Accessibility

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

SCORE

GRADE

FIX

REVIEW

PASS

INFO

Checks

5 PASS 4 REVIEW 4 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: #68246d

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.

Print Stylesheet

Action

No print styles

FIX

No print styles

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 ✗

Heading Hierarchy

73 headings

REVIEW

73 headings

No H1 heading found

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

H2 Study sub-menu
H2 Wider Student Experience sub-menu
H2 Student support sub-menu
H2 Research and business sub-menu
H2 Global Durham sub-menu
H2 Visit us sub-menu
H2 Record 22 subjects in global top 100
H2 Find a course
H2 Discover
H3 Global Futures Summer School
H3 Alumni Fee Scholarship
H3 Durham Master's Bursary
H3 Inspiring Excellence Scholarships
H2 Your next steps
H3 Undergraduate study
H3 Postgraduate study
H3 Chat to us
H3 Open days
H3 Undergraduate study
H3 Postgraduate study
H3 Chat to us
H3 Open days
H2 Research impact at Durham
H2 What's new?
H3 Durham University museum curator recognised for strengthening UK–Japan cultural ties
H3 Durham scientists reveal how bacteria transport antimicrobials
H3 Novel house design cuts childhood malaria significantly
H3 New movie charts Milky Way’s formation across nine billion years
H3 Why some children with learning difficulties get identified – and others don’t
H3 Durham research calls for lasting change this Autism Acceptance Month
H3 Funding award for research into custom-built surgical reconstruction plates
H3 Durham University museum curator recognised for strengthening UK–Japan cultural ties
H3 Durham scientists reveal how bacteria transport antimicrobials
H3 Novel house design cuts childhood malaria significantly
H3 New movie charts Milky Way’s formation across nine billion years
H3 Why some children with learning difficulties get identified – and others don’t
H3 Durham research calls for lasting change this Autism Acceptance Month
H3 Funding award for research into custom-built surgical reconstruction plates
H3 Professor Susanne Braun explores the dark side of leadership
H3 New simulations reveal the realities of galaxy formation
H3 Durham researchers use cricket crowds to test new transport decarbonisation tool
H3 Professor Susanne Braun explores the dark side of leadership
H3 New simulations reveal the realities of galaxy formation
H3 Durham researchers use cricket crowds to test new transport decarbonisation tool
H3 Asian Access: a new pathway to higher education
H3 Fired up and victorious: Ten Durham sports teams shine at BUCS Big Wednesday
H3 Durham named a World Top 50 international university
H3 Asian Access: a new pathway to higher education
H3 Fired up and victorious: Ten Durham sports teams shine at BUCS Big Wednesday
H3 Durham named a World Top 50 international university
H3 The Untold Stories of Women Football Fans: celebrating memories, calling out prejudice
H3 What neurodivergent people really think about the words used to describe them
H3 Can the UK achieve the fastest AI adoption in the G7?
H3 The Untold Stories of Women Football Fans: celebrating memories, calling out prejudice
H3 What neurodivergent people really think about the words used to describe them
H3 Can the UK achieve the fastest AI adoption in the G7?
H3 Alumnus and County Durham business leader installed as High Sheriff
H3 Catching up with our alumni in India
H3 Celebrating enduring cultural and academic collaboration with Spain
H3 Alumnus and County Durham business leader installed as High Sheriff
H3 Catching up with our alumni in India
H3 Celebrating enduring cultural and academic collaboration with Spain
H2 Upcoming events
H3 Durham Online MBA Webinar: Careers and Professional Development
H3 Global Futures Pre-University Summer School
H3 Greenspace x City Nature Challenge 2026 public walk
H3 Family Activities: Japanese Children's Day
H3 Durham Online MBA Webinar: Careers and Professional Development
H3 Global Futures Pre-University Summer School
H3 Greenspace x City Nature Challenge 2026 public walk
H3 Family Activities: Japanese Children's Day
H2 From our Student Blogs:
H2 Computer simulation tracing the Milky Way’s history

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

Alt Text Quality

Action

3 of 70 images have issues

REVIEW

3 of 70 images have issues

3 image(s) missing alt attribute

Images without alt text are invisible to screen readers.

4 image(s) with alt text over 125 characters

2 decorative image(s) correctly marked

61 image(s) with good alt text

70 images 61 good alt text 2 decorative 3 missing

Issue	Count
missing	3 image(s)
too long	4 image(s)

Images without alt text are invisible to screen readers.

Why this matters

Each image without alt text is a WCAG 1.1.1 failure — invisible to screen-reader users, lost from Google Image Search.

Learn more ▾

WCAG 2.1 Level A requires text alternatives for non-decorative images. Empty alt='' is fine for decorative; meaningful images need descriptive text. Common fixes: CMS audit + bulk add, build-time linter (alt-text-required ESLint rule), CI gate on Lighthouse a11y score.

Source: WCAG 2.1 SC 1.1.1 / WebAIM Million Report

Favicon & Branding

Action

4 icon(s) detected

REVIEW

4 icon(s) detected

No favicon.ico at site root

Some older browsers, bookmark tools, and RSS readers look for /favicon.ico. Add one as a fallback.

HTML icon links detected

Apple touch icon present

SVG favicon detected — scales perfectly to any size

Multiple icon sizes detected

✗ favicon.ico Missing

✓ PNG Icons Present

✓ Apple Touch Present

✓ SVG Favicon Present

✗ Manifest Icons Missing

✓ Multiple Sizes Present

Color Contrast (Screenshot)

Action

20 text elements analyzed, 5 fail WCAG AA

REVIEW

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

15 pass 5 fail WCAG AA

h2 Study sub-menu

1.78:1

#000000

#3B3734

needs 3.0:1 (large text)

24px · above the fold · over background image/gradient

h2 Wider Student Experience sub-menu

1.12:1

#000000

#0F1314

needs 3.0:1 (large text)

24px · mid-page

a Library and Collections

3.07:1

#000000

#575B5F

needs 4.5:1 (normal text)

16px · top of page (header area)

a Business School

2.28:1

#000000

#40494D

needs 4.5:1 (normal text)

16px · above the fold

a Things To Do

2.33:1

#000000

#454A4B

needs 4.5:1 (normal text)

16px · above the fold

1 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 Study sub-menu	1.78:1	3.0:1	#000000	#3B3734	Fail
h2 Wider Student Experi…	1.12:1	3.0:1	#000000	#0F1314	Fail
h2 Student support sub-…	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Research and busines…	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Global Durham sub-me…	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Visit us sub-menu	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Record 22 subjects i…	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Discover	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Your next steps	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Research impact at D…	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 What's new?	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Upcoming events	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 From our Student Blo…	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
h2 Computer simulation …	21.00:1	3.0:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
title Durham University	21.00:1	4.5:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
div Skip to main content	21.00:1	4.5:1	#000000	#FFFFFF	Pass
a Alumni	8.02:1	4.5:1	#000000	#9FA0A1	Pass
a Library and Collecti…	3.07:1	4.5:1	#000000	#575B5F	Fail
a Business School	2.28:1	4.5:1	#000000	#40494D	Fail
a Things To Do	2.33:1	4.5:1	#000000	#454A4B	Fail

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+

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
#example_unique_id_906485678	search	Search durham.ac.uk	for/id
#durham-course-search	search	Find a course	for/id

A+

Link & Button Quality

183 links, 39 buttons — all OK

PASS

183 links, 39 buttons — all OK

1 link(s) open in new tab without warning

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

Got: https://curator.io

182 link(s) with descriptive text

183 links

0 empty

0 generic text

1 new tab

0 empty buttons

Element	Text	Issue	Suggested Fix
https://curator.io	Powered by Curator.io	new tab	Add '(opens in new tab)' to text

221 links and buttons have descriptive text

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

https://curator.io

Why this matters

Links with target="_blank" without rel="noopener" leak the originating page's window context — security and UX issue.

Learn more ▾

Without rel="noopener", the new tab can navigate the original tab via window.opener (tab-nabbing attack). Modern browsers default to noopener for target=_blank but only since recent versions. Always set rel="noopener noreferrer" explicitly.

Source: MDN target / OWASP

404 Error Page

HTTP 404, custom page

PASS

HTTP 404, custom page

Correct 404 status code returned

Got: HTTP 404

Custom styled 404 page

Navigation links present on 404 page

Homepage link present on 404 page

Search form present on 404 page

404 Page Quality ✓ Custom 404 Page

Status Code HTTP 404 ✓Page Title 404 - Durham University ✓Custom Styling ✓Navigation ✓Homepage Link ✓Search Form ✓

Lighthouse Accessibility Audits

Score 92/100 — 2 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.

Names and labels

Informative elements should aim for short, descriptive alternate text. Decorative elements can be ignored with an empty alt attribute. Learn more about the `alt` attribute.

Why this matters

Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.

Failing Elements
body.body > img `body.body > 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

Touch targets with sufficient size and spacing help users who may have difficulty targeting small controls to activate the targets. Learn more about touch targets.

Why this matters

Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.

Failing Elements
Trading name `div.u-text-small > ul.u-list-reset > li.list-item > a.u-text-grey-400`
Cookie notice `div.u-text-small > ul.u-list-reset > li.list-item > a.u-text-grey-400`
Privacy notices `div.u-text-small > ul.u-list-reset > li.list-item > a.u-text-grey-400`

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]` values are valid

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

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

●Buttons have an accessible name

●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.

●`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

●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

●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

●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"]`

●Identical links have the same purpose.

○`[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

○`[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

○`<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

○Tables have different content in the summary attribute and `<caption>`.

○All heading elements contain content.

○Uses ARIA roles only on compatible elements

○Image elements do not have `[alt]` attributes that are redundant text.

○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.