--- title: "How to create a scan exclusion" date: "2025-01-08T21:13:37+00:00" summary: "Learn to create and apply scan exclusions for Acquia Web Governance website scans." image: type: "page" url: "/web-governance/how-create-scan-exclusion" id: "4577649b-97c1-42a4-968a-e50229048385" --- Table of contents will be added Introduction ------------ This article tells you how to set up scan exclusions. The Scan exclusion function in Acquia Web Governance lets Admin users configure custom exclusions to website scans. The configuration helps to target particular elements and prevent the contents from being flagged as issues. Add exclusions to accessibility, readability, and misspelling checks on a customer level and then apply them to specific domains. Scan exclusions use Regular Expressions (regexes). Regexes are application programming interfaces (APIs) that define string patterns. You can use a regex to search, manipulate, and edit a string in Java. For example, a regex can define the constraints for email validation and passwords. Note Regexes in path constraints are not fully compatible with the Policies module. The languages are different (Java and Ruby). For more information and examples, read [Class Patterns by Oracle](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/regex/Pattern.html). Video walkthrough on scan exclusion setup ----------------------------------------- This video provides a walkthrough of the steps outlined in this document. Navigation ---------- Follow these steps to view current scan exclusions: 1. Log in to Web Governance. 2. Select the applicable domain. 3. Click ****Admin**** on the top menu bar. 4. Click ****Scan Exclusions**** on the left menu. Scan Exclusions landing page ---------------------------- This section describes the ****Scan Exclusions**** dashboard. The page contains these elements: * ****Tabs****: Accessibility, Misspellings, Language Validation, and Readability. * ****Add scan exclusion**** button. * ****Data table:**** The table contains these columns: * ****Title:**** Shows the name of the scan exclusion. * ****Actions:**** Opens a menu with ****Edit**** and ****Delete**** options. Create a scan exclusion ----------------------- You can create four types of scan exclusions: * Accessibility * Misspellings * Language Validation * Readability The sections below give the steps for each type of scan exclusion. ### Create an Accessibility scan exclusion 1. Log in to Web Governance. 2. Select the applicable domain.  3. Click **Admin** on the top menu bar. 4. Click **Add a scan exclusion**. 5. In the _Details_ section, provide the requested information: * **Type**: Select **Accessibility**. * **Title**: Provide a title for the exclusion. * **Auto-apply to domains with CMS**: Click the arrow and select a CMS. * **Apply exclusion to domains**: Click the arrow and type in a search phrase to find domains. 6. In the _HTML exclusion section_, provide the requested information to exclude an element based on name in the webpage source code: * **Type**: Click the arrow and select the type of HTML that best matches the scope of the exclusion: * **Exact** * **Regex** * **Contains** * **Value**: Enter or paste the source code snippet that you want to exclude. Find this in the source code for the page. * **Checks**: Click the arrow and select the accessibility checks that you want to exclude from the scan. 7. To add a new exclusion, click **+Add exclusion**. ### Create a Misspellings scan exclusion 1. Log in to Web Governance. 2. Select the applicable domain.  3. Click **Admin** on the top menu bar. 4. Click **Add a scan exclusion**. 5. In the _Details_ section, provide the requested information: * **Type**: Select **Misspellings**. * **Title**: Provide a title for the exclusion. * **Auto-apply to domains with CMS**: Click the arrow and select a CMS. * **Apply exclusion to domains**: Click the arrow and type in a search phrase to find domains. 6. In the _CSS selector exclusion_ section, provide the requested information to exclude an element based on its CSS selector tagname, class, ID, or attribute. 7. To add a new exclusion, click **+Add exclusion**. ### Create a Language Validation scan exclusion 1. Log in to Web Governance. 2. Select the applicable domain. 3. Click **Admin** on the top menu bar. 4. Click **Add a scan exclusion**. 5. In the _Details_ section, provide the requested information: * **Type**: Select **Language Validation**. * **Title**: Provide a title for the exclusion. * **Auto-apply to domains with CMS**: Click the arrow and select a CMS. * **Apply exclusion to domains**: Click the arrow and type in a search phrase to find domains. 6. In the _CSS selector exclusion_ section, provide the requested information to exclude an element based on its CSS selector tagname, class, ID, or attribute. 7. To add a new exclusion, click **+Add exclusion**. ### Create a Readability scan exclusion 1. Log in to Web Governance 2. Select the applicable domain. 3. Click **Admin** on the top menu bar. 4. Click **Add a scan exclusion**. 5. In the _Details_ section, provide the requested information: * **Type**: Select **Readability**. * **Title**: Provide a title for the exclusion. * **Auto-apply to domains with CMS**: Click the arrow and select a CMS. * **Apply exclusion to domains**: Click the arrow and type in a search phrase to find domains. 6. In the _CSS selector exclusion_ section, provide the requested information to exclude an element based on its CSS selector tagname, class, ID, or attribute. 7. To add a new exclusion, click **+Add exclusion**. Edit a scan exclusion --------------------- 1. Log in to Web Governance. 2. Select the applicable domain. 3. Click ****Admin**** on the top menu bar. 4. Click ****Scan Exclusions**** on the left menu. 5. Find the scan exclusion that you want to edit. 6. Click the ****Action**** icon (three vertical dots) on that row. 7. Click ****Edit****. 8. Change the data as necessary. 9. Click ****Save**** at the bottom of the page. Delete a scan exclusion ----------------------- 1. Log in to Web Governance. 2. Select the applicable domain. 3. Click ****Admin**** on the top menu bar. 4. Click ****Scan Exclusions**** on the left menu. 5. Find the scan exclusion that you want to delete. 6. Click the ****Action**** icon (three vertical dots) on that row. 7. Click ****Delete****. 8. Click ****Delete**** in the confirmation dialog. 9. Click ****Save**** at the bottom of the page. 10. Click **Admin Settings** (the gear icon) on the top menu bar. The system displays the _Admin dashboard_. 11. Click **Add a Scan Exclusion** in the _Quick actions_ section. Alternatively: 1. Click **Configuration** (the wrench icon) on the left menu bar. 2. Select **Scan Exclusion** from the expanded options. 3. Select the type of scan exclusion that you want to add: * **Accessibility** * **Misspellings** * **Readability** ### Accessibility scan exclusions This section provides instructions on the fields that you need to complete to create an accessibility scan exclusion. 1. **Title** (required): Add a title that describes the exclusion. 2. **Auto-apply to domains with CMS**: Do one of the following: * Select **None** (default) if there is no CMS. * Scroll through the list and select the CMS that is used for your domain. * Notes * If a domain with the same selected CMS exists on the Web Governance account, the domain automatically inherits the exclusion. * If the CMS used for your domain is not present in the list, [contact the Support team](mailto:webgovsupport@acquia.com) and ask them to investigate if it is possible to add it. 3. **HTML Exclusion**: Provide the following information to exclude elements based on their name in the web page source code: 1. **Type** (required). Select from the available options: * Exact: This type identifies and filters out all instances where the complete and exact HTML snippet is displayed. For example, the snippet `https://www. example.com/` is an exact match for `https://www.example.com/`. * The following HTML snippets are not exact matches: * `https://www.example.com` * `http://www.example.com/` * `https://example.com/` * `https://example.com/?something=1` * `https://example.com/#something=1` * **Regex**: This type identifies and filters out specific patterns of HTML through the use of regular expressions. * **Contains**: This type identifies and filters out all snippets that contain the HTML values entered. For example, the snippet `example.com` is a match for the following HTML snippets: * `https://www.example.com/` * `https://www.example.com` * `http://www. example.com/` * `https://example.com/` * `https://example.com/?query=1` * `https://example.com/subpage` * `https://example.com/subpage/product_page` 2. **Value** (required). Enter or paste the source code snippet that you want to exclude. * For example: `

` 3. **Checks** * Begin typing the name of the check and select the Accessibility checks to exclude from the list. Select as many as needed. 4. Click **Save**. 5. Repeat as needed. 6. Add the updated script to the HTML code. For more information, visit [How to add the script](/node/60216). ### Misspelled words scan exclusions This section provides instructions on how to exclude a segment of a webpage from the spellcheck. 1. **Title**: Add a title that describes the exclusion (required). 2. **Auto-apply to domains with CMS**: Select the CMS that is used for your domain. Select **None** (default) if there is no CMS. Note * If a domain with the same selected CMS exists on the Web Governance account, the domain automatically inherits the exclusion. * If the CMS used for your domain is not present in the list, [contact the Support team](mailto:webgovsupport@acquia.com) and ask them to investigate if it is possible to add it. 3. **Apply exclusion to domains**: Begin to type the name of the domain to populate the list and select one or more domains to apply this exclusion on. 4. **CSS Selector Exclusion** (required): Click in the field and select an existing CSS selector pattern from the drop-down menu, or click **+** to add a new one. Add as many as you need. Subsequent scans identify elements that match the entered CSS selector patterns and they are omitted from the results. 5. Click **Save**. 6. Add the updated script to the HTML code. For more information, visit [How to add the script](/node/60216). Note * For more information, visit: * [Quality Assurance Spellcheck](/node/58836) for instructions on how to use the Quality Assurance feature to repair misspelled words. * [Fix Misspelled words](/node/58611) for instructions on how to repair misspelled words with other Web Governance modules. ### Readability scan exclusions This section provides instructions on how to exclude a webpage from the _Readability_ feature. 1. **Title** (required): Add a title that describes the exclusion. 2. **Auto-apply to domains with CMS**: Select the CMS that is used for your domain. Select None (default) if there is no CMS. 3. **Apply exclusion to domains**: Begin typing the name of the domain and select one or more domains to apply this exclusion on. 4. **CSS Selector Exclusion** (required): Click in the field and select an existing CSS selector pattern from the drop-down menu, or click **\+** to add a new one. Add as many as you need. Subsequent scans identify elements that match the entered CSS selector patterns and they are omitted from the results. 5. Click **Save**. 6. Add the updated script to the HTML code. For more information, visit [How to add the script](/node/60216). Editing a scan exclusion ------------------------ This section provides instructions on how to edit an existing scan exclusion. 1. Click **Admin Settings** (the gear icon) on the top menu bar. ![The location of the Admin Settings button on the main menu bar.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/5jjkxxc4ps/web/WebGov_MainToolbar-AdminSettingsButton.png?v=44dfb321-2b2f-48da-8d3d-d42d738df888) The system displays the _Admin dashboard_. 2. Click **Configuration** (the wrench icon) on the left menu bar. 3. Select **Scan Exclusion** from the expanded options. The system displays the list of existing scan exclusions. 4. On the same row as the scan exclusion that you want to edit, click the kebab menu and select **Edit**. 5. Make the changes as needed. 6. Save the changes. Deleting a scan exclusion ------------------------- This section provides instructions on how to delete a scan exclusion. 1. Click **Admin Settings** (the gear icon) on the top menu bar.  ![The location of the Admin Settings button on the main menu bar.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/5jjkxxc4ps/web/WebGov_MainToolbar-AdminSettingsButton.png?v=44dfb321-2b2f-48da-8d3d-d42d738df888) The system displays the _Admin dashboard_. 2. Click **Configuration** (the wrench icon) on the left menu bar. 3. Select **Scan Exclusion** from the expanded options. The system displays the list of existing scan exclusions. 4. Click the kebab menu on the same row as the scan exclusion that you want to delete and select **Delete**. The system displays a confirmation dialog box. 5. Click **Delete** in the dialog box to confirm. The system removes the scan exclusion from the list and from any domain that it was used on. Additional resources -------------------- For more information, visit: * [Locate HTML Snippets to use in a Scan Exclusion](/node/94721) * [CSS selectors by Mozilla](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_Selectors) * [CSS selector syntax by jsoup](https://jsoup.org/cookbook/extracting-data/selector-syntax)