academia.edu Accessibility Report

Accessibility audit of academia.edu — scanned on Feb 20, 2026

Technology
0 /100
D Poor

5 issues found across 2 categories

3 Critical 2 Major

WCAG Compliance Overview

Perceivable 3 issues
Operable 1 issues
Understandable 0 issues
Robust 1 issues

Issues Found

Images missing alt text

Critical

Images must have alternative text to convey their meaning to screen reader users.

WCAG 1.1.1
32 element(s) affected
  • <img src="//a.academia-assets.com/images/academia-logo-redesign-2015.svg">
  • <img src="//a.academia-assets.com/images/landing/icon-blue-user.svg">
  • <img src="//a.academia-assets.com/images/landing/icon-gold-paper.svg">
  • <img src="//a.academia-assets.com/images/landing/icon-green-star.svg">
  • <img src="//a.academia-assets.com/images/landing/track-impact.svg">
How to fix

Add descriptive alt attributes to all <img> elements. Use alt="" for decorative images.

Form inputs missing labels

Critical

Form elements must have associated labels so users know what information to enter.

WCAG 1.3.1
1 element(s) affected
  • <input type="text" name="q">
How to fix

Add <label> elements with matching for attributes, or use aria-label.

Buttons missing accessible name

Critical

Buttons must have discernible text for screen reader users.

WCAG 4.1.2
1 element(s) affected
  • <button>
How to fix

Add text content, aria-label, or title to all <button> elements.

Heading levels skip order

Major

Headings should follow a logical order (h1 → h2 → h3) without skipping levels.

WCAG 1.3.1
2 element(s) affected
  • <h4> "Explore our top research interests" (after h1)
  • <h6> "Researcher" (after h2)
How to fix

Restructure headings to follow sequential order. Don't skip from h1 to h3.

Frames missing title

Major

Iframes must have title attributes describing their content.

WCAG 2.4.1
1 element(s) affected
  • <iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5G9JF7Z">
How to fix

Add descriptive title attributes to all <iframe> elements.

Top Priority Fixes

Here are the most impactful changes academia.edu should make to improve accessibility:

  1. #1
    Images missing alt text Critical

    Add descriptive alt attributes to all <img> elements. Use alt="" for decorative images.

  2. #2
    Form inputs missing labels Critical

    Add <label> elements with matching for attributes, or use aria-label.

  3. #3
    Buttons missing accessible name Critical

    Add text content, aria-label, or title to all <button> elements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is academia.edu accessible?

academia.edu scored 39/100 (grade D) on our accessibility audit. This score reflects automated checks against WCAG 2.1 Level AA criteria.

Is academia.edu WCAG compliant?

Our scan found 5 accessibility issues on academia.edu. Full WCAG compliance requires addressing all critical and major issues identified above.

Is academia.edu EAA compliant?

The European Accessibility Act requires websites to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards. Check the detailed report above to see academia.edu's compliance status.

What accessibility issues does academia.edu have?

See the full issue list above with severity levels, affected elements, and recommended fixes for academia.edu.

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