nih.gov: Accessibility — week 2026-W26

Automated Accessibility Conformance Report (OpenACR): Download ACR. Machine-readable; compatible with GSA OpenACR tooling. Automated tools find ~⅓ of real barriers — supplement with manual AT testing.

Training priorities

Top WCAG success criteria by pages affected this week. Use these to focus team training on the highest-impact issues.

SC	Criterion	Pages	Rules
1.4.1	Use of Color	2	2
1.4.6	WCAG 1.4.6	1	1
1.4.8	WCAG 1.4.8	1	1
2.5.5	WCAG 2.5.5	1	1

Next 10 actions

Clusters are fingerprinted by normalized selector path + rule id + snippet shape. Rank score = (severity weight × pages affected) / distinct components for the rule. This supersedes the template threshold heuristic while still surfacing it as a validation signal.

Top 10 clustered component fixes for this week.
Cluster	Severity	Pages	Who it affects	How to fix	Evidence	Decision
All page content should be contained by landmarks · unattributed component Fix one place, resolve ~1 finding(s) on 1 page(s). XPath / selector: `#system-breadcrumb` `<h2 id="system-breadcrumb" class="visually-hidden">Breadcrumb</h2>`	Moderate	1	Requires manual testing.	Wrap all page content in landmarks (header, nav, main, footer) so users can navigate by region.	pages (CSV)	Decision Assigned to Notes
Form field label is visible · unattributed component Fix one place, resolve ~1 finding(s) on 1 page(s). XPath / selector: `{"type":"document","children":[{"type":"type","name":"html","publicId":null,"sys`	Moderate	1	Requires manual testing.	See remediation guidance: https://alfa.siteimprove.com/rules/sia-r61	pages (CSV)	Decision Assigned to Notes
Scrolling content can be accessed by keyboard · unattributed component Fix one place, resolve ~1 finding(s) on 1 page(s). XPath / selector: `text: "Breadcrumb"`	Moderate	1	Requires manual testing.	See remediation guidance: https://alfa.siteimprove.com/rules/sia-r57	pages (CSV)	Decision Assigned to Notes
Links must be distinguishable without relying on color · unattributed component Fix one place, resolve ~1 finding(s) on 1 page(s). XPath / selector: `.text-formatted.field--name-field-uswds-body.field--type-text-long > p > a[data-extlink=""][target="_blank"][rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer"]` `<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/request-for-comment-form/index.html?Agency=NIH" class="ext" data-extlink="" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer" title="(opens in a new window)">Request For`	Serious	1	Without color perception, Limited vision	See remediation guidance: https://dequeuniversity.com/rules/axe/4.12/link-in-text-block?application=axeAPI	pages (CSV)	Decision Assigned to Notes
Links must be distinguishable without relying on color · unattributed component Fix one place, resolve ~1 finding(s) on 1 page(s). XPath / selector: `.usa-identifier__identity-disclaimer > a[href$="hhs.gov/"]` `<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/" class="ext" data-extlink="" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer" title="(opens in a new window)">Department of Health and Human Services</a>`	Serious	1	Without color perception, Limited vision	See remediation guidance: https://dequeuniversity.com/rules/axe/4.12/link-in-text-block?application=axeAPI	pages (CSV)	Decision Assigned to Notes
Link in text block is visually distinguishable without color · unattributed component Fix one place, resolve ~1 finding(s) on 1 page(s). XPath / selector: `<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/request-for-comment-form/index.html?Agency=NIH" class="ext" data-extlink="" target="_blank">`	Moderate	1	Without color perception, Limited vision	Make links visually distinguishable from surrounding text (not by color alone).	pages (CSV)	Decision Assigned to Notes
Link in text block is visually distinguishable without color · unattributed component Fix one place, resolve ~1 finding(s) on 1 page(s). XPath / selector: `<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/" class="ext" data-extlink="" target="_blank">`	Moderate	1	Without color perception, Limited vision	Make links visually distinguishable from surrounding text (not by color alone).	pages (CSV)	Decision Assigned to Notes
aria attribute is permitted for element role · unattributed component Fix one place, resolve ~1 finding(s) on 1 page(s). XPath / selector: `@aria-label="Descripción de la agencia"`	Moderate	1	Requires manual testing.	Only use ARIA states/properties that are allowed on this element/role.	pages (CSV)	Decision Assigned to Notes
aria attribute is permitted for element role · unattributed component Fix one place, resolve ~1 finding(s) on 1 page(s). XPath / selector: `@aria-label="Official website of the Department of Health and Human Services"`	Moderate	1	Requires manual testing.	Only use ARIA states/properties that are allowed on this element/role.	pages (CSV)	Decision Assigned to Notes
Text has enhanced contrast · unattributed component Fix one place, resolve ~1 finding(s) on 1 page(s). XPath / selector: `text: "Health Information"`	Moderate	1	Requires manual testing.	Increase text contrast to meet WCAG AAA (7:1).	pages (CSV)	Decision Assigned to Notes

Bug reports

1 issue type(s) are shown by default out of 9 total. Prioritized by severity, key pages, WCAG level, and prevalence; use the toggle to show everything.

Overall severity mix: 1 serious, 8 moderate. By WCAG category: 2 WCAG 2.0 A, 3 WCAG 2.x AAA, 1 Best Practice, 3 Undetermined. Ordered by severity, key-page impact, WCAG level, and prevalence. Following accessibility bug-reporting best practices. Download: Markdown · JSON (full archive) · JSON (AI diagnostic) · CSV (all findings) · Priority pages CSV · Priority pages JSON.

Automated testing does not establish full WCAG conformance. Findings in the verification lane require manual testing before they are treated as confirmed failures.

Default view shows 1 prioritized issue type(s); 8 more are available if you switch to "Show everything".

1 finding(s) marked "possible duplicate" — Alfa and axe-core both flagged the same WCAG SC on overlapping pages. If they target the same element, the axe-core report is authoritative. Filter the CSV by possible_duplicate_of to see these. Two engines flagging the same barrier reduces the chance of a false positive.

Findings needing review

These findings need manual verification before they can be treated as confirmed failures. Obligation remains visible for each finding.

Serious axe link-in-text-block WCAG 2.0 A Links must be distinguishable without relying on color (WCAG 1.4.1) 1/103 pages · 2 instances Likely content

Bug ID: VS-d88404b6
Pattern ID: VS-8ade3360
Combined ID: VS-d88404b6 (pattern VS-8ade3360) — use this format in JIRA/spreadsheets to filter by instance or pattern
WCAG category: WCAG 2.0 A
Obligation: required
Handling: review
WCAG SC: 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A, WCAG 2.0)
Rule: axe-core — Links must be distinguishable without relying on color [link-in-text-block]
Example URL: https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries
XPath / selector: .text-formatted.field--name-field-uswds-body.field--type-text-long > p > a[data-extlink=""][target="_blank"][rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer"]
History: first seen 2026-W25, last seen 2026-W26 (2 wk)

HTML snippet — use this to validate the finding without re-running the tool

<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/request-for-comment-form/index.html?Agency=NIH" class="ext" data-extlink="" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer" title="(opens in a new window)">Request For

Description

Links must be distinguishable without relying on color. Detected by axe-core rule link-in-text-block on 1 of 103 scanned pages (2 instances).

Steps to reproduce

Open https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries.
Locate the element: .text-formatted.field--name-field-uswds-body.field--type-text-long > p > a[data-extlink=""][target="_blank"][rel="noopener nofollow noreferrer"]
Confirm the axe-core finding for rule link-in-text-block against WCAG 1.4.1 Use of Color.

Impact

Affects Without color perception (4.5%), Limited vision (2.4%).

Without color perception — 4.5% of population
Limited vision — 2.4% of population

Affected pages

/news-events/media-inquiries

Testing environment

Automated: axe-core, headless Chromium (Playwright). Manual AT verification: Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Suggested fix

See remediation guidance: https://dequeuniversity.com/rules/axe/4.12/link-in-text-block?application=axeAPI

Triage status Notes

Moderate alfa sia-r66 WCAG 2.x AAA Text has enhanced contrast (WCAG 1.4.6) 1/103 pages · 33 instances Likely content

Bug ID: VS-a79c710c
Pattern ID: VS-646b1e0b
Combined ID: VS-a79c710c (pattern VS-646b1e0b) — use this format in JIRA/spreadsheets to filter by instance or pattern
WCAG category: WCAG 2.x AAA
Obligation: aspirational
Handling: review
WCAG SC: 1.4.6 Contrast (Enhanced) (Level AAA, WCAG 2.0)
Rule: Siteimprove Alfa — Text has enhanced contrast [sia-r66]
Example URL: https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries
XPath / selector: text: "Health Information"
History: first seen 2026-W25, last seen 2026-W26 (2 wk)

Description

Text has enhanced contrast. Detected by Siteimprove Alfa rule sia-r66 on 1 of 103 scanned pages (33 instances).

Steps to reproduce

Open https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries.
Locate the element: text: "Health Information"
Confirm the Siteimprove Alfa finding for rule sia-r66 against WCAG 1.4.6 Contrast (Enhanced).

Impact

Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Affected pages

/news-events/media-inquiries

Testing environment

Automated: Siteimprove Alfa, headless Chromium (Playwright). Manual AT verification: Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Suggested fix

How to fix: Increase text contrast to meet WCAG AAA (7:1).

See remediation guidance: https://alfa.siteimprove.com/rules/sia-r66

Triage status Notes

Moderate alfa sia-r111 WCAG 2.x AAA Target size is at least 44×44 CSS pixels (Enhanced) (WCAG 2.5.5) 1/103 pages · 19 instances Likely content

Bug ID: VS-aea829f0
Pattern ID: VS-cb53cc4d
Combined ID: VS-aea829f0 (pattern VS-cb53cc4d) — use this format in JIRA/spreadsheets to filter by instance or pattern
WCAG category: WCAG 2.x AAA
Obligation: aspirational
Handling: review
WCAG SC: 2.5.5 Target Size (Enhanced) (Level AAA, WCAG 2.1)
Rule: Siteimprove Alfa — Target size is at least 44×44 CSS pixels (Enhanced) [sia-r111]
Example URL: https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries
XPath / selector: <a href="/virtual-tour">
History: first seen 2026-W25, last seen 2026-W26 (2 wk)

Description

Target size is at least 44×44 CSS pixels (Enhanced). Detected by Siteimprove Alfa rule sia-r111 on 1 of 103 scanned pages (19 instances).

Steps to reproduce

Open https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries.
Locate the element: <a href="/virtual-tour">
Confirm the Siteimprove Alfa finding for rule sia-r111 against WCAG 2.5.5 Target Size (Enhanced).

Impact

Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Affected pages

/news-events/media-inquiries

Testing environment

Automated: Siteimprove Alfa, headless Chromium (Playwright). Manual AT verification: Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Suggested fix

See remediation guidance: https://alfa.siteimprove.com/rules/sia-r111

Triage status Notes

Moderate alfa sia-r73 WCAG 2.x AAA Text has minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 (WCAG 1.4.8) 1/103 pages · 3 instances Likely content

Bug ID: VS-85464857
Pattern ID: VS-2208081b
Combined ID: VS-85464857 (pattern VS-2208081b) — use this format in JIRA/spreadsheets to filter by instance or pattern
WCAG category: WCAG 2.x AAA
Obligation: aspirational
Handling: review
WCAG SC: 1.4.8 Visual Presentation (Level AAA, WCAG 2.0)
Rule: Siteimprove Alfa — Text has minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 [sia-r73]
Example URL: https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries
XPath / selector: <p class="usa-banner__header-text">
History: first seen 2026-W25, last seen 2026-W26 (2 wk)

Description

Text has minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1. Detected by Siteimprove Alfa rule sia-r73 on 1 of 103 scanned pages (3 instances).

Steps to reproduce

Open https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries.
Locate the element: <p class="usa-banner__header-text">
Confirm the Siteimprove Alfa finding for rule sia-r73 against WCAG 1.4.8 Visual Presentation.

Impact

Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Affected pages

/news-events/media-inquiries

Testing environment

Automated: Siteimprove Alfa, headless Chromium (Playwright). Manual AT verification: Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Suggested fix

See remediation guidance: https://alfa.siteimprove.com/rules/sia-r73

Triage status Notes

Moderate alfa sia-r18 Undetermined aria attribute is permitted for element role (WCAG criterion undetermined) 1/103 pages · 2 instances Likely content

Bug ID: VS-9cc05164
Pattern ID: VS-e05344b9
Combined ID: VS-9cc05164 (pattern VS-e05344b9) — use this format in JIRA/spreadsheets to filter by instance or pattern
WCAG category: Undetermined
Obligation: unmapped
Handling: review
WCAG SC: undetermined
Rule: Siteimprove Alfa — aria attribute is permitted for element role [sia-r18]
Example URL: https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries
XPath / selector: @aria-label="Descripción de la agencia"
History: first seen 2026-W25, last seen 2026-W26 (2 wk)

Description

aria attribute is permitted for element role. Detected by Siteimprove Alfa rule sia-r18 on 1 of 103 scanned pages (2 instances).

Steps to reproduce

Open https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries.
Locate the element: @aria-label="Descripción de la agencia"
Confirm the Siteimprove Alfa finding for rule sia-r18.

Impact

Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Affected pages

/news-events/media-inquiries

Testing environment

Automated: Siteimprove Alfa, headless Chromium (Playwright). Manual AT verification: Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Suggested fix

How to fix: Only use ARIA states/properties that are allowed on this element/role.

See remediation guidance: https://alfa.siteimprove.com/rules/sia-r18

Triage status Notes

Moderate alfa sia-r62 WCAG 2.0 A Link in text block is visually distinguishable without color (WCAG 1.4.1) 1/103 pages · 2 instances · possible duplicate Likely content

Bug ID: VS-eac52d62
Pattern ID: VS-efd91fdd
Combined ID: VS-eac52d62 (pattern VS-efd91fdd) — use this format in JIRA/spreadsheets to filter by instance or pattern
WCAG category: WCAG 2.0 A
Obligation: required
Handling: review
WCAG SC: 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A, WCAG 2.0)
Rule: Siteimprove Alfa — Link in text block is visually distinguishable without color [sia-r62]
Example URL: https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries
XPath / selector: <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/request-for-comment-form/index.html?Agency=NIH" class="ext" data-extlink="" target="_blank">
History: first seen 2026-W25, last seen 2026-W26 (2 wk)
Possible duplicate: Same WCAG SC covered by axe report VS-d88404b6 (pattern VS-8ade3360). If axe and this engine flag the same element, the axe report takes precedence — mark this as duplicate in JIRA.

Description

Link in text block is visually distinguishable without color. Detected by Siteimprove Alfa rule sia-r62 on 1 of 103 scanned pages (2 instances).

Steps to reproduce

Open https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries.
Locate the element: <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/request-for-comment-form/index.html?Agency=NIH" class="ext" data-extlink="" target="_blank">
Confirm the Siteimprove Alfa finding for rule sia-r62 against WCAG 1.4.1 Use of Color.

Impact

Affects Without color perception (4.5%), Limited vision (2.4%).

Without color perception — 4.5% of population
Limited vision — 2.4% of population

Affected pages

/news-events/media-inquiries

Testing environment

Automated: Siteimprove Alfa, headless Chromium (Playwright). Manual AT verification: Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Suggested fix

How to fix: Make links visually distinguishable from surrounding text (not by color alone).

See remediation guidance: https://alfa.siteimprove.com/rules/sia-r62

Triage status Notes

Moderate axe region Best Practice All page content should be contained by landmarks (WCAG criterion undetermined) 1/103 pages · 1 instances Likely content

Bug ID: VS-9c07325e
Pattern ID: VS-f18df681
Combined ID: VS-9c07325e (pattern VS-f18df681) — use this format in JIRA/spreadsheets to filter by instance or pattern
WCAG category: Best Practice
Obligation: advisory
Handling: review
WCAG SC: Best Practice — not a WCAG requirement
Rule: axe-core — All page content should be contained by landmarks [region]
Example URL: https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries
XPath / selector: #system-breadcrumb
History: first seen 2026-W25, last seen 2026-W26 (2 wk)

HTML snippet — use this to validate the finding without re-running the tool

<h2 id="system-breadcrumb" class="visually-hidden">Breadcrumb</h2>

Description

All page content should be contained by landmarks. Detected by axe-core rule region on 1 of 103 scanned pages (1 instances).

Steps to reproduce

Open https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries.
Locate the element: #system-breadcrumb
Confirm the axe-core finding for rule region.

Impact

Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Affected pages

/news-events/media-inquiries

Testing environment

Automated: axe-core, headless Chromium (Playwright). Manual AT verification: Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Suggested fix

How to fix: Wrap all page content in landmarks (header, nav, main, footer) so users can navigate by region.

See remediation guidance: https://dequeuniversity.com/rules/axe/4.12/region?application=axeAPI

Triage status Notes

Moderate alfa sia-r61 Undetermined Form field label is visible (WCAG criterion undetermined) 1/103 pages · 1 instances Likely content

Bug ID: VS-15a77062
Pattern ID: VS-7118fead
Combined ID: VS-15a77062 (pattern VS-7118fead) — use this format in JIRA/spreadsheets to filter by instance or pattern
WCAG category: Undetermined
Obligation: unmapped
Handling: review
WCAG SC: undetermined
Rule: Siteimprove Alfa — Form field label is visible [sia-r61]
Example URL: https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries
XPath / selector: {"type":"document","children":[{"type":"type","name":"html","publicId":null,"sys
History: first seen 2026-W25, last seen 2026-W26 (2 wk)

Description

Form field label is visible. Detected by Siteimprove Alfa rule sia-r61 on 1 of 103 scanned pages (1 instances).

Steps to reproduce

Open https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries.
Locate the element: {"type":"document","children":[{"type":"type","name":"html","publicId":null,"sys
Confirm the Siteimprove Alfa finding for rule sia-r61.

Impact

Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Affected pages

/news-events/media-inquiries

Testing environment

Automated: Siteimprove Alfa, headless Chromium (Playwright). Manual AT verification: Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Suggested fix

See remediation guidance: https://alfa.siteimprove.com/rules/sia-r61

Triage status Notes

Moderate alfa sia-r57 Undetermined Scrolling content can be accessed by keyboard (WCAG criterion undetermined) 1/103 pages · 1 instances Likely content

Bug ID: VS-4975a7b6
Pattern ID: VS-c18be945
Combined ID: VS-4975a7b6 (pattern VS-c18be945) — use this format in JIRA/spreadsheets to filter by instance or pattern
WCAG category: Undetermined
Obligation: unmapped
Handling: review
WCAG SC: undetermined
Rule: Siteimprove Alfa — Scrolling content can be accessed by keyboard [sia-r57]
Example URL: https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries
XPath / selector: text: "Breadcrumb"
History: first seen 2026-W25, last seen 2026-W26 (2 wk)

Description

Scrolling content can be accessed by keyboard. Detected by Siteimprove Alfa rule sia-r57 on 1 of 103 scanned pages (1 instances).

Steps to reproduce

Open https://nih.gov/news-events/media-inquiries.
Locate the element: text: "Breadcrumb"
Confirm the Siteimprove Alfa finding for rule sia-r57.

Impact

Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Affected pages

/news-events/media-inquiries

Testing environment

Automated: Siteimprove Alfa, headless Chromium (Playwright). Manual AT verification: Not captured by automated scan — requires manual testing.

Suggested fix

See remediation guidance: https://alfa.siteimprove.com/rules/sia-r57

Triage status Notes

Deque axe-core findings

Rule-level axe-core summary (2 rule type(s))

Each failing rule links out to the axe-core documentation. For full element-level detail including HTML snippets and XPaths, see the bug reports above.

axe-core rules failing in 2026-W26, by pages affected
Rule	Impact	Pages affected	Instances	Example pages	All affected
Links must be distinguishable without relying on color [link-in-text-block]	serious	1	2	/news-events/media-inquiries	all 1 pages (CSV)
All page content should be contained by landmarks [region]	moderate	1	1	/news-events/media-inquiries	all 1 pages (CSV)

Siteimprove Alfa findings

Rule-level Alfa summary (7 rule type(s))

Rule-level summary from Siteimprove Alfa (W3C ACT-based). Findings that overlap with axe-core on the same WCAG success criterion are noted as possible duplicates in the bug reports above.

Alfa rules failing in 2026-W26, by pages affected
Rule	Impact	Pages affected	Instances	Example pages	All affected
Text has enhanced contrast [sia-r66]	n/a	1	33	/news-events/media-inquiries	all 1 pages (CSV)
Target size is at least 44×44 CSS pixels (Enhanced) [sia-r111]	n/a	1	19	/news-events/media-inquiries	all 1 pages (CSV)
Text has minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 [sia-r73]	n/a	1	3	/news-events/media-inquiries	all 1 pages (CSV)
Link in text block is visually distinguishable without color [sia-r62]	n/a	1	2	/news-events/media-inquiries	all 1 pages (CSV)
aria attribute is permitted for element role [sia-r18]	n/a	1	2	/news-events/media-inquiries	all 1 pages (CSV)
Form field label is visible [sia-r61]	n/a	1	1	/news-events/media-inquiries	all 1 pages (CSV)
Scrolling content can be accessed by keyboard [sia-r57]	n/a	1	1	/news-events/media-inquiries	all 1 pages (CSV)

Unique accessibility issues (axe + Alfa consolidated)

axe and Alfa both implement W3C ACT rules, so the same issue is often caught by both. These are deduplicated by ACT rule and page, so a shared finding counts once.

Unique issues (rule × page): 9
Caught by both engines: 0 highest confidence
axe only: 2
Alfa only: 7

No issues were flagged by both engines on the same pages this week.