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title Axe Rules Reference

Axe 4.11 Rules - Detailed Test Coverage Map

This document maps each axe-core 4.11 rule to specific test pages and describes what violations to expect.

WCAG 2.0 Level A & AA Rules (68 Total)

Text Alternatives Category (7 rules)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
image-alt Critical page1.html ✅ Yes Images missing alt text
image-alt Critical page5.html ✅ Yes SVG images missing alt
image-alt Critical blog/post1.html ✅ Yes Hero image without alt
area-alt Critical — ⏸️ Not tested Image map areas lack alt text
input-image-alt Critical — ⏸️ Not tested Image input buttons lack alt
object-alt Serious page5.html ✅ Yes Object elements without alt
svg-img-alt Serious page5.html ✅ Yes SVG with role="img" no alt
video-caption Critical page5.html ✅ Yes Videos without captions

ARIA Attributes Category (20 rules)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
aria-allowed-attr Critical page4.html ✅ Yes Element role has unsupported ARIA attributes
aria-braille-equivalent Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Braille labels lack non-braille equivalent
aria-command-name Serious page4.html ✅ Yes Button/link without accessible name
aria-conditional-attr Serious page4.html ✅ Yes ARIA attributes not per role spec
aria-deprecated-role Minor — ⏸️ Not tested Deprecated ARIA role used
aria-hidden-body Critical — ⏸️ Not tested aria-hidden on body element
aria-hidden-focus Serious page4.html ✅ Yes Hidden element contains focusable content
aria-input-field-name Serious page4.html ✅ Yes ARIA input field without name
aria-meter-name Serious — ⏸️ Not tested ARIA meter without name
aria-progressbar-name Serious — ⏸️ Not tested ARIA progressbar without name
aria-prohibited-attr Serious page4.html ✅ Yes Prohibited ARIA attribute used
aria-required-attr Critical page4.html ✅ Yes Required ARIA attribute missing
aria-required-children Critical page4.html ✅ Yes Required child ARIA roles missing
aria-required-parent Critical page4.html ✅ Yes Required parent ARIA role missing
aria-roles Critical page4.html ✅ Yes Invalid ARIA role value
aria-toggle-field-name Serious — ⏸️ Not tested ARIA toggle field without name
aria-tooltip-name Serious — ⏸️ Not tested ARIA tooltip without name
aria-valid-attr Critical page4.html ✅ Yes Invalid ARIA attribute used
aria-valid-attr-value Critical page4.html ✅ Yes ARIA attribute has invalid value

Forms Category (4 rules)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
label Critical page2.html ✅ Yes Form inputs without associated labels
label Critical auth/login.html ✅ Yes Login form fields unlabeled
select-name Critical auth/login.html ✅ Yes Select element without name
form-field-multiple-labels Moderate page2.html ✅ Yes Multiple labels on single field

Headings Category (2 rules)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
heading-order Moderate page3.html ✅ Yes Heading hierarchy incorrect
heading-order Moderate blog/post1.html ✅ Yes Skipped heading level (h2 to h4)

Tables Category (3 rules)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
th-has-data-cells Serious page6.html ✅ Yes Table headers don't describe data
td-headers-attr Serious page6.html ✅ Yes Table cells reference invalid headers
table-duplicate-name Minor page6.html ✅ Yes Caption duplicates summary

Buttons & Links Category (4 rules)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
button-name Critical page3.html ✅ Yes Buttons without discernible text
button-name Critical page5.html ✅ Yes Icon buttons without labels
input-button-name Critical page3.html ✅ Yes Input buttons without text
link-name Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Links without discernible text
link-in-text-block Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Links not distinguished by color

Frames & Embeds Category (3 rules)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
frame-title Serious page5.html ✅ Yes Iframe without accessible name
frame-title-unique Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Frame titles not unique
frame-focusable-content Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Frame with focusable content has tabindex=-1

Language & Document Category (5 rules)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
html-has-lang Serious page4.html ✅ Yes Missing lang attribute
html-has-lang Serious blog/post1.html ✅ Yes HTML without lang (intentional)
html-lang-valid Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Invalid lang value
html-xml-lang-mismatch Moderate — ⏸️ Not tested Lang and xml:lang disagree
valid-lang Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Invalid lang attribute value
document-title Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Document missing title

Color & Contrast Category (1 rule)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
color-contrast Serious page1.html ✅ Yes Poor contrast ratio
color-contrast Serious blog/post1.html ✅ Yes Low contrast text (#888 on #8a8a)

Parsing & Structure Category (4 rules)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
duplicate-id-aria Critical demo-bad.html ✅ Yes Duplicate ID attributes
list Serious page6.html ✅ Yes Incorrect list structure
listitem Serious page6.html ✅ Yes li outside ul/ol
listitem Serious blog/post1.html ✅ Yes List items outside container
definition-list Serious page6.html ✅ Yes Definition list structure incorrect
dlitem Serious page6.html ✅ Yes dt/dd outside dl
marquee Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Marquee element used
blink Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Blink element used

Meta & Viewport Category (3 rules)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
meta-viewport Moderate auth/login.html ✅ Yes Viewport disables user zoom
meta-refresh Critical — ⏸️ Not tested Meta refresh used

Keyboard Interaction Category (3 rules)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
bypass Serious — ⏸️ Not tested No skip navigation link
scrollable-region-focusable Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Scrollable region not keyboard accessible
server-side-image-map Minor — ⏸️ Not tested Server-side image map used

WCAG 2.1 Level A & AA Rules (26 Total)

Content Sizing (2 rules)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
avoid-inline-spacing Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Text spacing via styles not adjustable
autocomplete-valid Serious auth/login.html ✅ Yes Invalid/missing autocomplete

Best Practices Rules (30+ Total)

Selected Key Rules

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
empty-heading Minor page3.html ✅ Yes Heading with no text
empty-table-header Minor — ⏸️ Not tested Table header without text
heading-order Moderate page3.html ✅ Yes Heading hierarchy wrong
label-title-only Serious page2.html ✅ Yes Form field only labeled via title
landmark-one-main Moderate blog/post1.html ✅ Yes Document missing main landmark
region Moderate blog/post1.html ✅ Yes Content outside landmarks
tabindex Serious auth/login.html ✅ Yes tabindex > 0 used
page-has-heading-one Moderate page3.html ✅ Yes No h1 heading
scope-attr-valid Moderate page6.html ✅ Yes Invalid scope attribute

Experimental Rules (9 Total - Disabled by Default)

Rule Severity Page Expected Violation Description
td-has-header Critical page6.html ✅ Yes Large table cells lack headers
table-fake-caption Serious page6.html ✅ Yes Table caption not using caption element
p-as-heading Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Paragraph styled as heading
label-content-name-mismatch Serious — ⏸️ Not tested Visible label doesn't match name

Summary Statistics

Coverage by Test Page

  • page1.html — 3-4 rule categories, 5-7 violations expected
  • page2.html — 2-3 rule categories, 5-8 violations expected
  • page3.html — 3-4 rule categories, 4-6 violations expected
  • page4.html — 4-5 rule categories, 6-10 violations expected
  • page5.html — 3-4 rule categories, 6-8 violations expected
  • page6.html — 4-5 rule categories, 8-12 violations expected
  • auth/login.html — 3-4 rule categories, 6-9 violations expected
  • blog/post1.html — 4-5 rule categories, 7-10 violations expected
  • demo-bad.html — 5+ rule categories, 10+ violations expected

Overall Rule Coverage

  • Rules with test coverage: 50+ out of 100+
  • Rules not tested: 50+ (mostly edge cases, deprecated, or AAA rules)
  • Primary focus: WCAG 2.0 & 2.1 Level A/AA standards
  • Coverage percentage: ~50% of actionable rules

How to Use This Map

  1. Select a specific rule from the table above
  2. Visit the listed test page to see how it manifests
  3. Run axe-core on that page
  4. Verify the violation appears in results
  5. Check if scanner detects it correctly

Testing Methodology

  1. Open a11y-scan.html (example scanner interface - not yet implemented)
  2. Select "Local Directory" from dropdown
  3. Drag this repository folder onto the drop zone
  4. Run the scan
  5. Compare detected violations to expected errors in this document

Last Updated: January 2026 Axe Version: 4.11 Test Pages: 9 Total Violations Expected: 40+