The 10 most common accessibility issues on school and city websites

Across hundreds of district and municipal homepages, the same ten axe-core rules account for the large majority of violations. The good news: most are template fixes your vendor can make once.

1. Images without alt text (WCAG 1.1.1). Flyers, event posters and staff photos with empty alt. Fix: fill in the alt field; mark decorative images as decorative; never publish a flyer as an image only.
2. Low color contrast (1.4.3). Grey-on-white body text, white text over hero photos. Fix: darken text or add an overlay; aim for 4.5:1.
3. Links with no accessible name (2.4.4). Social icons, "read more" links. Fix: add aria-label or visible text.
4. Form fields without labels (1.3.1, 4.1.2). Search boxes and newsletter signups. Fix: connect a label with for/id.
5. Missing page language (3.1.1). Fix: lang="en" on the html element.
6. Skipped heading levels (1.3.1). Fix: use H1 → H2 → H3; style with CSS, not heading level.
7. Content outside landmarks (1.3.1). Fix: wrap content in main/nav/header/footer.
8. No skip link (2.4.1). Fix: add "Skip to main content" as the first focusable element.
9. Iframes without titles (4.1.2). Embedded maps and calendars. Fix: add a title attribute.
10. Icon buttons without names (4.1.2). Menu and search toggles. Fix: aria-label.

Run a free scan to see which of these apply to your homepage, with the exact element highlighted.