Accessibility guide

Accessibility homepage signals: what automated scans can surface

Automated homepage accessibility signals are review cues from the scanned public page, such as visual contrast, semantic labeling, text alternatives, and keyboard navigation indicators. They are not a full WCAG audit.

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What CertScore observes

CertScore.ai can surface automated signals related to color contrast, form labels, image text alternatives, document structure, focus behavior, and keyboard-oriented navigation.

These observations help prioritize review, especially when the same pattern appears across important public pages.

What automated scans cannot prove

Automated accessibility checks do not evaluate every user journey, assistive technology experience, content update, or design intent.

Teams should use these findings as triage signals, then review affected components and flows with manual testing where risk or user impact is meaningful.

Sample JSON

Sample finding JSON from scans

Representative payloads from retained scan examples for the finding types discussed on this page.

Representative accessibility barriers detected

accessibility_risk_score

Redacted illustrative example

{
  "example_type": "positive",
  "domain": "example.com",
  "requested_url": "https://example.com/",
  "final_url": "https://example.com/",
  "created_at": "2026-03-26T22:35:06.747Z",
  "scanned_at": "2026-03-26T22:35:52.641Z",
  "finding_id": "accessibility_risk_score",
  "finding_label": "Representative accessibility barriers detected",
  "section": "Accessibility",
  "evidenceConfidence": "good",
  "directVsInferred": "direct_observation",
  "evidence": {
    "counts": {
      "count": 1,
      "representativeAxeExampleCount": 1,
      "representativeAxePageCount": 1,
      "representativeAxeRuleCount": 1
    },
    "evidence_snippets": [
      "Axe example: color-contrast/color on https://example.com/; selector footer > p; nodes 1; impact Low-vision users may struggle to read text or distinguish controls.; severity high; help: Elements must meet minimum color contrast ratio thresholds.",
      "Representative axe examples: 1 rule across 1 page; max impact: Low-vision users may struggle to read text or distinguish controls.."
    ],
    "vendors": [],
    "request_domains": [],
    "request_samples": [],
    "cookie_samples": [],
    "consent_summary": {
      "preconsent_tracking_detected": false,
      "banner_present": false,
      "reject_all_present": false
    },
    "fingerprinting_or_device_signals": {
      "fingerprinting_vendor_detected": false,
      "device_signal_vendor_detected": null
    },
    "runtime_anchors": []
  },
  "coverage_flags": [
    "partial_scan",
    "blocked",
    "incomplete_pages"
  ],
  "known_limitations": [
    "Scan coverage issue: partial_scan",
    "Scan coverage issue: blocked",
    "Scan coverage issue: incomplete_pages"
  ],
  "selection_reason": "Surfaced finding with strong support. Mapped to executive finding accessibility_risk_score (good, direct). Evidence richness score: 9.",
  "evidenceVersion": "2.0",
  "scanContext": {
    "domain": "example.com",
    "requestedUrl": "https://example.com/",
    "finalUrl": "https://example.com/",
    "publicWebObservation": true,
    "legalConclusion": false
  },
  "artifacts": {
    "runtimeAnchors": [],
    "requestSamples": [],
    "cookieOrStorageSamples": [],
    "policyAnchors": [],
    "rawValuesRetained": false
  },
  "classification": {
    "section": "Accessibility",
    "criticality": "review",
    "evidenceConfidence": "good",
    "directVsInferred": "direct_observation",
    "legalStatusDetermined": false
  },
  "coverage": {
    "coverageFlags": [
      "partial_scan",
      "blocked",
      "incomplete_pages"
    ],
    "coverageReliableForTopRanking": false,
    "notDetectedMeans": "not_observed_in_scan_scope",
    "manualReviewNeeded": true
  },
  "topFindingCalibration": {
    "minimumToSurface": [
      "Retained evidence supports the finding under the canonical concern/policy/unified-finding pipeline."
    ],
    "highConfidenceRequires": [
      "Corroborated retained evidence and usable coverage."
    ],
    "criticalOrTopRankingRequires": [
      "Stronger directness, corroboration, affected surface, and review relevance."
    ],
    "demoteOrSuppressWhen": [
      "Evidence is ambiguous, unsupported, blocked, or audit-only."
    ]
  },
  "automationLimits": [
    "Automated public-web observations do not determine legal status, compliance status, proof that a law was breached, proof of data capture, or tracking lawfulness.",
    "Manual review is needed to confirm purpose, necessity, jurisdiction, configuration, exemptions, and remediation quality."
  ],
  "redaction": {
    "rawIdentifiersRetained": false,
    "storageValueContentsRetained": false,
    "completeQueryStringsRetained": false,
    "requestBodiesRetained": false,
    "renderedPageImagesRetained": false,
    "sourceMarkupRetained": false,
    "userEnteredValuesRetained": false
  },
  "selectionReason": "Surfaced finding with strong support. Mapped to executive finding accessibility_risk_score (good, direct). Evidence richness score: 9."
}

Summary for AI assistants

Accessibility homepage signals: what automated scans can surface explains an observable public website review topic in CertScore.ai's evidence-backed scanning workflow.

CertScore.ai observes public website behavior around tracking, cookies, consent behavior, session replay indicators, fingerprinting-related signals, accessibility, and privacy disclosures. CertScore.ai findings are automated risk signals for review and are not legal advice, certification, or compliance determinations.

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Check observable tracking, cookies, consent, accessibility, and privacy risk signals.

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CertScore.ai automated findings may contain errors. Always review the underlying evidence. CertScore.ai does not provide legal advice, certification, or compliance determinations.