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from cdn.bullwhip.cloud lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from tag.wknd.ai lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from apps.voxmedia.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from btloader.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from config.aps.amazon-adsystem.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from securepubads.g.doubleclick.net lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from secure.cdn.fastclick.net lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from theverge.coral.coralproject.net lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from cdnjs.cloudflare.com lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.
- **[WARNING]** External script from ep2.adtrafficquality.google lacks integrity attribute — Without SRI, if this CDN is compromised, attackers could inject malicious code.

### 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 (F — 0/100)

*no DMARC, no SPF*

- **[WARNING]** No DMARC record found — Without DMARC, email receivers have no policy for handling authentication failures. Add a TXT record at _dmarc.<domain> starting with v=DMARC1.
- **[WARNING]** No SPF record found — Without SPF (Sender Policy Framework), receivers can't tell which servers are authorized to send mail for your domain. Add a TXT record at the apex starting with v=spf1, ending in -all.
- **[INFO]** No DKIM detected via common selectors — DKIM signs outbound mail to prove origin. We probed common selectors (default, google, selector1, etc.) without finding a record. If you use a non-standard selector, this is a false negative.
- **[INFO]** MTA-STS not configured — MTA-STS forces inbound mail to use TLS, preventing downgrade attacks. Requires both a TXT record at _mta-sts.<domain> and a policy file at https://mta-sts.<domain>/.well-known/mta-sts.txt.
- **[INFO]** TLS-RPT not configured — TLS-RPT (RFC 8460) lets MTAs report TLS-handshake failures, so you can detect and fix MTA-STS misconfigurations. Add a TXT record at _smtp._tls.<domain>.
- **[INFO]** BIMI not configured — BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) lets supporting clients (Gmail, Apple Mail, Yahoo) display your verified logo next to your messages. Optional but raises trust signals. Requires DMARC at p=quarantine or p=reject to be honored.

### API Surface (B — 70/100)

*1 OpenAPI/Swagger spec exposed*

- **[WARNING]** OpenAPI / Swagger spec exposed at /swagger.json — An openly-accessible OpenAPI / Swagger spec hands attackers the complete endpoint catalog: every path, parameter, request body, and response shape. Internal-only APIs should restrict the spec to authenticated developers; public APIs should accept the disclosure as documentation. Either is a deliberate choice -- the warning surfaces the choice rather than dictating it.

### 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 — 0/100)

*4.6 MB transferred, 202 requests*

- **[CRITICAL]** Page weighs 14.0 MB (4.6 MB transferred)
- **[WARNING]** JavaScript is 3.4 MB — consider code splitting or lazy loading — Large JavaScript bundles delay interactivity. Split code by route or defer non-critical scripts.
- **[INFO]** Fonts are 614 KB — consider subsetting or using system fonts — Subset fonts to include only used characters, or switch to system font stacks.
- **[WARNING]** 202 HTTP requests — consider bundling or reducing — Each request adds latency. Bundle small files, use sprites, or eliminate unnecessary requests.
- **[INFO]** Estimated 0.96 g CO2 per page load

### Third-Party Impact (B — 70/100)

*53% third-party, 0 ms blocking*

- **[WARNING]** Third-party code accounts for 53% of page weight (2.4 MiB of 4.6 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 (B — 75/100)

*27 images, 0 KB saveable*

- **[PASS]** All images are well-optimized

### JS Execution Cost (F — 20/100)

*14511ms total JS execution*

- **[WARNING]** https://www.theverge.com/_next/static/chunks/pages...: 2907ms CPU time
- **[WARNING]** https://www.theverge.com/_next/static/chunks/frame...: 2362ms CPU time
- **[WARNING]** Unattributable: 1903ms CPU time
- **[WARNING]** https://www.theverge.com/: 1231ms CPU time
- **[WARNING]** https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/mana...: 1183ms CPU time
- **[WARNING]** Third-party scripts: 7293ms (50% of total)

### Font Loading (A+ — 100/100)

*16 fonts (614 KB)*

- **[INFO]** 16 font(s) use font-display: swap (FOUT risk but functional)

### JS Bundles (F — 20/100)

*68 scripts, 1.4 MB unused*

- **[WARNING]** https://www.theverge.com/metrics/gtm.js?id=GTM-WQ5...: 222 KB unused (32%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code.
- **[WARNING]** https://www.gstatic.com/recaptcha/releases/U5VsmTD...: 175 KB unused (48%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code.
- **[WARNING]** https://www.gstatic.com/recaptcha/releases/U5VsmTD...: 175 KB unused (48%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code.
- **[WARNING]** https://www.gstatic.com/recaptcha/releases/U5VsmTD...: 175 KB unused (48%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code.
- **[WARNING]** https://www.theverge.com/_next/static/chunks/pages...: 169 KB unused (38%) — Consider code splitting or tree shaking to reduce unused code.
- **[INFO]** Total unused JavaScript: 1.4 MB

### 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+ — 95/100)

*25 hints, 0 missing preconnects*

- **[INFO]** 1 dns-prefetch redundant with preconnect on same origin — preconnect already does the DNS lookup; adding dns-prefetch to the same origin is at best a no-op. Sample: https://www.google-analytics.com. Remove the redundant dns-prefetch entries.
- **[PASS]** Page uses 25 resource hint(s)

### HTTP/3 (QUIC) (A+ — 100/100)

*HTTP/3 advertised via Alt-Svc*

- **[PASS]** HTTP/3 (QUIC) is supported — First-load mobile users on cellular networks see meaningful latency improvements with HTTP/3. The QUIC transport collapses TLS + TCP handshakes into one and recovers faster from packet loss.

### Compression Algorithm (C — 70/100)

*Main response served uncompressed*

- **[INFO]** Main HTML response has no Content-Encoding (uncompressed) — The main HTML document is served without compression. The Text Compression section above lists the broader picture; for the main response specifically, even gzip would shave ~70-80% off most text payloads.

### LCP Image Preload (A+ — 100/100)

*LCP preload audit not available*

- **[PASS]** LCP image preload audit not available for this scan

### Main HTML Cache-Control (A+ — 100/100)

*Main HTML uses no-store -- correct for sensitive/dynamic content*

- **[PASS]** Main HTML uses no-store -- correct for sensitive/dynamic content

### Server-Timing Observability (B — 85/100)

*No Server-Timing header found*

- **[INFO]** No Server-Timing header found — Server-Timing exposes backend timing breakdowns to browser DevTools (e.g., `db: 45ms; render: 120ms; cache: 2ms`). Useful for diagnosing slow pages without backend log access. Most modern frameworks (Next.js, Cloudflare Workers, Fastly) emit it automatically; absence on a managed platform usually means telemetry headers are stripped at the edge.

### Page Weight Inventory (F — 15/100)

*202 resources · 4.6 MB · 1.4 MB savings available*

- **[WARNING]** Page weight 4.6 MB exceeds 1 MB target by 3.6 MB
- **[INFO]** ~1.4 MB of savings available
- **[WARNING]** 154 third-party resources (53% 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 <head>

### Third-Party Resources (A+ — 100/100)

*No third-party resources detected*


### JavaScript Blocking (B — 84/100)

*2 JS blocking issue(s) detected*

- **[WARNING]** 1 render-blocking <script src> tag(s) without async/defer — Each `<script src=...>` without `async`, `defer`, or `type="module"` blocks HTML parsing while the browser fetches and executes it. The block lasts the entire round-trip + execution time -- on slow networks this translates directly into LCP delay. Add `defer` (executes after parse, in source order) for scripts that interact with the DOM, or `async` (executes whenever ready) for analytics / independent scripts. Module scripts (`type="module"`) are deferred by default.
- **[WARNING]** Total JS execution time is 14.5 s -- over the 3.5s budget — Total JavaScript execution (parse + compile + run) across all scripts exceeds 3.5 seconds. On low-end devices that becomes 7-15+ seconds and shows up directly in TBT and INP. Reduce by: tree-shaking unused dependencies, code-splitting (dynamic `import()`), removing or deferring third-party tracking, and replacing heavy frameworks where they're not needed.

### CSS Performance Depth (A+ — 100/100)

*No CSS performance depth issues detected*

- **[PASS]** No CSS performance depth issues detected

---

## Content Quality

### Links (B — 80/100)

*200 links checked, 196 healthy, 4 broken*

- **[CRITICAL]** 196 of 200 links are healthy
- **[WARNING]** Broken link: https://aax.amazon-adsystem.com — Found in <link href>. Returns HTTP 404.
- **[WARNING]** Broken link: https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com — Found in <link href>. Returns HTTP 404.
- **[WARNING]** Broken link: https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net — Found in <link href>. Returns HTTP 404.
- **[CRITICAL]** Broken link: https://www.instagram.com/verge — Found in <a href>. Returns HTTP 429.

### Mixed Content (A+ — 100/100)

*No mixed content detected — all resources use HTTPS.*

- **[PASS]** No mixed content detected — all resources use HTTPS

### Open Graph (A — 90/100)

*Open Graph tags are well configured for social sharing.*

- **[CRITICAL]** og:image is not reachable — The og:image URL could not be fetched. Social platforms won't be able to display it.
- **[INFO]** og:title is short (9 characters) — Ideal length is 25–60 characters for social sharing previews.
- **[INFO]** og:description is long (221 characters) — Descriptions over 200 characters may be truncated in social sharing previews.

### Structured Data (A+ — 100/100)

*2 JSON-LD block(s) found — structured data is well configured.*

- **[INFO]** Missing recommended property "description" for WebSite — Adding "description" can improve how search engines display your content.
- **[PASS]** Custom type "NewsMediaOrganization" — unable to validate specific properties
- **[PASS]** 2 JSON-LD blocks found

### Rich Results Eligibility (A+ — 100/100)

*2 JSON-LD block(s) declaring 2 schema type(s)*

- **[PASS]** SiteLinks Search Box markup detected — The page declares a `WebSite` schema with a `potentialAction` of `SearchAction`. This makes the homepage eligible for Google's in-SERP search box -- a high-visibility SERP feature for branded queries.
- **[PASS]** 2 rich-result schema type(s) declared — Inventory of structured-data types on the page (each may unlock a different SERP feature):

NewsMediaOrganization, WebSite

Search engines decide whether to render rich results based on content quality + page-level signals; declaring the schema is necessary but not sufficient.

### Image Optimization (C — 70/100)

*4 issues found across 153 images*

- **[WARNING]** 133 images missing explicit width/height — Images without dimensions cause layout shifts (CLS). Set explicit width and height attributes.
- **[INFO]** 1 below-fold images missing loading="lazy" — Lazy loading defers below-fold images, reducing initial page weight.
- **[INFO]** 140 of 153 images use legacy formats
- **[INFO]** 1 image(s) rendered at a different aspect ratio than the source — The displayed dimensions distort the source -- CSS is forcing the image into a container at the wrong ratio, producing visible stretching or squashing. Either crop the source to match or use object-fit: cover (and accept the crop). Sample: https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/06/257796_Nintendo_Switch_2_size_comparison_ADiBenedetto_0034.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=415.

### Autoplay Media (A+ — 100/100)

*No autoplay media on the page*

- **[PASS]** No autoplay media on the page

---

## Infrastructure

### DNS Records (B — 80/100)

*4 A records, 24 ms lookup*

- **[PASS]** Resolves to 4 IPv4 address(es)
- **[INFO]** No IPv6 (AAAA) records
- **[WARNING]** CNAME record at zone apex — A CNAME at the zone apex can break MX and NS records. Use ALIAS/ANAME or A records instead.
- **[INFO]** No NS records found
- **[INFO]** No MX records — email not configured via DNS
- **[INFO]** No SPF record found in TXT records — SPF helps prevent email spoofing. Add a TXT record starting with 'v=spf1'.
- **[PASS]** DNS resolution time: 24 ms

### Subdomain Takeover (A+ — 100/100)

*No subdomain takeover risk detected*

- **[PASS]** CNAME does not point at a known takeover-able service

### DNSSEC (B — 80/100)

*Unsigned (DNSSEC not deployed)*

- **[INFO]** DNSSEC is not deployed — The zone is not DNSSEC-signed. Users on validating resolvers (Cloudflare 1.1.1.1, Quad9 9.9.9.9, growing default in mobile resolvers) get no protection against DNS spoofing for this domain. Most registrars now offer DNSSEC at a single click; consider enabling it for sites where authenticity matters (banking, healthcare, government).

### CAA Records (B — 80/100)

*No CAA records (any CA may issue certificates)*

- **[INFO]** No CAA records published — Without CAA records, any publicly-trusted CA can issue certificates for this domain. Adding a CAA record (`yourdomain. IN CAA 0 issue "letsencrypt.org"`) restricts issuance to CAs you authorize. Required by CAB Forum baseline since 2017; the default of 'any CA' is widely supported but is the broader attack surface for issuance fraud.

### Reverse DNS (C — 60/100)

*0/4 IPs match cert SAN*

- **[INFO]** PTR lookup failed for 151.101.1.91: lookup 151.101.1.91: no such host — No reverse DNS record set for this IP. Common on bare cloud-VM IPs without provider-side PTR; not a security issue.
- **[INFO]** PTR lookup failed for 151.101.193.91: lookup 151.101.193.91: no such host — No reverse DNS record set for this IP. Common on bare cloud-VM IPs without provider-side PTR; not a security issue.
- **[INFO]** PTR lookup failed for 151.101.65.91: lookup 151.101.65.91: no such host — No reverse DNS record set for this IP. Common on bare cloud-VM IPs without provider-side PTR; not a security issue.
- **[INFO]** PTR lookup failed for 151.101.129.91: lookup 151.101.129.91: no such host — No reverse DNS record set for this IP. Common on bare cloud-VM IPs without provider-side PTR; not a security issue.

### Multi-Resolver DNS Speed (A+ — 100/100)

*Mean 21ms across 3 resolvers (spread 35ms)*

- **[PASS]** Quad9: 1ms
- **[PASS]** Google: 28ms
- **[PASS]** Cloudflare: 36ms

### Redirect Chain (A+ — 100/100)

*No redirects — direct access*

- **[PASS]** No redirects — direct access

### 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 (A+ — 100/100)

*robots.txt present, sitemap with 49 URLs*

- **[PASS]** robots.txt is present
- **[PASS]** sitemap.xml is present
- **[PASS]** sitemap.xml is valid XML
- **[PASS]** sitemap.xml contains 49 entries
- **[PASS]** robots.txt references sitemap

### URL Variants (A+ — 100/100)

*www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS*

- **[PASS]** www/non-www redirect configured correctly (preferred: www)
- **[PASS]** HTTP correctly 301-redirects to HTTPS

### Domain Intelligence (A+ — 100/100)

*theverge.com — via Amazon Registrar, Inc., 27 years, 10 months old, hosted on Fastly*

- **[PASS]** Domain registered until Nov 10, 2026 (6 months remaining)
- **[INFO]** DNSSEC is not enabled — DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it.
- **[PASS]** Registrar: Amazon Registrar, Inc.
- **[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: Fastly

---

## Compliance

### WCAG Compliance (A+ — 100/100)

*No testable criteria*


### Cookie Consent & Privacy (C — 60/100)

*privacy policy found*

- **[PASS]** Privacy policy link found
- **[PASS]** Terms of service link found
- **[INFO]** No cookie consent banner detected
- **[CRITICAL]** 2 non-essential cookie(s) set without consent banner — Unrecognized (treated as non-essential): vmidv1, _vm_consent_type
- **[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.

### Consent UX Depth (A+ — 100/100)

*No consent-UX depth issues detected*

- **[PASS]** No consent-UX depth issues detected

### Tracker Inventory (A+ — 100/100)

*No known trackers detected on this page*

- **[PASS]** No known trackers detected on this page

### Language & i18n (A — 90/100)

*Lang attribute present*

- **[PASS]** <html lang> attribute is present
- **[PASS]** <html lang> value is valid
- **[INFO]** No Content-Language HTTP header
- **[INFO]** Language signals are inconsistent — The <html lang> attribute and Content-Language header should agree.

### Hreflang Configuration (A+ — 100/100)

*No hreflang tags on this page*

- **[PASS]** No hreflang tags found (single-language site)

### 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

### Accessibility Statement (A — 85/100)

*Statement found, no conformance level*

- **[INFO]** Accessibility statement found but lacks WCAG conformance level — Mature accessibility statements declare a target conformance level (e.g., WCAG 2.1 AA). Without a stated level, users and reviewers cannot tell what the statement actually commits to.

### GDPR Article 13 Disclosures (F — 25/100)

*0 / 8 Art. 13 categories matched in homepage body*

- **[WARNING]** GDPR Article 13 disclosure coverage: 0 / 8 categories — Scanned the homepage body text for GDPR Article 13 disclosures. Matched 0 of 8 categories: . Missing: Data Protection Officer contact (where applicable), Data retention period, Data subject rights (access, erasure, rectification, etc.), Identity / contact details of the data controller, International data transfers, Legal basis for processing, Recipients of personal data, Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. Note: this scan does not fetch the privacy policy sub-page; if Article 13 disclosures live there, they are not visible to this check.

### Third-Party Trackers (B — 80/100)

*5 trackers detected*

- **[INFO]** 5 third-party trackers detected — Found 1 analytics, 3 advertising, 0 marketing, 1 tag manager, 0 session-replay, 0 heatmap trackers.
- **[WARNING]** 3 advertising/retargeting trackers detected — Advertising trackers collect user data for ad targeting. Under GDPR, these typically require explicit consent.

### Cookie & Tracker Inventory (A+ — 100/100)

*2 cookies · 5 trackers · 0 pre-consent*

- **[INFO]** 2 cookie(s) could not be classified
- **[INFO]** 5 third-party tracker(s) detected on page

### Tracking Pixel Inventory (A+ — 100/100)

*No tracking pixels detected*

- **[PASS]** No tracking pixels detected

### Browser Fingerprinting (A+ — 100/100)

*No browser-fingerprinting libraries detected*

- **[PASS]** No browser-fingerprinting libraries detected

### Cross-Site Cookies (SameSite=None) (A+ — 100/100)

*No SameSite=None cookies -- no cross-site travel surface*

- **[PASS]** No cookies opted in to cross-site travel (SameSite=None)

### Beacon Tracking (sendBeacon) (A+ — 100/100)

*No navigator.sendBeacon usage detected in inline scripts*

- **[PASS]** No navigator.sendBeacon usage detected in inline scripts

---

## Legal

### Legal Page Ecosystem (C — 55/100)

*3 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.
- **[PASS]** Terms of Service detected — Found at https://www.voxmedia.com/legal/terms-of-use, linked from footer.
- **[PASS]** Cookie Policy detected — Found at https://www.voxmedia.com/legal/cookie-policy, linked from footer.
- **[PASS]** Accessibility Statement detected — Found at https://www.voxmedia.com/legal/accessibility, linked from footer.
- **[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)

*© 2026 Vox Media*

- **[PASS]** Copyright notice is up to date — Copyright notice is up to date: © 2026 Vox Media
- **[PASS]** Copyright holder: Vox Media

### 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 (strong confidence) — Indicators suggesting GDPR may be relevant: Consent management platform detected: cookielaw.org; 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

*2 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]** 2 third-party services across 2 categories — 2 third-party services detected across 2 categories: CDN (1), Security (1). Each of these services receives some user data from your site visitors.
- **[INFO]** Cloudflare (CDN) — Detected via script URL. Typically collects: IP address (transient), Request metadata. Privacy policy: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/. Data Processing Agreement available.
- **[INFO]** reCAPTCHA (Security) — Detected via script URL. Typically collects: Browser behavior, Device info, IP address. Privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy. Data Processing Agreement available.

### 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 (A+ — 100/100)

*Fastly (HIT, HIT)*

- **[PASS]** Site is served via Fastly CDN
- **[PASS]** CDN cache status: HIT, HIT

### HTTP Caching (D — 45/100)

*no-store (uncacheable)*

- **[INFO]** Cache-Control: no-store prevents all caching — Intentional for dynamic content, but increases server load for every page view.
- **[PASS]** ETag present — enables conditional (304) responses

### Operational Status Page (B — 80/100)

*No status page link detected*

- **[INFO]** No operational status page link detected — Status pages communicate planned maintenance and incidents to users -- a hallmark of operationally-mature services. Most SaaS teams publish one via Atlassian Statuspage, Instatus, BetterUptime, or a self-hosted Cachet. Smaller sites legitimately don't need one; flagged as Info, not a failure.

### Transport Security (A+ — 100/100)

*HTTP/3, HSTS, and TLS version analysis*

- **[PASS]** HTTP/3 (QUIC) supported — The server advertises HTTP/3 via Alt-Svc for faster connections on mobile networks.
- **[PASS]** HSTS enabled (preload)
- **[INFO]** HSTS missing includeSubDomains — Without includeSubDomains, HSTS only protects the exact domain.
- **[PASS]** HSTS preload enabled
- **[PASS]** TLS 1.3 in use (fastest handshake, 1-RTT)

### Health Check Endpoint (A+ — 100/100)

*Health endpoint at https://www.theverge.com/health (HTTP 200)*

- **[PASS]** Public health endpoint at https://www.theverge.com/health

### CDN Cache Observability (A+ — 100/100)

*Cache state: HIT*

- **[PASS]** CDN cache state observable via 4 header(s)

---

## Accessibility

### Landmark Structure (A+ — 100/100)

*16 landmarks*

- **[PASS]** <main> landmark present
- **[PASS]** 2 <nav> landmark(s) found
- **[PASS]** All <nav> elements are properly labeled
- **[PASS]** Skip navigation link present

### Heading Hierarchy (B — 75/100)

*14 headings*

- **[CRITICAL]** No H1 heading found — Every page should have one H1 that describes the page content.

### Alt Text Quality (A+ — 98/100)

*All 153 images OK*

- **[INFO]** 1 image(s) with alt text over 125 characters
- **[PASS]** 152 image(s) with good alt text

### Form Accessibility (A — 85/100)

*1 of 2 controls have issues*

- **[CRITICAL]** 1 control(s) without accessible label — Form controls need a <label>, aria-label, or aria-labelledby for screen readers.
- **[PASS]** 1 control(s) properly labeled

### Link & Button Quality (C — 68/100)

*7 issue(s) across 344 links and 63 buttons*

- **[WARNING]** 7 link(s) with generic text — Generic link text like 'click here' doesn't describe the destination.
- **[WARNING]** 15 link(s) open in new tab without warning — Add '(opens in new tab)' to link text or aria-label.
- **[PASS]** 322 link(s) with descriptive text

### Form Input Types (A+ — 95/100)

*1 input(s) using type=text where a specific type would help*

- **[INFO]** Input "query" should use type="search" (currently type="text") — Field name "query" suggests type="search". Wrong type loses mobile keyboard hints, browser autofill, and free format validation. Change to <input type="search">.

### Form Input Quality (A+ — 100/100)

*2 form control(s) checked, no input-semantic issues*

- **[PASS]** All form input semantics look correct

### Mobile Keyboard & Autofill (A+ — 100/100)

*No autofill-eligible form controls*

- **[PASS]** No autofill-eligible form controls (no name/email/tel/address fields)

### Document Language (A+ — 100/100)

*Lang attribute set to "en-US"*

- **[PASS]** <html lang="en-US"> is set and valid

### Tabindex Anti-Patterns (A+ — 95/100)

*0 positive, 1 -1-on-focusable*

- **[INFO]** tabindex="-1" on naturally-focusable <a> — tabindex="-1" removes an element from the keyboard tab order. Naturally-focusable elements (links, buttons, form controls) become unreachable for keyboard users. (Common false-positive: hidden honeypot fields. Verify the element is genuinely interactive before removing the tabindex.)

### Iframe Accessibility (A — 90/100)

*1/2 iframe(s) missing title; 0 placeholder(s)*

- **[WARNING]** <iframe> missing title attribute (src="") — WCAG 4.1.2: iframes need a title attribute so screen readers can announce what's embedded. Without one, the announcement is just "iframe" -- the user has no way to decide whether to enter or skip.

### Tap Target Adequacy (B — 90/100)

*3 tap target(s) too small or too close together*

- **[INFO]** 3 tap target(s) too small or too close to neighbors — WCAG 2.5.5 (Level AAA) requires interactive targets to be at least 44x44 CSS pixels; WCAG 2.5.8 (Level AA, added in 2.2) requires 24x24 minimum. Failing targets cause mis-taps for users with motor impairments, large fingers, or shaky hands -- and are a major bounce-rate driver on mobile commerce flows. Lighthouse measures rendered rects + adjacent-element spacing; the failing list is in the Lighthouse 'tap-targets' audit detail panel.

### Mobile-Readable Font Sizes (D — 60/100)

*51% of visible text renders at >= 12 CSS px (99 below threshold)*

- **[WARNING]** 99 text node(s) render below 12 CSS pixels on mobile — Mobile browsers default the root font-size to 16 px; text below ~ 12 px (75% of root) is hard to read without zooming. WCAG 1.4.4 (Resize Text) requires the page to support 200% zoom without loss of functionality -- which most layouts handle, but small base text still costs readability and conversion. Audit which selectors set sizes below 12 px (often footers, fine print, table cells) and bump them to 14-16 px or use rem units that scale with user preferences. Examples: <span> 11.0px ("Skip to main content"); <a> 11.0px ("Subscribe"); <span> 11.0px ("Andrew Webster"); <time> 11.0px ("May 8"); <span> 11.0px ("89").

---

## UX

### 404 Error Page (B — 80/100)

*HTTP 404, custom page*

- **[PASS]** Correct 404 status code returned
- **[PASS]** Custom styled 404 page
- **[PASS]** Navigation links present on 404 page
- **[PASS]** Homepage link present on 404 page

### Favicon & Branding (B — 70/100)

*8 icon(s) detected*

- **[PASS]** favicon.ico present at site root
- **[PASS]** HTML icon links detected
- **[PASS]** Apple touch icon present
- **[PASS]** Multiple icon sizes detected

### Web Manifest (D — 40/100)

*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.

### PWA Depth (A+ — 100/100)

*No PWA depth issues detected*

- **[PASS]** No PWA depth issues detected

### Dark Mode Support (D — 40/100)

*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.

### Print Stylesheet (D — 40/100)

*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.

### Navigation UX (F — 30/100)

*1 navigation pattern(s)*

- **[PASS]** Skip navigation link detected
- **[PASS]** 2 navigation landmark(s) detected

---

## SEO

### Canonical URL (A+ — 100/100)

*Properly configured*

- **[PASS]** Canonical tag present
- **[PASS]** Canonical is self-referencing
- **[PASS]** Canonical matches final URL after redirects
- **[PASS]** Canonical target returns 200

### Meta Tags (A — 85/100)

*Title: 3 chars*

- **[PASS]** Page title is set
- **[WARNING]** Title is only 3 characters — consider expanding
- **[INFO]** Meta description is 221 characters — truncated on mobile (~160 char limit)

### Content Depth (A — 85/100)

*3845 words, Difficult*

- **[PASS]** Page has 3845 words — good depth for search engines
- **[INFO]** Text-to-HTML ratio is 2% — Very low ratio suggests heavy framework overhead or boilerplate.
- **[INFO]** Reading level: Difficult (grade 13)

### Internal Links (A+ — 95/100)

*279 internal, 65 external*

- **[PASS]** 279 internal links (81%)
- **[PASS]** 98% of links use descriptive anchor text
- **[INFO]** Page has 344 links — consider reducing
- **[INFO]** 279 internal / 65 external links

### Image SEO (A+ — 100/100)

*153 images, 149 descriptive filenames*

- **[INFO]** 4 image(s) have hash/generic filenames

### Hreflang

*0 hreflang tags*


### Hreflang URL Quality (A+ — 100/100)

*No hreflang tags on the page*

- **[PASS]** No hreflang tags on the page

### Sitemap Freshness (C — 70/100)

*Sitemap exists but no <lastmod> entries*

- **[INFO]** Sitemap has no <lastmod> entries — Without lastmod, Google can't tell which URLs have changed since the last crawl -- it falls back to crawling everything periodically. Adding lastmod (date or ISO 8601 timestamp) on each <url> entry signals freshness so the crawler prioritizes recently-modified pages.

### Sitemap × Robots Consistency (A+ — 100/100)

*No sitemap-vs-robots conflicts in the URL sample*

- **[PASS]** All 5 sampled sitemap URLs are crawlable per robots.txt

### Sitemap Hygiene (A+ — 100/100)

*Sitemap structure / size look healthy (49 URLs, 22 KB)*

- **[PASS]** Sitemap structure / size look healthy (49 URLs)

### Markup Quality (A — 85/100)

*1 markup-quality issue(s) detected*

- **[WARNING]** Missing or non-HTML5 doctype — The page is missing `<!DOCTYPE html>` (the HTML5 doctype) or uses a legacy HTML4 / XHTML doctype. Without the HTML5 doctype, browsers fall back to quirks mode for parts of CSS layout (`box-sizing`, `inline-block` baseline, table cell sizing), causing unpredictable rendering differences vs modern dev expectations. Add `<!DOCTYPE html>` as the very first line of the document.

---

## Sustainability

### CO2 Per Page Load (D — 50/100)

*1.08g CO2 per view*

- **[WARNING]** 1.08g CO2 per page view — This page transfers 4.6 MB, producing an estimated 1.08g of CO2 per visit using the Sustainable Web Design model (v4). Breakdown: data center 0.03g, network 0.22g, end-user device 0.83g.
- **[INFO]** At 10,000 monthly views: 130.1 kg CO2/year — With 10,000 page views per month, this page would generate approximately 130.1 kg of CO2 annually — equivalent to charging 16260 smartphones.
- **[PASS]** Green hosting reduces data center emissions

### Green Hosting (A+ — 100/100)

*Green (both)*

- **[PASS]** Both hosting and CDN use renewable energy
- **[INFO]** Next.js: Verified by the Green Web Foundation
- **[INFO]** Fastly: 100% renewable energy for edge network
- **[INFO]** Green hosting status based on known provider commitments — Green hosting detection uses a curated database of provider renewable energy commitments. This is not a real-time verification. For authoritative checks, visit thegreenwebfoundation.org.

### Repeat Visit Weight (A+ — 100/100)

*98% cached*

- **[PASS]** 98% reduction on repeat visits — Returning visitors download only 113 KB (vs 4690 KB first visit). 191 of 202 resources are served from browser cache, saving 1.06g CO2 per repeat visit.
- **[INFO]** Repeat visit: 0.03g CO2 (first visit: 1.08g)

### Carbon Budget (D — 50/100)

*63th percentile*

- **[WARNING]** 1.08g CO2 — above the median website (0.60g) — Heavier than an estimated 37% of websites. Reducing page weight, optimizing images, and removing unused JavaScript would lower the carbon footprint. See the Performance tab.
- **[INFO]** Estimated 63th percentile — Compared to: top 10% = 0.20g, target = 0.50g, median = 0.60g per page view.

### Transfer Efficiency (C — 60/100)

*71% efficient*

- **[WARNING]** Transfer efficiency: 71% — An estimated 1383 KB (29%) could be eliminated: 0 KB via better compression, 0 KB via modern image formats, 1383 KB of unused JavaScript. This wasted data produces 0.32g of unnecessary CO2 per page view.

### Web Font Weight Variants (B — 90/100)

*No detectable Google Fonts weights*

- **[INFO]** No detectable Google Fonts weights — The analyzer detects font weights via Google Fonts URL parameters (~70% of font-using sites). Self-hosted fonts and non-Google CDN fonts aren't visible to URL-based detection. If you self-host fonts, manually audit how many @font-face weights you ship -- 2-3 weights per family is typically enough; 5+ is usually unused payload.

---

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*Generated by [BeaverCheck](https://beavercheck.com) — https://beavercheck.com/results/ff126952-4b12-4d11-b557-a39020b84c2d*