Study finds most web agency front pages fail accessibility and security checks

A scan of 304 third-party web agency front pages, conducted between 16 September and 23 October 2026, assessed accessibility, security, privacy, technical quality, SEO and deceptive design. Nearly all sites fell short on accessibility, with low text contrast found on 82 percent of pages. Security headers were frequently missing, with 61 percent lacking a Content-Security-Policy, though agency pages performed better than the wider web. At least a fifth of the pages loaded tracking or third-party cookies before visitors gave consent. The researcher noted that no deceptive design findings appeared, but that such patterns mostly occur in checkouts and cancellation flows rather than on simple front pages.