Content checks
Content quality checks are present in the CMS. Here are the checks available out of the box. Those checks are based on the content of the page as seen by users of the site, not what is editable in the CMS.
Content metrics
Wagtail calculates multiple metrics based on the page’s content, live in the page editor.
Words
We calculate the number of words present in the "plain text" content, with no formatting counted. This calculation is done differently for all languages, based on language-specific rules.
Reading time
We calculate reading time from word count, using different reading speeds for different languages. Out of the box, Wagtail supports reading speeds for:
- Arabic
- Chinese
- Dutch
- English
- Finnish
- French
- German
- Hebrew
- Italian
- Korean
- Spanish
- Swedish
Other languages default to the "English" reading speed factor.
Readability
We use the readability formula based on length of words and sentences. Long sentences and words result in a worse readability score.
Accessibility checker
To ensure accessibility of content for site users, the Checks side panel runs automated accessibility checks on the page content. The checker can help authors create more accessible websites following best practices and accessibility standards like WCAG. The checker is based on the Axe testing engine and scans the loaded page for errors.
By default, the checker includes the following rules to find common accessibility issues in authored content:
button-name:<button>elements must always have a text label.empty-heading: This rule checks for headings with no text content. Empty headings are confusing to screen readers users and should be avoided.empty-table-header: Table header text should not be emptyframe-title:<iframe>elements must always have a text label.heading-order: This rule checks for incorrect heading order. Headings should be ordered in a logical and consistent manner, with the main heading (h1) followed by subheadings (h2, h3, etc.).input-button-name:<input>button elements must always have a text label.link-name:<a>link elements must always have a text label.p-as-heading: This rule checks for paragraphs that are styled as headings. Paragraphs should not be styled as headings, as they don’t help users who rely on headings to navigate content.alt-text-quality: A custom rule ensures that image alt texts don’t contain anti-patterns like file extensions and underscores.