Article thumbnail images lack descriptive alt text
Screen reader users browsing the recent articles list and featured post hear nothing for the article thumbnails (alt=""). While the images are paired with adjacent headline links (which do have accessible text via the h1/h2 link), the images themselves are being treated as purely decorative. If the thumbnails are generic stock/AI-generated illustrations that add no unique information beyond the headline, empty alt is acceptable per 1.1.1 (decorative). However, if they are meant to convey topical context (e.g., a diagram of C. elegans anatomy) that sighted users glean visually, screen reader users are missing that context. Recommend confirming intent: if decorative, keep alt="" (current implementation is then correct); if informative, add concise alt text describing the image's relevance.
[
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com",
"severity": "moderate",
"title": "Article thumbnail images lack descriptive alt text",
"evidence": {
"selector": "article img[alt='']",
"note": "Featured card img and article card imgs all have alt=''; each is already adjacent to a text link with the same info, so likely compliant as decorative"
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/topics/science/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "Decorative-style empty alt on article preview thumbnails likely acceptable",
"evidence": {
"selector": "article img[alt='']",
"note": "escalate false"
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/the-gambler-s-fallacy-and-the-limits-of-intuitive-probabilit/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "Hero image alt likely appropriately empty (decorative)",
"evidence": {
"selector": "article img[alt='']",
"note": "Same empty-alt pattern is used across other article thumbnails on the page, suggesting a consistent, intentional decorative-image convention rather than an oversight."
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/religion-by-inheritance-how-birth-predicts-belief/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "Hero image uses empty alt text (likely acceptable)",
"evidence": {
"selector": "article img[src='religion-by-inheritance-how-birth-predicts-belief.png']",
"note": "needs visual confirmation of image content"
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/secularism-and-the-political-party-when-movements-organise/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "Hero image alt text likely acceptable but unverified",
"evidence": {
"selector": "article img[alt='']",
"note": "Same empty-alt pattern repeated on all article thumbnails site-wide, suggesting an intentional decorative convention rather than an oversight."
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/what-the-multiverse-hypothesis-actually-predicts/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "Hero image alt text likely appropriate as decorative",
"evidence": {
"selector": "article img[src='what-the-multiverse-hypothesis-actually-predicts.png']",
"note": "appears decorative based on skeleton context"
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/what-the-nervous-system-of-c-elegans-actually-taught-us/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "Decorative hero image uses empty alt appropriately",
"evidence": {
"selector": "article img[alt='']",
"note": "Image appears to be a generic stock/illustrative header, not a data visualization"
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/secularism-and-the-court-witness-truth-without-god/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "Hero image alt text likely appropriate but unverifiable decorative status",
"evidence": {
"selector": "article img[alt='']",
"note": "same pattern repeats for related-post thumbnail images"
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/topics/news/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "Decorative-style empty alt on article preview image is acceptable but context-dependent",
"evidence": {
"selector": "article img[alt='']",
"note": "criterion 1.1.1"
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/about/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "Text-resize/theme buttons rely on ambiguous glyph 'A' with no visible text label",
"evidence": {
"selector": "button[aria-label='Smaller text'], button[aria-label='Larger text']",
"note": "Both buttons render identical visible character 'A'"
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/the-concept-of-supervenience-when-one-level-rests-on-another/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "Decorative-style empty alt on featured article image likely acceptable",
"evidence": {
"selector": "article img[alt='']",
"note": "the-concept-of-supervenience...png alt=''; same pattern repeated on related-post thumbnail"
}
}
]
moderatesecuritysecurity/misconfiguration10 pages
Weak or missing Content-Security-Policy
The site appears to lack a strict Content-Security-Policy (or has one with overly permissive directives such as 'unsafe-inline'/'unsafe-eval' or missing script-src restrictions). On a content-heavy blog rendering user-adjacent or third-party embedded content (images, Ko-fi widget, fonts), a weak CSP reduces defense-in-depth against XSS if any injection point (e.g., search feature, comment rendering, or a compromised third-party script) is exploited. Without CSP script-src/object-src restrictions, an injected script would execute unrestricted, enabling session/cookie theft or defacement. Remediation: implement a CSP with at minimum default-src 'self', explicit script-src allow-list (avoiding 'unsafe-inline'/'unsafe-eval'), frame-ancestors directive, and object-src 'none'. Since no other compensating headers (e.g., X-Frame-Options combined with frame-ancestors) were observed in the provided evidence, this should be treated as a real gap rather than moot.
[
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/faq/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "Weak or permissive Content-Security-Policy",
"evidence": {
"note": "No CSP value provided in evidence beyond triage flag; assessed based on absence of strong directives implied by triage reason."
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/the-gambler-s-fallacy-and-the-limits-of-intuitive-probabilit/",
"severity": "moderate",
"title": "Weak or missing Content-Security-Policy",
"evidence": {
"selector": "",
"snippet": "",
"note": "No CSP header value provided in evidence beyond flag classification 'weak-csp'; assuming directive is either absent or overly permissive."
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/religion-by-inheritance-how-birth-predicts-belief/",
"severity": "moderate",
"title": "Weak or absent Content-Security-Policy",
"evidence": {
"note": "Header content not provided in full; flagged as weak/absent per triage — no frame-ancestors or script-src restriction confirmed"
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/secularism-and-the-political-party-when-movements-organise/",
"severity": "moderate",
"title": "Weak or overly permissive Content-Security-Policy",
"evidence": {
"note": "CSP present but weakened directives observed; no compensating frame-ancestors or strict script-src confirmed"
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/topics/religion/",
"severity": "moderate",
"title": "Weak or missing Content-Security-Policy",
"evidence": {
"note": "CSP header flagged as weak by triage; no evidence of nonce/hash-based script-src or restrictive default-src"
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/what-the-multiverse-hypothesis-actually-predicts/",
"severity": "moderate",
"title": "Weak or permissive Content-Security-Policy",
"evidence": {
"selector": "CSP header",
"note": "Inline styles/scripts observed in rendered skeleton suggest permissive style-src/script-src directives"
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/secularism-and-the-court-witness-truth-without-god/",
"severity": "moderate",
"title": "Weak or permissive Content-Security-Policy",
"evidence": {
"note": "CSP header content not fully shown in provided metadata; assessed as weak based on triage flag."
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/topics/news/",
"severity": "moderate",
"title": "Weak Content-Security-Policy allows inline scripts/unsafe resources",
"evidence": {
"note": "Header value not fully provided, but flagged as weak/permissive during triage; no nonce/hash strategy or frame-ancestors directive confirmed to compensate."
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/about/",
"severity": "moderate",
"title": "Weak or permissive Content-Security-Policy",
"evidence": {
"selector": "header:Content-Security-Policy",
"note": "Redacted; policy allows overly broad sources per triage flag"
}
},
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/the-concept-of-supervenience-when-one-level-rests-on-another/",
"severity": "moderate",
"title": "Weak or permissive Content-Security-Policy",
"evidence": {
"note": "CSP header flagged as weak in triage; specific directive values not provided in skeleton/headers excerpt"
}
}
]
moderatewcagwcag/4.1.22 pages
Text resize buttons don't communicate state changes to assistive technology
The 'Smaller text' and 'Larger text' buttons have aria-pressed='false' hardcoded and never appear to update after activation. Screen-reader users pressing these toggle-like buttons receive no confirmation that a state change occurred, violating Name/Role/Value requirements since aria-pressed should reflect actual state. Additionally, low-vision users relying on visual cues alone may not notice the page text has resized if the change is subtle, and there's no live region announcement (e.g., via aria-live) confirming the new size. Fix: update aria-pressed dynamically based on actual toggle state (if these are meant to be toggle buttons), or if they are simple actions (not toggles), remove aria-pressed entirely and instead announce the change via an aria-live region (e.g., 'Text size increased to 120%').
[
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/feed.xml",
"severity": "moderate",
"title": "Document should have one main landmark",
"evidence": {
"impact": "moderate",
"nodes": [
{
"selector": "html",
"snippet": "<html>"
}
],
"node_count": 1,
"tags": [
"cat.semantics",
"best-practice"
]
}
}
]
moderatewcagpage-has-heading-one1 page
Page should contain a level-one heading
Ensure that the page, or at least one of its frames contains a level-one heading https://dequeuniversity.com/rules/axe/4.10/page-has-heading-one?application=axeAPI
No security-relevant issue identified in flagged item
The flagged item concerns accessibility (aria-hidden icons nested in interactive elements), which is a UX/a11y concern, not a security vulnerability. No headers, TLS metadata, or credential exposure were provided for this flagged item, so no security finding applies. No action needed from a security review perspective.
[
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/posts/religion-by-inheritance-how-birth-predicts-belief/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "No security-relevant issue identified in flagged item",
"evidence": {
"note": "Flagged item is UX/accessibility in nature, out of scope for security rubric"
}
}
]
minorwcagwcag/1.4.41 page
No visible confirmation of resize toggle causing ambiguity for low-vision users
Low-vision users who rely on the A+/A- controls to resize text may not perceive small increments in font size, especially if repeated clicks show no obvious visual feedback (e.g., a size indicator or highlighted active state). This creates uncertainty whether the control is functioning, potentially causing repeated unnecessary clicks. Fix: add a small text-size indicator (e.g., 'Text size: Medium') near the buttons that updates on click.
[
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/faq/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "No visible confirmation of resize toggle causing ambiguity for low-vision users",
"evidence": {
"selector": "button[aria-label='Smaller text'], button[aria-label='Larger text']"
}
}
]
minorwcagwcag/2.4.41 page
Decorative bullet separators are properly hidden but article previews rely on truncated text
The '●' separators are aria-hidden, so they do not create confusing announcements for screen reader users—this part is fine. However, article preview links each go to distinctly titled headings (h2 with descriptive link text), which do satisfy Link Purpose in Context. No real barrier confirmed here; the truncated body text is supplementary, not the accessible name of the link, so screen reader users can still distinguish articles via the h2 link text. Downgraded to informational: verify that truncated excerpt text does not end mid-word/mid-sentence in a way that implies missing content via ARIA live regions or is announced as part of the link.
[
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/topics/secularism/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "Decorative bullet separators are properly hidden but article previews rely on truncated text",
"evidence": {
"selector": "article h2 a",
"note": "Each article's link name is the full descriptive headline, not the truncated excerpt, so no confirmed barrier."
}
}
]
minorwcagwcag/3.3.11 page
No indication of error/empty-query feedback for search submission
Keyboard and screen-reader users submitting an empty or invalid search query have no described mechanism for status messages or error identification (no aria-live region or role='status' evident in skeleton). If no results are found, screen reader users may not be informed. Fix: ensure search results/error states are announced via an ARIA live region so users relying on assistive tech receive feedback equivalent to sighted users.
[
{
"url": "https://artificialatheist.com/search/",
"severity": "minor",
"title": "No indication of error/empty-query feedback for search submission",
"evidence": {
"selector": "main input[type=search]",
"note": "No visible form/button or live-region markup present in skeleton"
}
}
]
minorwcagwcag/3.3.21 page
Search input relies solely on placeholder/aria-label, no persistent visible label
Low-vision users and users with cognitive disabilities may lose the input's purpose once text is entered or if placeholder rendering is suppressed by browser zoom/high-contrast settings, since the aria-label 'Search articles' is not visually present as a label. While this satisfies 4.1.2 Name/Role/Value programmatically, it is a weak pattern for 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions. Fix: add a visible <label> (can be visually styled but not hidden) tied to the input via for/id.
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