auditing-wcag git:20261030.021354aA

Immutable. This exact content never changes and is served at /api/v1/blob/4061546fba52c297.

---
name: auditing-wcag
description: Perform formal WCAG 2.2 A/AA conformance audits and assign Pass/Fail/NT/NA to every success criterion with evidence. Use reviewing-a11y instead for issue discovery and improvement feedback.
argument-hint: URL or file path to audit
allowed-tools: Read Grep Glob WebFetch Task mcp__playwright__browser_snapshot mcp__playwright__browser_navigate mcp__playwright__browser_click mcp__playwright__browser_type mcp__playwright__browser_press_key
---

[日本語版 (Japanese)](./SKILL.ja.md)

# WCAG Conformance Audit

You perform WCAG 2.2 AA conformance audits. Report Pass/Fail/NT/NA per success criterion with evidence.

## When to Use This Skill

| Perspective | reviewing-a11y | auditing-wcag |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Goal | Find issues and propose fixes | Systematic conformance verification |
| Output | Severity-based issues list | Pass/Fail/NT/NA per success criterion |
| Scope | Practical issues focus | Full WCAG 2.2 A/AA coverage |

### Routing Rules
- **auditing-wcag**: Requests for "audit", "compliance", "conformance", or formal reporting.
- **reviewing-a11y**: Requests for "review", "find issues", "improvements", or dev feedback.
- If unclear, ask which goal they want: compliance report or issue review.

## Workflow (6 Steps)

### 1. Input Acceptance
- Accept a URL or local file path.
- For multiple pages, confirm the list and entry points.
- For local files, use the available file-reading capability (runtime behavior cannot be executed).

### 2. Scope Contract
Confirm and get agreement on:
- Target level (A/AA, default WCAG 2.2 AA)
- Page scope (all pages / representative pages / provided URLs)
- Limitations (AT checks out of scope, dynamic behavior depends on Playwright)
- Output format (Pass/Fail/NT/NA per success criterion)

### 3. Automated Checks
- Use Playwright to navigate and capture the accessibility tree.
- Collect the material for each criterion with `references/automated-checks.md`.
- If browser interaction is unavailable, run the checks via the `a11y-audit` CLI (see "Automated Checks CLI" below).
- If the CLI also cannot run, retrieve HTML with the available web capability and limit judgments accordingly.
- Use `references/coverage-matrix.md` to ensure A/AA coverage.

**Sort the results with the knowledge base ([a11y-knowledge](../a11y-knowledge/SKILL.md)):**
- Also run `page-snapshot` from `@a11y-skills/audit` 0.14.0 or later (include it even when narrowing `--checks`). It gives no verdict, but it is the material for 2.4.1 / 2.4.2 / 3.1.1 and for comparing multiple pages.
- Sort the results into "settled / needs review" by the rules in [checks-axe.md](../a11y-knowledge/references/checks-axe.md) and [checks-audit.md](../a11y-knowledge/references/checks-audit.md). The only axe rules whose passes may be counted as conformant (Pass) are the ones listed there. Any other pass means no more than "no problem within what that rule looks at".
- For criteria that need review, read "Judgment lines" and "When checking" in `../a11y-knowledge/references/criteria/<number>.md` before deciding. Anything under "do not assert" stays NT, with a note on what would settle it.
- When auditing multiple pages, first read the shared judgment rules in [cross-page.md](../a11y-knowledge/references/cross-page.md).
- Judgment rules live in the knowledge base; the reference guides hold only the material and the judgments for criteria without a knowledge base file. The knowledge base is referenced by the relative path `../a11y-knowledge/` (it resolves when installed as a plugin; when installed by symlinking individual skill directories, link `a11y-knowledge` as well).

### 4. Interactive Checks
- Validate keyboard access and focus behavior with Playwright.
- Follow `references/interactive-checks.md`.
- If execution is blocked, mark affected criteria as NT.

### 5. Manual Check Items
- Present items from `references/manual-checks.md` and `references/content-checks.md`.
- If evidence is not available, keep them as NT and list them explicitly.
- Incorporate any evidence the user provides.

### 6. Report Generation
- Follow `references/output-format.md`.
- Assign a status to every A/AA success criterion (Pass/Fail/NT/NA).
- Summarize scope, limitations, tools, and unresolved items.

## Automation Scope and Limits

- Playwright only provides computed accessibility tree signals (role/name/state).
- Automated test results alone do not guarantee audit outcomes.
- Screen reader verification and AT×browser compatibility testing are out of scope.
- Do not guess; use NT when evidence is missing.

## Reference Guides

- `references/automated-checks.md`
- `references/interactive-checks.md`
- `references/manual-checks.md`
- `references/content-checks.md`
- `references/output-format.md`
- `references/coverage-matrix.md`
- Knowledge base (`../a11y-knowledge/`): `references/checks-axe.md`, `references/checks-audit.md`, `references/cross-page.md`, `references/criteria/<number>.md`

## Automated Checks CLI

Automated checks are run via the `a11y-audit` CLI included in the npm package [`@a11y-skills/audit`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@a11y-skills/audit) (requires Node 18+; peer dependencies are fetched automatically by npm 7+).

**Setup (first time only):**
```bash
npx playwright install chromium
```

**Run all checks:**
```bash
npx -y @a11y-skills/audit --url "https://example.com"
```

**Run specific checks:**
```bash
npx -y @a11y-skills/audit --url "https://example.com" --checks axe-audit,focus-indicator-check,page-snapshot
```

Include `page-snapshot` (0.14.0 or later) even when narrowing `--checks`. It is the material for 2.4.1 / 2.4.2 / 3.1.1 and for comparing multiple pages.

**With annotated screenshots (focus-indicator):**
```bash
npx -y @a11y-skills/audit --url "https://example.com" --checks focus-indicator-check --screenshot
```

**Custom output directory (default: `./a11y-audit-results`):**
```bash
npx -y @a11y-skills/audit --url "https://example.com" --output-dir ./results
```

**Exit codes:** `0` = no violations / `1` = violations found / `2` = runtime error

| Check name | Criterion | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `axe-audit` | Multiple | axe-core comprehensive check |
| `reflow-check` | 1.4.10 | Horizontal scroll at 320px |
| `text-spacing-check` | 1.4.12 | Text spacing override clipping |
| `zoom-200-check` | 1.4.4 | 200% zoom content loss |
| `orientation-check` | 1.3.4 | Orientation lock detection |
| `autocomplete-audit` | 1.3.5 | Missing/invalid autocomplete |
| `time-limit-detector` | 2.2.1 | Timer/meta refresh detection |
| `auto-play-detection` | 1.4.2, 2.2.2 | Auto-play content detection (visual changes and the playback state of `<audio>` / `<video>`; whether sound is actually heard needs manual review) |
| `focus-indicator-check` | 2.4.7 | Focus indicator visibility |
| `target-size-check` | 2.5.5, 2.5.8 | Target size measurement |
| `keyboard-trap-check` | 2.1.2 | Keyboard trap detection |
| `keyboard-reachability-check` | 2.1.1 | Keyboard reachability (Tab, arrow keys, activedescendant) |
| `redundant-entry-check` | 3.3.7 | Overlapping fields asking for the same information (candidates; needs review) |
| `motion-actuation-check` | 2.5.4 | Listeners reacting to device motion / orientation (candidates; needs review) |
| `change-on-input-check` | 3.2.2 | Navigation, new windows, focus moves or dialogs caused by just changing a form control (candidates; needs review) |
| `accessible-authentication-check` | 3.3.8 | Paste blocking and autocomplete="off" on password / code fields, CAPTCHA-like elements (candidates; needs review) |
| `pointer-gesture-check` | 2.5.1, 2.5.7 | Components likely operated by dragging, swiping or multiple fingers (candidates; needs review) |
| `focus-order-check` | 2.4.3 | Tab order vs. visual order (moving back up, backwards on a row, detours) and focus on opening / closing modal dialogs (candidates; needs review) |
| `pointer-cancellation-check` | 2.5.2 | Components that act on the down-event alone (navigation, new window, dialog, DOM change) and elements with only press listeners (candidates; needs review) |
| `non-text-contrast-check` | 1.4.11 | Contrast of input, checkbox, radio and switch borders or fills against the surrounding color, and of icons in icon-only buttons (below 3:1 or not measurable; needs review) |
| `character-key-shortcut-check` | 2.1.4 | Keys that cause a navigation, new window, dialog, focus move, DOM change, scroll or `preventDefault()` when pressed one at a time with focus on the page body (candidates; needs review) |
| `content-on-hover-check` | 1.4.13 | Content shown on hover or focus (found from CSS :hover / :focus rules and listeners) that Escape does not dismiss, that disappears when the pointer moves onto it, or that disappears on its own (candidates; needs review). Delegated listeners are reported only |
| `page-snapshot` | Material for 2.4.1 / 2.4.2 / 3.1.1 / 3.2.3 / 3.2.4 / 3.2.6 | No verdict. Writes the body's aria snapshot, the title, the `lang` of `<html>`, the URLs and an aria snapshot per iframe (read it to judge; for several pages, use a separate `--output-dir` per page and compare) |

See the [`@a11y-skills/audit` README](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@a11y-skills/audit) for detailed documentation.