nces.ed.gov

What we found

What is wrong and who it affects, most serious first.

• 90

  90 links have no name, so a blind visitor’s screen reader says just “link”, with no clue to where they go.

  • Screen readers
  • Voice control
• 62

  62 items that belong in menus, lists or sets of tabs sit outside them, so screen readers may not announce them as part of their group.

  • Screen readers
• 39

  Text in 39 places is too faint against its background, so people with low vision, or anyone reading a phone in sunlight, may struggle to read it.

  • Low vision
  • Color blindness
• 23

  23 images have no description, so a blind visitor’s screen reader says only “image” or reads out file names.

  • Screen readers
• 10

  10 parts of the page carry screen-reader details that don’t apply to them, so screen readers may describe them wrongly.

  • Screen readers
• 10

  10 drop-down lists have no label, so a blind visitor’s screen reader can’t say what they are for.

  • Screen readers
  • Voice control
• 9

  9 form fields have no label, so a blind visitor’s screen reader can’t say what to enter, and voice-control users can’t name them.

  • Screen readers
  • Voice control
• 7

  7 buttons or links are so small, or so close to others, that people with shaky hands may tap the wrong thing.

  Not in the score

  • Limited hand movement
• 6

  6 pages have to be scrolled sideways on a narrow phone screen, so people who enlarge text must scroll back and forth to read each line.

  • Low vision
• 4

  4 pages don’t say what language they are in, so screen readers may read them aloud with the wrong pronunciation.

  • Screen readers
• 4

  4 list items sit outside a list, so screen readers may not announce them as part of one.

  • Screen readers
• 3

  3 menus, lists or sets of tabs are built incompletely, so screen readers may announce them without their items or not let a blind visitor move through them.

  • Screen readers
• 2

  On 2 pages, pressing Tab gets stuck on one control, so someone using a keyboard instead of a mouse can’t reach the rest of those pages.

  Not in the score

  • Keyboard users
  • Screen readers
• 2

  2 controls sit inside others, such as buttons inside links, so screen readers may skip some of them and keyboard users may not reach them.

  • Screen readers
  • Keyboard users
• 2

  2 embedded sections, such as maps, videos or forms from other sites, have no title, so a blind visitor’s screen reader can’t say what they are.

  • Screen readers
• 1

  1 control is missing details screen readers need, such as whether it is on or open, so a blind visitor can’t tell its state.

  • Screen readers
• 1

  1 link in running text stands out only by its color, so people with color blindness or low vision may not see that it is a link.

  • Color blindness
  • Low vision
• 1

  1 field has no name, so a blind visitor’s screen reader can’t say what to type into it.

  • Screen readers
  • Voice control

The keyboard test

We pressed Tab 5 times through the homepage, as someone who can’t use a mouse would. What it found is shown here and is not yet counted in the score.

• Problem: Focus gets stuck. Pressing Tab stops on one control, so keyboard users can’t reach the rest of the homepage.
• Passed: “Skip to content” works. Keyboard users can jump past the menu.
• Passed: Focus can be seen. Every control we reached shows where the keyboard is.

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