National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center · Department of Energy
nersc.gov
Federal: Section 508 applies, not Title II · 20 pages and a keyboard test, checked October 6, 2026
70out of 100
0critical barriers
The automated checks found no control a visitor can’t use at all.
Compared
The 30 other Department of Energy websites checked average 71.
See how it does today
Our latest check was on October 6, 2026, and the next is in January 2027. You can check nersc.gov yourself now, free. You get a report of your own; this page changes at our next check.
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What we found
What is wrong and who it affects, most serious first.
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81
81 buttons or links are so small, or so close to others, that people with shaky hands may tap the wrong thing.
- Limited hand movement
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49
49 images have no description, so a blind visitor’s screen reader says only “image” or reads out file names.
- Screen readers
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13
13 controls show no sign when a keyboard user moves to them, so they can’t tell where they are on the page.
- Keyboard users
- Low vision
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6
Text in 6 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
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5
5 links in running text stand out only by their color, so people with color blindness or low vision may not see that they are links.
- Color blindness
- Low vision
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4
4 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
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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.
- Keyboard users
- Screen readers
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1
1 link has no name, so a blind visitor’s screen reader says just “link”, with no clue to where it goes.
- Screen readers
- Voice control
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1
1 list is built incorrectly, so screen readers may not announce it as a list or say how many items it has.
- Screen readers
More in the full report
The full report is for the agency’s own staff. It adds:
- The 20 pages we checked, by name
- Where each problem is, with a screenshot
- What needs to change, in the order to fix it
- A new check any day, once something is fixed
The keyboard test
We pressed Tab 95 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.
- Problem: 3 controls show no sign of focus. Keyboard users may not be able to tell where they are.
Questions about this page
Does this mean the agency is breaking the law?
No. Federal agencies follow Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, whose standards are built on WCAG 2.0 AA. This is an automated check against WCAG 2.1 AA, which includes every WCAG 2.0 AA requirement. Automated checks find many problems but not all, and only a full review can say whether a site meets Section 508.
Why isn’t there a Title II deadline?
The ADA’s Title II rule and its April 2027 and April 2028 deadlines are for state and local governments. Federal websites already have to meet Section 508.
How often is this page updated?
Every three months, in January, April, July and October. Once its staff claim this page, they can also scan the site again, once a day; the new result shows here like our regular check, marked as checked at their request. The date at the top shows the latest check, and the score can go up as problems are fixed.
How can the agency respond?
Staff with an email address ending in @nersc.gov can claim this page to set its status, see where each problem is, and scan the site again. Think a result is wrong? Tell us and we will check it again.
Work for the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center?
Claim this page to see where each problem is and what needs to change, set its status for the public, and scan again any day.