A scan with a completed Expert Manual Review gives you a score from 0 to 100 and a risk band. The two go together and the band is usually the more useful of the two.
Show the top of the results page after an Expert Manual Review, with the score out of 100, the risk band label, and the score ring.
The score
The percentage of the WCAG 2.1 AA requirements that apply to the pages in that scan, and that those pages pass. Higher is better. Each failed requirement costs the same, however many times it fails and however serious the individual issues are, so fixing some instances of a problem does not move the score until every instance is fixed.
The four risk bands
| Band | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Low Risk (90 to 100) | In reasonable shape. Fix what remains, and keep scanning so it stays this way. |
| Needs Attention (70 to 89) | Real problems that will affect some visitors. Not an emergency, but not something to leave for next year. |
| High Risk (40 to 69) | Significant barriers. Some people will be unable to complete things on your site. Worth planning work now. |
| Critical Risk (0 to 39) | Serious, widespread barriers. Treat as urgent, particularly if you have a legal or contractual obligation. |
What the score is not
- It is not a compliance certificate. A high score is strong evidence of good practice, not a legal guarantee.
- It describes the pages you scanned, not your whole site. Ten pages of a thousand page site is a sample.
- It is not comparable between different selections. Scanning your ten best pages and then ten of your worst will move the number a long way without anything on the site changing.
Comparing scores over time
A score is most useful compared against the same site's previous scores, with a similar selection of pages. That is the number that tells you whether the work you did actually helped. Each website's page charts its scores over time once it has two, and A11Y Top Score shows your best scores across all your sites.
Show the Compliance Score Trend chart on the website page, with multiple data points plotted over time.
Next
The score tells you where you stand. Understanding your issues list tells you what to do about it.