Audit results in Preflight
When the audits complete, Preflight displays their results in the results dashboard. The dashboard shows an overall results meter and the opportunities it found, grouped by audit category. Within each category, individual audits identify specific items to review or fix.
Toolbar
The toolbar at the top of the results dashboard provides actions for the current run:
- Reanalyze – Start a brand-new audit run on the current page. Reanalyze always discards the displayed results and runs every audit again, so use it whenever you want fresh results — for example, after editing the page. Select Reanalyze in the toolbar.
- Export – Download the current run as a CSV (spreadsheet-friendly) or PDF (a formatted document) file. Depending on your environment, select Export from the toolbar or from the More actions (…) menu.
- Settings – Use Show site navigation links to include site navigation links (currently Internal Links only). Select the gear icon or open More actions (…) and select Settings. Settings is available before a run or after it finishes, but not while audits are running or in the Universal Editor. See Include site navigation links.
If you change a setting after a run, a dot on Reanalyze and the label Reanalyze to apply new settings indicate that the displayed results used a different setting. Select Reanalyze to apply the saved setting to a new run.
When you export, you can also choose what to include:
- Include metadata table – Add a table of run details, such as the host, content path, and generation details.
- Include passed audits – Include the audits that passed with no opportunities, not only the opportunities that were found.
Audits that could not be completed are always included, whatever you choose. For more information, see Audits that could not be completed.
Results meter
At the top of the dashboard, the results meter reflects the overall audit results. It shows the percentage of audits that finished without opportunities, labeled % passed, along with the total number of opportunities found across all audits. For example, 85% passed means that 85% of the completed audits found no opportunities. This percentage describes audit results, not progress through the run.
When you are viewing a run that was reloaded from a previous session, the header shows how long ago it was performed — for example, yesterday. For more information, see Continue a previous session.
While the audits are still running, the dashboard shows Analyzing page with a short status beneath it. A progress bar appears initially, before named audit categories arrive. After that, a processing indicator shows only next to each audit that is still running, not on its category. When all audits complete, the meter shows the final percentage passed and opportunity count.
Audit categories
Preflight groups related audits into categories, such as SEO and Accessibility. Each category appears as a card that shows the number of opportunities found, or indicates that all its audits passed with no opportunities.
Expand a category to see its individual audits. Each audit shows whether it passed or found opportunities, a short description, and a count of the opportunities found. Select an audit that found opportunities to open its detail page.
A category can show results while some of its audits are still running. Its status says, for example, 3/3 audits passed so far. This count includes only the audits that have returned results, so it can change as more results arrive. Expand the category to see which audits are still running. A category with no opportunities shows its all-clear checkmark only after its pending work finishes.
Audits that could not be completed
Occasionally an audit cannot be completed for a page, for example because the check could not evaluate the page or ran into an error. Preflight does not show such an audit as passed. Instead:
- The audit’s row shows a neutral icon and the reason the audit could not be completed, in place of its usual description. When the reason suggests it, run Preflight again to retry.
- The audit counts as not passed in the % passed figure and in its category’s count of audits passed.
- Its category does not show the all-clear checkmark.
- The exported report always lists the audit and its reason, even when Include passed audits is not selected. The report’s summary never says that all checks passed.
For the complete list of audit categories and the audits in each, see Preflight audit categories.
Opportunity details
The detail page shows the opportunities the selected audit found. When the same problem occurs in more than one place, each occurrence is called an instance. Use the navigator (Previous instance and Next instance) to step through them; it shows your position, for example 1 of 5 instances found. To return to the results dashboard, select the back arrow beside the audit title; the dashboard reopens with the audit’s category expanded.
For audits that identify a specific URL on the page, the Element section appears at the top of the card to introduce the item, and the rest of the opportunity follows beneath it in its own section.
When more than one opportunity affects the same item — for example, several problems with the same link — Preflight shows them together on one card, each in its own section titled with its instance number, such as Instance 3. The navigator then shows a range instead of a single position, for example 3–5 of 12 instances found.
Each opportunity includes:
- Details about the opportunity, such as a description of the problem, a recommendation, and, for accessibility, the related WCAG rule and conformance level.
- An Element section that identifies the affected element on the page, with a Highlight on page button. When the element has readable text, the section is titled Element: Text and shows that text; otherwise it is titled Element: Selector and shows the element’s CSS selector. For Internal Links and Canonical opportunities, a Current URL section also shows the URL involved. Select Copy URL to copy it to your clipboard, or Open in new tab to open it.
- A Suggestion section with a recommended fix. When the suggestion is generated by AI, it is marked as an AI-generated suggestion, and may include a short rationale explaining the suggested fix.
Filter instances
Some audits provide a filter that focuses the detail page on the instances you want to review. When an audit provides one, a filter icon appears beside the Instances heading. Select the icon, then choose an option. The page for each audit describes its filter options.
When you select an option other than the default, its name appears next to the filter icon, and the navigator steps through only the matching instances. If none match, Preflight shows No instances match this filter. When a card shows more than one opportunity for the same item, the filter can hide some of them.
The filter does not change the opportunity counts on the results dashboard or the exported report.
Highlight on page
After the audits complete, you can quickly locate and understand an opportunity by highlighting it directly on the page.
Preflight highlights the affected element in context, connecting the result in the panel to its location in your content. In the Universal Editor, Preflight uses the editor’s selection outline. In other authoring environments, the highlight uses contrasting outline rings to stay visible against the page background.
- Open the Preflight panel in the context of the page to audit, and select Analyze page to run the audits.
- Select an audit from the results dashboard, then select an opportunity to review.
- Select Highlight on page. The preview automatically scrolls to the relevant area and highlights the corresponding element, so you can easily identify and optimize the opportunity in context. Select Highlight on page again to remove the highlight without leaving the opportunity.
Highlighting isn’t possible for every opportunity — for example, when an opportunity isn’t tied to a specific element, the element is hidden, or it is no longer on the page. In those cases the Highlight on page button is dimmed; hover over it to see why.
In the Universal Editor, highlighting is supported for SEO opportunities and Alt text opportunities in the Accessibility category. Other Accessibility opportunities are not yet supported. In those cases, the Highlight on page button is dimmed; hover over it to see why.
In the Universal Editor, Preflight can only highlight editable content. If the affected element isn’t part of the editable content, the Highlight on page button is dimmed; hover over it to see why. If the element itself isn’t directly editable but its nearest editable block is, Preflight highlights that block instead and adds a note explaining why.
In the AEM Sites Page Editor and Adobe Managed Services (AMS), highlighting also requires Edit mode. In Preview mode, Preflight shows a Highlighting issues not available notice; switch to Edit mode to highlight elements on the page.
Job ID
Each Preflight run has a unique job ID, shown at the bottom of the panel. It is mainly useful when an administrator is troubleshooting a specific run. Hover over the ID and select the copy icon that appears to its right; the ID is copied to your clipboard and a confirmation message appears. Include this ID when you report a problem.
When you use Preflight outside the Universal Editor — for example, through the Sidekick or a bookmarklet — the panel footer also shows your organization name above the job ID. In the Universal Editor, your organization appears in the AEM header instead.