Understanding Audit Results
How to read, interpret, and act on the accessibility findings ConformPilot surfaces.
Result Categories
Every ConformPilot audit groups findings into four categories:
Violations
Confirmed accessibility failures that must be fixed. These are definite WCAG failures detected automatically. Each violation includes the WCAG criterion, severity level, affected element, and a code snippet.
Warnings (Needs Review)
Issues that require manual verification. The tool detected a potential problem but cannot confirm it automatically — for example, whether an image's alt text is meaningful.
Passes
Elements that were tested and passed the accessibility check. Reviewing passes helps confirm your fixes are working correctly.
Incomplete
Rules that could not be fully evaluated — often due to dynamic content or JavaScript-rendered elements. These require manual testing.
Severity Levels
Violations are ranked by impact on users with disabilities:
| Severity | Meaning | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | Completely blocks access for users with disabilities | Fix immediately |
| Serious | Significantly impairs access or usability | Fix in current sprint |
| Moderate | Creates difficulty but workarounds may exist | Fix in next release |
| Minor | Small inconvenience, low impact on users | Fix when possible |
Reading a Violation
Each violation card in ConformPilot shows:
- Rule IDThe axe-core or Pa11y rule that was triggered (e.g.,
color-contrast,image-alt) - WCAG CriterionThe specific success criterion violated (e.g., 1.4.3 Contrast Minimum)
- ElementThe HTML element that failed, with a CSS selector to locate it
- Code SnippetThe actual HTML source of the failing element
- How to FixA plain-English description of what needs to change
- EngineWhich engine detected it — Axe, Pa11y, or Lighthouse
What Automated Tools Can and Cannot Catch
ConformPilot's automated engines (Axe, Pa11y, Lighthouse) catch approximately 30–40% of WCAG issues. The remaining issues require manual testing.
✅ Automatically Detected
- Missing alt text on images
- Insufficient color contrast
- Missing form labels
- Missing page title
- Invalid ARIA attributes
- Missing landmark regions
- Duplicate IDs
⚠️ Requires Manual Testing
- Keyboard navigation flow
- Screen reader compatibility
- Meaningful alt text quality
- Focus order logic
- Cognitive accessibility
- Complex interactive widgets
- Error message clarity