Accessibility checks update - July-August 2024

Acquia Optimize has performed a round of periodic updates to our accessibility checks to improve the overall quality of accessibility scans.

For more information and a list of the new checks and notes about replaced or removed checks, see the user guide article:

Accessibility Checks.

An orange line with the label "Accessibility checks update" on your charts and tables in the Accessibility module indicates when your domain started scanning with the updated versions of checks.

All checks are updated automatically and Acquia Optimize users do not need to do anything in order to take advantage of the changes. However, as a consequence of the update, be aware that your accessibility compliance score may change.

Changes in accessibility scores are expected, due to more accurate and comprehensive assessment of website accessibility as well as the way Acquia Optimize calculates accessibility scores.

• Significant upgrade: Whereas the old version of accessibility checking engine performed 180 checks. The new version includes 150 checks. Only 97 of the original checks remain. Over 35% of the checks are completely new.
• More accurate checks: Past version of the rules engine included outdated checks which very rarely flagged issues, bloating the accessibility scores. The updated version replaces outdated checks with more relevant checks that are able to uncover more issues.
• Score calculation: Multiple occurrences of a check on a single page impact your score the same as a single occurrence of that error on a single page.

Changelog: All of the details on what has changed

In the following section, we provide details on the specific updates to the various accessibility checks as part of this release.

Removed checks

• Check 1 All img elements have an alt attribute.
• Check 3 Image Alt text is short.
• Check 6 Alt text for all img elements is not placeholder text unless author has confirmed it is correct.
• Check 7 Alt text for all img elements used as source anchors is not empty when there is no other text in the anchor.
• Check 8 A long description is used for each img element that does not have Alt text conveying the same information as the image.
• Check 14 For all img elements, text does not refer to the image by color alone.
• Check 16 Alt text for all img elements is the empty string ("") if the image is decorative.
• Check 21 applet should not use color alone.
• Check 23 applet contains a text equivalent in the alt attribute of the applet.
• Check 24 Text equivalents for applet must be updated if applet changes.
• Check 25 applet contains a text equivalent in the body of the applet.
• Check 55 input should not use color alone.
• Check 73 object must not use color alone.
• Check 80 All objects contain a text equivalent of the object.
• Check 86 Color alone should not be used in the script.
• Check 145 Links to multimedia have a link to text alternative.
• Check 146 object link to multimedia file require equivalent alternatives (e.g., captions or auditory descriptions of the visual track).
• Check 160 object may require a long description.
• Check 163 All embed elements have an associated noembed element that contains a text equivalent to the embed element.
• Check 178 Alt text for all img elements that are not used as source anchors conveys the same information as the image.
• Check 188 Each label associated with an input element contains text.
• Check 189 Each label describes its associated input element.
• Check 221 The luminosity contrast ratio between text and background color is at least 5:1.
• Check 222 The luminosity contrast ratio between link text and background color is at least 5:1.
• Check 223 The luminosity contrast ratio between active link text and background color is at least 5:1.
• Check 224 The luminosity contrast ratio between visited link text and background color is at least 5:1.
• Check 238 All input elements, except those with with a type attribute value of "image", do not have an alt attribute.
• Check 239 title attribute for all img elements is absent or the empty string ("") if the image is decorative.
• Check 252 All text colors or no text colors are set.
• Check 270 Unicode right-to-left marks or left-to-right marks are used whenever the HTML bidirectional algorithm produces undesirable results.
• Check 271 All changes in text direction are marked using the dir attribute.
• Check 353 Provide sufficient contrast between text and background colours.
• Check 355 Text colour must provide high contrast with its background colour.
• Check 357 Alt text should not be part of the filename.
• Check 131 Use the blockquote element to mark-up block quotations.
• Check 111 All complex data tables have a summary.
• Check 136 All data tables contain th elements.
• Check 137 All layout tables do not contain th elements.
• Check 151 All data tables contain a caption unless the table is identified within the document.
• Check 168 All radio button groups are marked using fieldset and legend elements.
• Check 230 Use thead to group repeated table headers, tfoot for repeated table footers, and tbody for other groups of rows.
• Check 231 Use colgroup and col elements to group columns.
• Check 247 All Checkbox groups are marked using fieldset and legend elements.
• Check 349 Data tables that contain both row and column headers use the scope attribute, or id and headers, to identify cells.
• Check 26 applet user interface must be accessible.
• Check 76 object user interface must be accessible.
• Check 89 User interface for script must be accessible.
• Check 103 All ondblclick event handlers have corresponding keyboard-specific functions.
• Check 104 All onmousedown event handlers have an associated onkeydown event handler.
• Check 105 All onmousemove event handlers have corresponding keyboard-specific functions.
• Check 106 All onmouseout event handlers have an associated onblur event handler.
• Check 107 All onmouseover event handlers have an associated onfocus event handler.
• Check 108 All onmouseup event handlers have an associated onkeyup event handler.
• Check 22 applets cause screen flicker.
• Check 30 All objects do not flicker.
• Check 87 script should not cause screen flicker.
• Check 50 Document contains a title element.
• Check 51 title contains text.
• Check 52 title is short.
• Check 53 title is not placeholder text.
• Check 54 title describes the document.
• Check 37 The header following an h1 is h1 or h2.
• Check 38 The header following an h2 is h1, h2 or h3.
• Check 39 The header following an h3 is h1, h2, h3 or h4.
• Check 40 The header following an h4 is h1, h2, h3, h4 or h5.
• Check 41 The header following an h5 is h6 or any header less than h6.
• Check 265 The tab order specified by tabindex attributes follows a logical order.

Added checks

New checks related to 1.1.1 Non text content (A)

SVG element with explicit role has non-empty accessible name (error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule.
• This rule checks that each SVG image element that is explicitly included in the accessibility tree has a non-empty accessible name. 
  ​

Image has non-empty accessible name (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that each image either has a non-empty accessible name or is marked up as decorative.
• This rule replaces old checks 1, 6, 7, 16 (see list of removed checks above)

object element rendering non-text content has non-empty accessible name (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that each object element rendering non-text content has a non-empty accessible name.
• This rule replaces old check number 80 (see list of removed checks above)
  ​

Image not in the accessibility tree is decorative (Warning)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that visible img svg and canvas elements that are ignored by assistive technologies are decorative.
• This rule replaces old check number 239 (see list of removed checks above)

Image not in the accessibility tree is decorative (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that visible img svg and canvas elements that are ignored by assistive technologies are decorative.
• This rule replacers old checks 3, 8, 23, 178, 357 (see list of removed checks above)

Image button has non-empty accessible name (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that each image button element has a non-empty accessible name.
• This rule is an updated version of old check number 238 (see list of removed checks above).

New checks related to 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) (A)

Video element visual-only content has accessible alternative. (Warning)

• This rule checks that video elements without audio have an alternative available.
  ​

Audio element content has text alternative. (Warning)

• This rule checks that audio elements have a text alternative available.

New checks related to 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) (A)

Video element auditory content has accessible alternative (Warning)

• This rule checks that video elements have an alternative for information conveyed through audio.

New checks related to 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded) (A)

object link to multimedia file require equivalent alternatives (e.g. captions or auditory descriptions of the visual track). (Review)

• This rule checks if object element contains a type attribute value of a "video" and asks you to review if alternative is correctly provided.
• This check replaces old check 146 (see list of removed checks above)

Video element visual content has accessible alternative. (Warning)

• This rule checks that video elements with audio have an alternative for the video content as audio or as text.

New checks related to 1.2.4 Captions (Live) (AA)

Captions (Live) (Warning)

• This rule asks user to review if live video has captions.

New checks related to 1.2.6 Sign Language (Prerecorded) (AAA)

Sign Language (Prerecorded) (Warning)

• This rule asks user to review if sign language interpretation is provided for all prerecorded audio content in synchronized media.

New checks related to 1.2.7 Extended Audio Description (Prerecorded) (AAA)

Extended Audio Description (Warning)

• This rule requires users to evaluate situations where pauses in the foreground audio are too brief to allow audio descriptions to effectively convey the video's meaning. In such cases, extended audio descriptions must be provided for all prerecorded video content in synchronized media.

New checks related to 1.2.8 Media Alternative (Prerecorded) (AAA)

Media Alternative (Prerecorded) (Warning)

• This rule requires users to evaluate if alternative for time-based media is provided for all prerecorded synchronized media and for all prerecorded video-only media.

New checks related to 1.2.9 Audio Only (Live) (AAA)

Audio Only (Live) (Warning)

• This check requires users to evaluate if live audio has a media alternative.

New checks related to 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A)

ARIA attribute is defined in WAI-ARIA (Error)

• This rule checks that each aria- attribute specified is defined in ARIA 1.2.
  ​

ARIA state or property has valid value (Error)

• This rule checks that each ARIA state or property has a valid value type.
  ​

ARIA required context role (Error)

• This rule checks that an element with an explicit semantic role exists inside its required context.
  ​

ARIA required ID references exist (Error)

• This rule checks that every ID reference required by WAI-ARIA exists
  ​

Use a quote element to mark up quotations. (Warning)

• This check requires user to review that the quotations in your text are within relevant quote elements to ensure that users of assistive technology can easily identify quotations.
  ​

Non-decorative content in pseudo classes (Error)

• The rule checks if “::before” and “::after” pseudo classes contains non-decorative content.
  ​

Headers attribute specified on a cell refers to cells in the same table element (Error)

• This rule checks that all headers attributes in cells of a given table refers to ids of cells within that same table.
  ​

Aria required owned elements (Error)

• This rule checks that an element with an explicit semantic role has at least one of its required owned elements.
  ​

Table header cell has assigned cells (Error)

• This rule checks that each table header has assigned cells in a table element.
  ​

Element needs to have the right semantic role (Warning)

• This rule requires user to check that the elements you can click touch or navigate have the right semantic role.
  ​

Heading has non-empty accessible name (Error)

• This rule checks that each heading element in the document has an accessible name which is not empty.

New checks related to 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (A)

HTML layout tables should make sense when linearized (Warning)

• This rule requires user to investigate that content in layout tables makes sense when linearized.
  ​

Using white space characters to control spacing within a word (Error)

• This rule checks that white space characters such as space tab line break or carriage return are not used to format individual words visually.
  ​

Using white space characters to create multiple columns or to format tables in plain text content (Error)

• This rule checks that white space characters such as space tab line break or carriage return are not used to create columns or format tables in plain text.
  ​

Changing the meaning of content by positioning information with CSS. (Review)

• This rule requires users to verify that CSS, rather than structural markup, is used to alter the visual layout of the content, and that these layout changes do not affect the content's meaning.

New checks related to 1.4.1 Use of color (A)

Use of Color (Review)

• This check requires user to review that Color is not used as the only visual means of conveying information indicating an action prompting a response or distinguishing a visual element.
• This check replaces following checks 14, 21, 55, 73, 86, 221-224, 252 (see list of removed checks above).
  ​

Links inside text are sufficiently distinguishable (Error)

• This rule looks for links that have adjacent text and compares it to various criteria to determine if is sufficiently distinguishable from the text.
• This check replaces check 404 (see list of removed checks above).

New checks related to 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (AA)

Text has minimum contrast (Error)

• This rule checks that the highest possible contrast of every text character with its background meets the minimal contrast requirement.
• This rule replaces check 353 (see list of removed checks above)

New checks related to 1.4.6 Contrast (Enhanced) (AAA)

Text has enhanced contrast (Error)

• This rule checks that the highest possible contrast of every text character with its background meets the enhanced contrast requirement.
• This rule replaces check 355 (see list of removed checks above).

New checks related to 2.1.1 Keyboard (A)

All functionality of the content is operable through a keyboard interface (Review)

• This rule requires user to Review that all functionality can be operated by keyboard.

Scrollable content can be reached with sequential focus navigation (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that an element with an explicit semantic role exists inside its required context.
  ​

Iframe with interactive elements is not excluded from tab-ordern (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that iframe elements which contain an interactive (tabbable) element are not excluded from sequential focus navigation.
• This rule replaces old checks 26, 76, 89, 103-108 (see list of removed checks above).

New checks related to 2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap (A)

Keyboard Trap (Review)

• Review that the keyboard focus is not trapped by any component on the web page.
• This rule replaces old check(s) 258, 259, 260 (see list of removed checks above)

New checks related to 2.1.3 Keyboard (No Exception) (AAA)

Scrollable content can be reached with sequential focus navigation (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that scrollable elements or their descendants can be reached with sequential focus navigation so that they can be scrolled by keyboard

New checks related to 2.2.1 Timing adjustable (A)

Meta element has no refresh delay (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that the first valid meta refresh element on the page is either an instant redirect or has a very long delay (20 hours).

New checks related to 2.4.2 Page Titled (A)

HTML page has non-empty title (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that a non-embedded HTML page has a non-empty title.
• This check replaces checks 50-54 (see list of removed checks above).
  ​

HTML page title is descriptive (Review)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that the first title in an HTML web page describes the topic or purpose of that page.

New checks related to 2.4.3 Focus order (A)

The tab order specified by tabindex attributes follows a logical order (Review)

• This review check requires users to validate that there is a logical tab order when the default tab order does not suffice.
• This review check replaces old check 265 (see list of removed checks above).

New checks related to 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (AA)

Heading is descriptive (Review)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that headings describe the topic or purpose of the content.
• This rule replaces checks 37-41 (see list of removed checks above).
  ​

Each label describes its associated input element. (Review)

• This check requires user to review if each label describes its associated input element.
• This check replaces old check 189 (see list of removed checks above).

New checks related to 2.4.7 Focus visible (AA)

Element in sequential focus order has visible focus (Warning)

• This check is an ACT-rule
• This warning type check requires user to review if the keyboard focus indicator is visible.

New checks related to 3.3.2 Labels or instructions (A)

Each label associated with an input element contains text. (Error)

• This rule checks that a label contains text.
• This rule replaces old check 188 (see list of removed checks above).

New checks related to 4.1.2 Name, Rule Value (A)

Element with role attribute has required states and properties

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that elements that have an explicit role also specify all required states and properties.

Form field has non-empty accessible name (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that each form field element has a non-empty accessible name.

Menuitem has non-empty accessible name (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that each menu item element has a non-empty accessible name.

Element with aria-hidden has no content in sequential focus navigation (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that no content marked with aria-hidden=true is part of the accessibility tree.
  ​

Iframe elements with identical accessible names have equivalent purpose (Warning)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that iFrames with the same accessible name have essentially the same purpose and function.
  ​

Link has non-empty accessible name (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that each link element has a non-empty accessible name.

Iframe element has non-empty accessible name (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that each iFrame element has a non-empty accessible name.
  ​

Element with presentational children has no focusable content (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that each element which should be treated as having only presentational children has no focusable children.
  ​

Button has non-empty accessible name (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that each button element has a non-empty accessible name.
  ​

ARIA state or property is permitted (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that WAI-ARIA states or properties are allowed for the element they are specified on.

Role attribute has valid value (Error)

• This rule is an ACT-rule
• This rule checks that each role attribute has a valid value.

See the user guide article:

Accessibility Checks

for the full list of all current checks.