# VITAL Scans

> Continuously-updated accessibility and sustainability reports for government websites, generated by the open source VITAL Scans engine (axe-core + Siteimprove Alfa). The HTML on this site is a rendered view of structured data that is also available directly as a static JSON API — prefer the API over scraping HTML.

## API

- [JSON API index](https://mgifford.github.io/vital-core/api/v1/index.json): all tracked domains, latest week, severity counts, and per-domain links. Static, read-only, no auth.
- [API catalog](https://mgifford.github.io/vital-core/.well-known/api-catalog): machine-discovery catalog of endpoints, schemas, and agent-oriented entry points.
- [www.cms.gov snapshot](https://mgifford.github.io/vital-core/api/v1/www.cms.gov/snapshot.json): full history — summary, findings ledger, weekly series, tech associations.
- [www.medicare.gov snapshot](https://mgifford.github.io/vital-core/api/v1/www.medicare.gov/snapshot.json): full history — summary, findings ledger, weekly series, tech associations.
- [www.medicaid.gov snapshot](https://mgifford.github.io/vital-core/api/v1/www.medicaid.gov/snapshot.json): full history — summary, findings ledger, weekly series, tech associations.
- [data.healthcare.gov snapshot](https://mgifford.github.io/vital-core/api/v1/data.healthcare.gov/snapshot.json): full history — summary, findings ledger, weekly series, tech associations.
- [openpaymentsdata.cms.gov snapshot](https://mgifford.github.io/vital-core/api/v1/openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/snapshot.json): full history — summary, findings ledger, weekly series, tech associations.
- [www.cdc.gov snapshot](https://mgifford.github.io/vital-core/api/v1/www.cdc.gov/snapshot.json): full history — summary, findings ledger, weekly series, tech associations.
- [data.cms.gov snapshot](https://mgifford.github.io/vital-core/api/v1/data.cms.gov/snapshot.json): full history — summary, findings ledger, weekly series, tech associations.
- [data.medicaid.gov snapshot](https://mgifford.github.io/vital-core/api/v1/data.medicaid.gov/snapshot.json): full history — summary, findings ledger, weekly series, tech associations.
- [www.healthcare.gov snapshot](https://mgifford.github.io/vital-core/api/v1/www.healthcare.gov/snapshot.json): full history — summary, findings ledger, weekly series, tech associations.
- [nih.gov snapshot](https://mgifford.github.io/vital-core/api/v1/nih.gov/snapshot.json): full history — summary, findings ledger, weekly series, tech associations.
- [hhs.gov snapshot](https://mgifford.github.io/vital-core/api/v1/hhs.gov/snapshot.json): full history — summary, findings ledger, weekly series, tech associations.
- [API.md](https://github.com/mgifford/vital-core/blob/main/API.md): full contract, JSON Schemas, retention, and examples.

## MCP

- [MCP.md](https://github.com/mgifford/vital-core/blob/main/MCP.md): a local, read-only-by-default Model Context Protocol server (stdio, no network port) that lets an MCP-compatible coding client list and inspect findings from this API, and optionally map a finding to a probable local source file. Not hosted at this URL — run it from a checkout of the repository.

## Docs

- [README](https://github.com/mgifford/vital-core/blob/main/README.md): project overview, design principles, setup.
- [Repository](https://github.com/mgifford/vital-core): source, issues, license (AGPL-3.0).

## Notes

- Automated accessibility checkers find roughly 30-40% of WCAG barriers. Use scores and trends to compare and track direction, not as a pass/fail.
- The API is public and redacted for privacy: URL fragments are stripped and sensitive query parameters are replaced with [REDACTED]. See API.md.