List of axe 3.5 Rules
Searchable table created from Deques axe-core rules
| Title | User Impact | Disabilities Affected | WCAG Success Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|
| <blink> elements are deprecated and must not be used | Serious | Low Vision, Mobility, Cognitive | 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide |
| <dl> elements must only directly contain properly-ordered <dt> and <dd> groups, <script>, or <template> elements | Serious | Blind, Deafblind | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships |
| <dt> and <dd> elements must be contained by a <dl> | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships |
| <html> element must have a lang attribute | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Cognitive | 3.1.1 Language of Page |
| <html> element must have a valid value for the lang attribute | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Cognitive | 3.1.1 Language of Page |
| <html> elements with lang and xml:lang must have the same base language | Moderate | Blind, Deafblind, Cognitive | 3.1.1 Language of Page |
| <li> elements must be contained in a <ul> or <ol> | Serious | Blind, Deaf, Mobility | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships |
| <marquee> elements are deprecated and must not be used | Serious | Low Vision, Mobility, Cognitive | 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide |
| <object> elements must have alternate text | Serious | Blind, Deafblind | 1.1.1 Non-text Content |
| <ul> and <ol> must only directly contain <li>, <script> or <template> elements | Serious | Blind, Deafblind | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships |
| accesskey attribute value must be unique | Serious | Blind, Low Vision, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Active <area> elements must have alternate text | Critical | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 1.1.1 Non-text Content, 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context), 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| All <th> elements and elements with role="columnheader" or role="rowheader" must have data cells they describe | Serious | Blind, Deafblind | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships |
| All cells in a <table> element that use the headers attribute must only refer to other cells of that same <table> | Serious | Blind, Deafblind | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships |
| All non-empty <td> elements in tables larger than 3 by 3 must have an associated table header | Critical | Blind, Deafblind | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships |
| All page content must be contained by landmarks | Moderate | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| ARIA attributes must conform to valid names | Critical | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| ARIA attributes must conform to valid values | Critical | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| ARIA input fields have an accessible name | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| ARIA role must be appropriate for the element | Minor | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | Best Practice |
| ARIA roles used must conform to valid values | Critical | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| ARIA toggle fields have an accessible name | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| aria-hidden elements do not contain focusable elements | Serious | Blind, Low Vision, Deafblind | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| aria-hidden="true" must not be present on the document <body> | Critical | Blind | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| Audio must have controls that provide users with the ability to stop automatically played audio after three seconds | Moderate | Blind, Deafblind, Cognitive | 1.4.2 Audio Control |
| Autocomplete attribute must be used correctly | Serious | Attention Deficit, Blind, Low Vision, Deafblind, Mobility, Cognitive | 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose |
| Banner landmark must not be contained in another landmark | Moderate | Blind, Deafblind | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Bold, italic text and font-size are not used to style <p> elements as a heading | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships |
| Buttons must have discernible text | Critical | Blind, Deafblind | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| Certain ARIA roles must be contained by particular parent elements | Critical | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships |
| Certain ARIA roles must contain particular children | Critical | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships |
| Complementary landmarks and/or asides are top level | Moderate | Sighted Keyboard Users, Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Contentinfo landmark must not be contained in another landmark | Moderate | Sighted Keyboard Users, Blind, Deafblind | Not specified, or not applicable |
| CSS Media queries are not used to lock display orientation | Serious | Attention Deficit, Dyslexia, Sighted Keyboard Users, Low Vision, Mobility, Cognitive | 1.3.4 Orientation |
| Data or header cells should not be used to give caption to a data table | Serious | Blind, Deafblind | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships |
| Documents must contain a title element to aid in navigation | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 2.4.2 Page Titled |
| Elements containing <code>role="img"</code> have an alternative text | Serious | Blind, Deafblind | 1.1.1 Non-text Content |
| Elements in the focus order need a role appropriate for interactive content | Minor | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Elements must only use allowed ARIA attributes | Critical | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| Elements should not have tabindex greater than zero | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Ensure that links with the same accessible name serve a similar purpose | Minor | Blind, Deafblind | 2.4.9 Link Purpose (Link Only) |
| Ensure that scrollable region has keyboard access | Moderate | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 2.4.7 Focus Visible |
| Ensures the document has at most one main landmark | Moderate | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Form <input> elements must have labels | Critical | Blind, Low Vision, Deafblind, Mobility | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships, 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| Form <input> elements should have a visible label | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Form fields do not have duplicate labels | Moderate | Blind, Low Vision, Deafblind, Mobility | 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions |
| Frames must be tested with axe-core | Critical | Sighted Keyboard Users, Blind, Deafblind | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Frames must have a unique title attribute | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Frames must have title attribute | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks, 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| Heading levels should only increase by one | Moderate | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Headings must not be empty | Minor | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Hidden content on the page cannot be analyzed | Minor | Sighted Keyboard Users, Blind, Colorblindness | Not specified, or not applicable |
| ID attribute value must be unique | Critical | Blind, Deafblind | 4.1.1 Parsing |
| ID attribute values must be unique | Minor | Blind, Deafblind | 4.1.1 Parsing |
| IDs used in ARIA and labels must be unique | Critical | Blind, Deafblind | 4.1.1 Parsing |
| Image buttons must have alternate text | Critical | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 1.1.1 Non-text Content |
| Images must have alternate text | Critical | Blind, Deafblind | 1.1.1 Non-text Content |
| Inline text spacing must be adjustable with custom stylesheets | Serious | Attention Deficit, Blind, Low Vision, Deafblind, Mobility, Cognitive | 1.4.12 Text Spacing |
| Input buttons must have discernible text | Critical | Blind, Deafblind | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| Label and name from content mismatch | Serious | Blind, Low Vision, Deafblind, Mobility | 2.5.3 Label in Name |
| Landmarks must have a unique role or role/label/title (i.e. accessible name) combination | Moderate | Sighted Keyboard Users, Blind, Deafblind | Not specified, or not applicable |
| lang attribute must have a valid value | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Cognitive | 3.1.2 Language of Parts |
| Links must be distinguished from surrounding text in a way that does not rely on color | Serious | Low Vision, Colorblindness | 1.4.1 Use of Color |
| Links must have discernible text | Serious | Blind, Deaf, Mobility | 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context), 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| Main landmark must not be contained in another landmark | Moderate | Blind, Deaf, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Page must contain a level-one heading | Moderate | Sighted Keyboard Users, Blind, Low Vision, Deafblind | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Page must have means to bypass repeated blocks | Serious | Blind, Deafblind | 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks |
| Page must have one main landmark | Moderate | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Page must not have more than one banner landmark | Moderate | Sighted Keyboard Users, Blind, Deafblind | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Page must not have more than one contentinfo landmark | Moderate | Sighted Keyboard Users, Blind, Deafblind | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Required ARIA attributes must be provided | Critical | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| Scope attribute should be used correctly on tables | Critical | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Server-side image maps must not be used | Minor | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 2.1.1 Keyboard |
| SVG images and graphics require accessible text | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 1.1.1 Non-text Content |
| Text elements must have sufficient color contrast against the background | Serious | Low Vision, Colorblindness | 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) |
| Text of buttons and links should not be repeated in the image alternative | Minor | Blind, Deafblind | Not specified, or not applicable |
| The <caption> element should not contain the same text as the summary attribute | Minor | Blind, Deafblind | Not specified, or not applicable |
| The skip-link target should exist and be focusable | Moderate | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Timed refresh must not exist | Critical | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable, 2.2.4 Interruptions, 3.2.5 Change on Request |
| Use aria-roledescription on elements with a semantic role | Serious | Blind, Deafblind, Mobility | 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value |
| Users should be able to zoom and scale the text up to 500% | Minor | Low Vision | Not specified, or not applicable |
| Zooming and scaling must not be disabled | Critical | Low Vision | 1.4.4 Resize text |