Expanded accessibility coverage - Q1 launch: February 22nd 2023

General information about the Q1 launch

We want to make sure that you experience fast and reliable insights to accelerate your collaboration, team efficiency, and overall performance. This is the path towards a faster, more reliable, and more productive Siteimprove than ever.

Specific information about "Expanded accessibility coverage"

That is why with our Q1 2023 release, we have expanded the coverage of what can be tested automatically. We have done that by implementing additional 17 new accessibility rules.
From 22nd February, you will be able to test your sites against 17 new automatic accessibility rules, benefiting from expanded accessibility coverage.
With this particular update (part of the Q1 launch), we decrease the number of manual accessibility tests you need to perform. You can lean back and instead let the platform perform automatic tests.

Implications of the implementation

You may see a change in your DCI score depending on how many new accessibility issue occurrences the platform finds as a result of the expanded coverage. The rule of thumb is:

• If your sites in general score low in relation to the new rules, your DCI score may drop.
• If your sites in general score high in relation to the new rules, your DCI score may increase.

DCI calculation is based on a recent crawl/snapshot, so the potential change will only show going forward and not retrospectively.
You do not need to change the way you work with the Accessibility module because of the implementation of the additional 17 rules.
We will update the article Accessibility: Understanding the DCI® accessibility score with the new point allocation weights after the implementation. 

List of the new rules

Below you can find a list of the new rules with links to more details.

• Role with implied hidden content has keyboard focus, explained (A)
• Letter spacing is not wide enough, explained (AA)
• Word spacing is not wide enough, explained (AA)
• Line height is too narrow, explained (AA)
• Roles are invalid, explained (A, Best Practice)
• Page refreshes or redirects without warning, explained (A, AAA)
• Menu item is missing a text alternative, explained (A)
• Content missing after heading, explained (Best Practice)
• Field input error is not announced in full, explained (A, AA)
• Improper use of preformatted text element, explained (Best Practice)
• Table data missing context, explained (A)
• Table header cell is missing a header role, explained (A)
• HTML element is deprecated or obsolete, explained (Best Practice)
• Page does not start with a level 1 heading, explained (Best Practice)
• Grouped form controls missing an accessible name, explained (Best Practice)
• Page sections with the same name do not serve the same purpose, explained (Best Practice)
• Color contrast does not meet requirement, explained (AA, AAA)