Accessibility

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

SCORE

GRADE

FIX

REVIEW

PASS

INFO

Checks

4 PASS 5 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

No dark mode signals

FIX

No dark mode signals

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 ModeNo Dark Mode Detected

color-scheme meta Not set ✗Dark theme-color Not set ✗CSS indicators Not detected ✗

Detection limited to meta tags and inline styles.

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 ✗

Form Accessibility

2 of 3 controls have issues

REVIEW

2 of 3 controls have issues

1 control(s) without accessible label

Form controls need a <label>, aria-label, or aria-labelledby for screen readers.

Got: <textarea name="g-recaptcha-response" id="g-recaptcha-response-100000">

1 control(s) rely on placeholder only

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

Got: <input type="email" name="email" id="email">

1 control(s) properly labeled

3 controls

1 labeled

1 placeholder only

1 unlabeled

Control	Type	Label	Method
#wp-block-search__input-1	search	Search	for/id
#email	email	(Email address)	placeholder only
#g-recaptcha-response-100000	textarea	(none)	none

Form controls need a <label>, aria-label, or aria-labelledby for screen readers.

Why this matters

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

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

Why this matters

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

Learn more ▾

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

Source: WCAG 2.1 SC 3.3.2 / Nielsen Norman

Link & Button Quality

Action

316 links, 13 buttons — all OK

REVIEW

316 links, 13 buttons — all OK

13 image-only link(s) without alt text

9 link(s) open in new tab without warning

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

Got: https://techcrunch.com/events/strictlyvc-san-francisco-2026/?utm_source=tc&utm_medium=ad&utm_campaign=svcsf2026&utm_content=ticketsales&promo=rightrail&display=; https://twitter.com/techcrunch; https://www.linkedin.com/company/techcrunch; https://www.facebook.com/techcrunch; https://instagram.com/techcrunch; https://www.youtube.com/user/techcrunch; https://mstdn.social/@TechCrunch; https://www.threads.net/@techcrunch; https://bsky.app/profile/techcrunch.com

294 link(s) with descriptive text

316 links

0 empty

0 generic text

9 new tab

0 empty buttons

Element	Text	Issue	Suggested Fix
https://techcrunch.com	TechCrunch Desktop Logo	img no alt	Add alt attribute to the image
https://techcrunch.com	TechCrunch Mobile Logo	img no alt	Add alt attribute to the image
/latest/	See More	img no alt	Add alt attribute to the image
https://techcrunch.com/events/strictlyvc…	REGISTER NOW	new tab	Add '(opens in new tab)' to text
/events/	See More	img no alt	Add alt attribute to the image
/newsletters	See More	img no alt	Add alt attribute to the image
/category/artificial-intelligence/	See More	img no alt	Add alt attribute to the image
/category/startups/	See More	img no alt	Add alt attribute to the image
/video	See More	img no alt	Add alt attribute to the image
/category/security/	See More	img no alt	Add alt attribute to the image
/category/venture	See More	img no alt	Add alt attribute to the image
/category/apps/	See More	img no alt	Add alt attribute to the image
/category/transportation/	See More	img no alt	Add alt attribute to the image
/podcasts/	See More	img no alt	Add alt attribute to the image
https://twitter.com/techcrunch	X	new tab	Add '(opens in new tab)' to text
https://www.linkedin.com/company/techcru…	LinkedIn	new tab	Add '(opens in new tab)' to text
https://www.facebook.com/techcrunch	Facebook	new tab	Add '(opens in new tab)' to text
https://instagram.com/techcrunch	Instagram	new tab	Add '(opens in new tab)' to text
https://www.youtube.com/user/techcrunch	youTube	new tab	Add '(opens in new tab)' to text
https://mstdn.social/@TechCrunch	Mastodon	new tab	Add '(opens in new tab)' to text
https://www.threads.net/@techcrunch	Threads	new tab	Add '(opens in new tab)' to text
https://bsky.app/profile/techcrunch.com	Bluesky	new tab	Add '(opens in new tab)' to text

307 links and buttons have descriptive text

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

https://techcrunch.com/events/strictlyvc-san-francisco-2026/?utm_source=tc&utm_medium=ad&utm_campaign=svcsf2026&utm_content=ticketsales&promo=rightrail&display=; https://twitter.com/techcrunch; https://www.linkedin.com/company/techcrunch; https://www.facebook.com/techcrunch; https://instagram.com/techcrunch; https://www.youtube.com/user/techcrunch; https://mstdn.social/@TechCrunch; https://www.threads.net/@techcrunch; https://bsky.app/profile/techcrunch.com

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

REVIEW

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

404 Page Quality ✓ Custom 404 Page

Status Code HTTP 404 ✓Page Title Page not found | TechCrunch ✓Custom Styling ✓Navigation ✓Homepage Link ✓Search Form ✗

Favicon & Branding

4 icon(s) detected

REVIEW

4 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 TechCrunch | Startup and Technology News

3.02:1

#000000

#5631EA

needs 4.5:1 (normal text)

16px · top of page (header area)

a Skip to content

3.02:1

#000000

#5631EA

needs 4.5:1 (normal text)

16px · top of page (header area)

Show all checked elements (20)

Element	Ratio	Required	FG	BG	Result
h1 Opt out of the sale …	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h2 Latest News	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h2 Most Popular	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h2 Upcoming Events	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h2 Newsletters	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h2 Startups	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h2 Video	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h2 Security	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h2 Venture	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h2 Apps	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h2 Transportation	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h2 In Brief	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h2 Podcasts	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h3 Topics	4.64:1	3.0:1	#000000	#0A8935	Pass
h3 More from TechCrunch	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h3 Build Mode	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h3 Equity	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
h3 StrictlyVC Download	18.43:1	3.0:1	#000000	#EDF1EF	Pass
title TechCrunch \| Startup…	3.02:1	4.5:1	#000000	#5631EA	Fail
a Skip to content	3.02:1	4.5:1	#000000	#5631EA	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

8 landmarks

PASS

8 landmarks

<main> landmark present

5 <nav> landmark(s) found

All <nav> elements are properly labeled

Skip navigation link present

Page Structure — as a screen reader sees it

Heading Hierarchy

102 headings, 1 skip(s)

PASS

102 headings, 1 skip(s)

Single H1 present

Heading level skipped: H2 → H5 (missing H3)

Skipping heading levels breaks the document outline. Screen readers may interpret missing levels as structural errors.

4 hidden heading(s) (aria-hidden)

H3 Topics
H3 More from TechCrunch
H3 The anonymous social app that thinks it can work in Saudi Arabia
H3 The final days of the Tesla Model X and S are here. All bets are on the Cybercab.
H3 The Facebook insider building content moderation for the AI era
H3 Europe’s cyber agency blames hacking gangs for massive data breach and leak
H3 Amazon hits sellers with ‘fuel surcharge’ as Iran war roils global energy markets
H3 Artemis II is NASA’s last moon mission without Silicon Valley
H3 Microsoft takes on AI rivals with three new foundational models
H3 Tesla’s cheaper vehicles aren’t helping its declining sales
H2 Latest News
H3 After fighting malware for decades, this cybersecurity veteran is now hacking drones
H3 Anthropic is having a moment in the private markets; SpaceX could spoil the party
H3 Lucid blames dip in Q1 sales on seat supplier issue
H3 The anonymous social app that thinks it can work in Saudi Arabia
H3 Tesla’s Texas factory workforce reportedly shrunk 22% in 2025
H3 OpenAI executive shuffle includes new role for COO Brad Lightcap to lead ‘special projects’
H3 Anthropic buys biotech startup Coefficient Bio in $400M deal: Reports
H3 Anthropic ramps up its political activities with a new PAC
H3 Best iPad apps to boost productivity and make your life easier
H3 AI companies are building huge natural gas plants to power data centers. What could go wrong?
H2 Most Popular
H3 Anthropic took down thousands of GitHub repos trying to yank its leaked source code — a move the company says was an accident
H3 The reputation of troubled YC startup Delve has gotten even worse
H3 Anthropic is having a month
H3 Google is now letting users in the US change their Gmail address
H3 Allbirds is selling for $39M. It raised nearly 10 times that amount in its IPO.
H3 Why OpenAI really shut down Sora
H3 The Pixel 10a doesn’t have a camera bump, and it’s great
H2 Upcoming Events
H3 StrictlyVC San Francisco 2026
H3 StrictlyVC Athens 2026
H3 TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
H3 TechCrunch Founder Summit 2026
H2 Newsletters
H5 TechCrunch Daily News hidden
H5 Startups Weekly hidden
H5 TechCrunch Week in Review hidden
H5 TechCrunch Mobility hidden
H2 AI
H3 Anthropic is having a moment in the private markets; SpaceX could spoil the party
H3 OpenAI executive shuffle includes new role for COO Brad Lightcap to lead ‘special projects’
H3 Anthropic buys biotech startup Coefficient Bio in $400M deal: Reports
H3 Anthropic ramps up its political activities with a new PAC
H3 AI companies are building huge natural gas plants to power data centers. What could go wrong?
H2 Startups
H3 Anthropic buys biotech startup Coefficient Bio in $400M deal: Reports
H3 The Facebook insider building content moderation for the AI era
H3 Commonwealth Fusion Systems leans on magnets for near-term revenue
H3 Diverse teams start with diverse VCs
H3 A diverse team will make your startup more successful
H2 Video
H2 Building a lean team before raising big with Narada CEO David Park
H3 A diverse team will make your startup more successful
H3 The new competition for your cap table
H3 OpenAI shuts down Sora while Meta gets shut out in court
H3 Hiring during hypergrowth with Isaiah Granet, Bland
H3 How soap opera-TikTok hybrids became a billion-dollar business
H3 What happened at Nvidia GTC: NemoClaw, Robot Olaf, and a $1 trillion bet
H3 How to fight with your co-founder
H3 The leaderboard “you can’t game,” funded by the companies it ranks
H3 The $32B acquisition that one VC is calling the ‘Deal of the Decade’
H3 Navigating unique co-founder relationships
H2 Security
H3 After fighting malware for decades, this cybersecurity veteran is now hacking drones
H3 Europe’s cyber agency blames hacking gangs for massive data breach and leak
H3 Telehealth giant Hims & Hers says its customer support system was hacked
H3 Money transfer app Duc exposed thousands of driver’s licenses and passports to the open web
H3 ICE says it bought Paragon’s spyware to use in drug trafficking cases
H2 Venture
H3 Anthropic buys biotech startup Coefficient Bio in $400M deal: Reports
H3 Gateway Capital announces first close of $25M Fund II
H3 Diverse teams start with diverse VCs, with Leah Solivan, Taskrabbit
H3 Startup funding shatters all records in Q1
H3 Why private wealth is cutting out the VC middleman
H3 The new competition for your cap table
H3 Cognichip wants AI to design the chips that power AI, and just raised $60M to try
H3 Less than a month: StrictlyVC San Francisco brings leaders from TDK Ventures, Replit, and more together
H2 Apps
H3 Best iPad apps to boost productivity and make your life easier
H3 Flipboard’s new ‘social websites’ help publishers and creators tap into the open social web
H3 ElevenLabs releases a new AI-powered music-generation app
H3 Google now lets you direct avatars through prompts in its Vids app
H3 United’s mobile app now shows TSA wait times at select airports
H2 Transportation
H3 Lucid blames dip in Q1 sales on seat supplier issue
H3 Tesla’s Texas factory workforce reportedly shrunk 22% in 2025
H3 The final days of the Tesla Model X and S are here. All bets are on the Cybercab.
H3 United’s mobile app now shows TSA wait times at select airports
H3 Tesla’s cheaper vehicles aren’t helping its declining sales
H2 In Brief
H3 Tesla’s Texas factory workforce reportedly shrunk 22% in 2025
H3 Anthropic buys biotech startup Coefficient Bio in $400M deal: Reports
H3 Anthropic ramps up its political activities with a new PAC
H3 People would rather have an Amazon warehouse in their backyard than a data center
H3 Gateway Capital announces first close of $25M Fund II
H3 De-fi platform Drift suspends deposits and withdrawals after millions in crypto stolen in hack
H2 Podcasts
H3 Build Mode
H3 Equity
H3 StrictlyVC Download
H1 Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information

Skipping heading levels breaks the document outline. Screen readers may interpret missing levels as structural errors.

Why this matters

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

Alt Text Quality

1 of 72 images have issues

PASS

1 of 72 images have issues

1 image(s) with generic alt text

2 image(s) with alt text over 125 characters

36 decorative image(s) correctly marked

33 image(s) with good alt text

72 images 33 good alt text 36 decorative 1 generic

Issue	Count
generic	1 image(s)
too long	2 image(s)

A+

Lighthouse Accessibility Audits

Score 97/100 — 1 failing, 30 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.

Tables and lists

Screen readers have a specific way of announcing lists. Ensuring proper list structure aids screen reader output. Learn more about proper list structure.

Why this matters

Performance issues directly impact user engagement and conversion rates.

Failing Elements
FEATURED After fighting malware for decades, this cybersecurity veteran is now … `div.wp-block-columns > div.wp-block-column > div.wp-block-query > ul.wp-block-post-template`

These are opportunities to improve the experience of reading tabular or list data using assistive technology, like a screen reader.

○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

●Form elements have associated labels

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

●ARIA attributes are used as specified for the element's role

●`[aria-hidden="true"]` elements do not contain focusable descendents

●Elements use only permitted ARIA attributes

●Background and foreground colors have a sufficient contrast ratio

●Document has a `<title>` element

●`<frame>` or `<iframe>` elements have a title

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

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

●Links are distinguishable without relying on color.

●Links have a discernible name

●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

●Skip links are focusable.

●Document has a main landmark.

●Deprecated ARIA roles were not used

●Uses ARIA roles only on compatible elements

●Identical links have the same purpose.

●Elements with visible text labels have matching accessible names.

○`[accesskey]` values are unique

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

○Elements with `role="dialog"` or `role="alertdialog"` have accessible names.

○ARIA input fields have accessible names

○ARIA `meter` elements have accessible names

○ARIA `progressbar` elements have accessible names

○Elements with 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

○`<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

○The document does not use `<meta http-equiv="refresh">`

○`<object>` elements have alternate text

○Select elements have associated label elements.

○Cells in a `<table>` element that use the `[headers]` attribute refer to table cells within the same table.

○`<th>` elements and elements with `[role="columnheader"/"rowheader"]` have data cells they describe.

○`[lang]` attributes have a valid value

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

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

○All heading elements contain content.

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

○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.