Accessibility
· 13 checks — Landmarks, headings, alt text, forms, and link quality rolled into one auditable list.FHeading HierarchyAction54 headings, 4 skip(s)FIX
- H3 OUR MISSION
- H2 Create Technological Surprise for National Security
- H3 LIVE CHAIN
- H2 Transforming Battlefield Casualty Care for Modern Warfare
- H3 VELOCITY TO
- H2 Break the Boundaries of Possibility
- H3 TRANSFORM NAPKIN SKETCHES INTO
- H2 World-Changing Technologies
- H3 IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE
- H2 It's DARPA Hard
- H3 Events
- H4 DARPAConnect Mission Connect: Michigan
- H4 Proposers Day: DISCORD
- H4 Proposers Day: AMPED
- H4 SOF Week 2026
- H4 BTO Innovation Opportunity Fair
- H4 STO Industry Day
- H3 News
- H6 For quantum computing, different qubits are better togeth… skipped
- H6 DARPA-developed autonomous helicopter technology transiti…
- H6 Translate your bio-attribution research into national se…
- H3 Latest from DARPA
- H4 Ride along with RACER
- H6 (empty)
- H2 Communities
- H4 DARPA newcomers skipped
- H4 Industry
- H4 Small businesses
- H4 Defense and government
- H4 Academia
- H4 Investors and entrepreneurs
- H2 (empty)
- H2 Technical Offices
- H5 Biological Technologies Office skipped
- H5 Defense Sciences Office
- H5 Information Innovation Office
- H5 Microsystems Technology Office
- H5 Strategic Technology Office
- H5 Tactical Technology Office
- H2 Work at DARPA
- H2 Contact
- H3 Work with DARPA
- H3 Redefining Possible
- H4 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency To create and prevent technological surprise for our national security
- H3 Work with Us
- H3 R&D Opportunities
- H3 Programs
- H3 Offices
- H3 News
- H3 Events
- H3 Careers
- H3 About
- H2 Footer
- H2 USA Government Links
Every page should have one H1 that describes the page content.
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
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
Empty headings appear in the document outline but provide no information.
Empty <hN> tags break the document outline — screen-reader users navigating by heading hit dead silence.
Source: WCAG 2.4.6
FLink & Button QualityAction19 issue(s) across 129 links and 22 buttonsFIX
| Element | Text | Issue | Suggested Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| /search | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| /search | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label | |
| /about/darpaconnect | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| /work-with-us/communities/industry | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| /work-with-us/communities/small-business | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| /work-with-us/communities/defense-govern… | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| /work-with-us/communities/academia | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| /about/offices/commercial-strategy | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| /about/offices/bto | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| /about/offices/dso | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| /about/offices/i2o | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| /about/offices/mto | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| /about/offices/sto | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| /about/offices/tto | (empty) | empty | Add link text or aria-label |
| https://dodcio.defense.gov/DoDSection508… | Accessibility/Section 508 | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text |
| https://www.dodig.mil/Components/Adminis… | DoD Hotline | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text |
| https://www.defense.gov/Resources/DOD-In… | Information Quality | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text |
| https://data.gov/open-gov/ | Open Government | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text |
| https://dpcld.defense.gov/ | Privacy and Civil Liberties | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text |
| https://www.usa.gov/ | USA.gov | new tab | Add '(opens in new tab)' to text |
| <button> | (empty) | empty | Add button text or aria-label |
| <button> | (empty) | empty | Add button text or aria-label |
| <button> | (empty) | empty | Add button text or aria-label |
| <button> | (empty) | empty | Add button text or aria-label |
Links without text are announced as raw URLs by screen readers.
/search; /search; a#main-content; /about/darpaconnect; /work-with-us/communities/industry; /work-with-us/communities/small-business; /work-with-us/communities/defense-government; /work-with-us/communities/academia; /about/offices/commercial-strategy; /about/offices/bto (+5 more)
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://dodcio.defense.gov/DoDSection508/Std_Stmt.aspx; https://www.dodig.mil/Components/Administrative-Investigations/DoD-Hotline/; https://www.defense.gov/Resources/DOD-Information-Quality-Guidelines/; https://data.gov/open-gov/; https://dpcld.defense.gov/; https://www.usa.gov/
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
Icon-only buttons need an aria-label so screen readers can announce them.
button.rewind (#433 on page); button.play-pause-btn (#436 on page); button.forward (#439 on page); button.vol-control (#450 on page)
Buttons with no accessible text (icon-only, no aria-label) can't be activated by voice control or understood by screen readers.
Source: WCAG 2.1 SC 4.1.2
F404 Error PageActionSoft 404 detectedFIX
The server returned HTTP 200 for a non-existent path. Search engines will index this page as real content. Configure your server to return HTTP 404 for missing pages.
FFavicon & BrandingAction2 icon(s) detectedFIX
FWeb ManifestActionInvalid JSONFIX
Manifest contains invalid JSON.
DDark Mode SupportActionNo dark mode signalsFIX
Detection limited to meta tags and inline styles.
DPrint StylesheetActionNo print stylesFIX
BForm Accessibility2 of 12 controls have issuesREVIEW
| Control | Type | Label | Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| #Full name* | input | Full name* | for/id |
| #Email* | Email* | for/id | |
| #Phone number* | tel | Phone number* | for/id |
| #Company / Organization* | input | Company / Organization* | for/id |
| #Your Title / Role* | input | Your Title / Role* | for/id |
| #Topic* | select | Topic* | for/id |
| #Office | select | Office (Optional) | for/id |
| #Program Manager | select | Program Manager (Optional) | for/id |
| #message | textarea | Message* | for/id |
| #submit | submit | none | |
| #usa-range | range | (none) | none |
| #g-recaptcha-response-100000 | textarea | (none) | none |
Form controls need a <label>, aria-label, or aria-labelledby for screen readers.
<input type="range" id="usa-range">; <textarea name="g-recaptcha-response" id="g-recaptcha-response-100000">
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
CColor Contrast (Screenshot)Action20 text elements analyzed, 4 fail WCAG AAREVIEW
Analyzes text contrast against the actual rendered page, including background images, gradients, and overlays that CSS-based tools cannot detect.
3 contrast failures on background images/gradients
These failures are invisible to CSS-based accessibility tools like Lighthouse. The text may be fine on a solid background, but fails when rendered over an image or gradient.
Show all checked elements (20)
| Element | Ratio | Required | FG | BG | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| h2 Create Technological… | 1.08:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #060E13 | Fail |
| h2 Transforming Battlef… | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| h2 Break the Boundaries… | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| h2 World-Changing Techn… | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| h2 It's DARPA Hard | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| h2 Technical Offices | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| h2 Contact | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| h2 Footer | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| h2 USA Government Links | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| h3 OUR MISSION | 1.01:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #010205 | Fail |
| h3 LIVE CHAIN | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| h3 VELOCITY TO | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| h3 TRANSFORM NAPKIN SKE… | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| h3 IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| h3 Work with DARPA | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| h3 Redefining Possible | 19.07:1 | 3.0:1 | #000000 | #F2F4F8 | Pass |
| title Home | DARPA | 1.79:1 | 4.5:1 | #000000 | #163960 | Fail |
| a Skip to main content | 2.95:1 | 4.5:1 | #000000 | #405A77 | Fail |
| p An official website … | 6.14:1 | 4.5:1 | #000000 | #828C96 | Pass |
| p Here’s how you kno… | 6.22:1 | 4.5:1 | #000000 | #838D96 | 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 81/100 — 6 failing, 27 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.
ARIA
Assistive technologies, like screen readers, can't interpret ARIA attributes with invalid values. Learn more about valid values for ARIA attributes.
Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.
| Failing Elements |
|---|
RACER | 360° video div#react-top-tabs > ul.usa-button-group > li.usa-button-group__item > button.usa-button |
Live Chain div#react-top-tabs > ul.usa-button-group > li.usa-button-group__item > button.usa-button |
Podcast | Ep 92 div#react-top-tabs > ul.usa-button-group > li.usa-button-group__item > button.usa-button |
These are opportunities to improve the usage of ARIA in your application which may enhance the experience for users of assistive technology, like a screen reader.
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.
Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.
| Failing Elements |
|---|
div.grid-row > div.podcast-player-control > div.display-flex > button.play-pause-btn div.grid-row > div.podcast-player-control > div.display-flex > button.play-pause-btn |
Labels ensure that form controls are announced properly by assistive technologies, like screen readers. Learn more about form element labels.
Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.
| Failing Elements |
|---|
div.podcast-player-control > div.display-flex > div.tracker-container > input#usa-range div.podcast-player-control > div.display-flex > div.tracker-container > input#usa-range |
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 |
|---|
div.flex > div.flex > div.flex > a.items-center div.flex > div.flex > div.flex > a.items-center |
div.paragraph > div.usa-card__container > div.usa-card__footer > a.usa-button div.paragraph > div.usa-card__container > div.usa-card__footer > a.usa-button |
div.paragraph > div.usa-card__container > div.usa-card__footer > a.usa-button div.paragraph > div.usa-card__container > div.usa-card__footer > a.usa-button |
div.paragraph > div.usa-card__container > div.usa-card__footer > a.usa-button div.paragraph > div.usa-card__container > div.usa-card__footer > a.usa-button |
div.paragraph > div.usa-card__container > div.usa-card__footer > a.usa-button div.paragraph > div.usa-card__container > div.usa-card__footer > a.usa-button |
div.paragraph > div.usa-card__container > div.usa-card__footer > a.usa-button div.paragraph > div.usa-card__container > div.usa-card__footer > a.usa-button |
div.paragraph > div.usa-card__container > div.usa-card__footer > a.usa-button div.paragraph > div.usa-card__container > div.usa-card__footer > a.usa-button |
div.grid-row > div.desktop:grid-col > div.technical-offices-card > a.usa-button div.grid-row > div.desktop:grid-col > div.technical-offices-card > a.usa-button |
div.grid-row > div.desktop:grid-col > div.technical-offices-card > a.usa-button div.grid-row > div.desktop:grid-col > div.technical-offices-card > a.usa-button |
div.grid-row > div.desktop:grid-col > div.technical-offices-card > a.usa-button div.grid-row > div.desktop:grid-col > div.technical-offices-card > a.usa-button |
div.grid-row > div.desktop:grid-col > div.technical-offices-card > a.usa-button div.grid-row > div.desktop:grid-col > div.technical-offices-card > a.usa-button |
div.grid-row > div.desktop:grid-col > div.technical-offices-card > a.usa-button div.grid-row > div.desktop:grid-col > div.technical-offices-card > a.usa-button |
div.grid-row > div.desktop:grid-col > div.technical-offices-card > a.usa-button div.grid-row > div.desktop:grid-col > div.technical-offices-card > a.usa-button |
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 |
|---|
For quantum computing, different qubits are better togeth… a.news-container-link > div.mb-3 > div.news-content > h6 |
DARPA newcomers div.paragraph > div.usa-card__container > div.usa-card__header > h4 |
Biological Technologies Office div.grid-row > div.desktop:grid-col > div.technical-offices-card > h5.text-center |
These are opportunities to improve keyboard navigation in your application.
Contrast
Low-contrast text is difficult or impossible for many users to read. Link text that is discernible improves the experience for users with low vision. Learn how to make links distinguishable.
Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.
| Failing Elements |
|---|
Privacy Policy form.width-full > div.grid-col-12 > p.reCAPTCHA-text > a |
Terms of Service form.width-full > div.grid-col-12 > p.reCAPTCHA-text > a |
These are opportunities to improve the legibility of your content.
ALandmark Structure11 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
A+Alt Text QualityAll 35 images OKPASS
| Issue | Count |
|---|---|
| too long | 1 image(s) |