nationalgeographic.com
readable, with friction
A Excellent overall on the measured subjects
Loading speed is diagnostic only; it does not affect this grade or search ranking.
| Subject | Weight | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Interruption | 35.71% | not scored |
| Readability | 28.57% | 100 |
| Accessibility and keyboard | 21.43% | 72 |
| Stability and weight | 14.29% | 100 |
This letter rests on 64% of the grade. The subjects marked “not measured” are left out rather than scored as zero (which would fail a site for something nobody looked at) or as full marks (which would be a claim we have not earned). How this is worked out.
- Largest paint
- 0.3–12.9s
- Paywall
- none — but asks you to register
- Ad requests
- 4
- Tracker requests
- 15
- Page weight
- 110 KB
- Readability
- 18px type · 1.8 line height · 77 characters per line · 21.0:1 contrast
- Accessibility
- 3 automated checks failed (3 serious)
- Green hosting
- not measured
- Measured
- 2026-09-07
Observed interruptions
Ad and tracker counts above are network requests, not counts of visible ads or separate companies. They do not affect the interruption score.
Interruption evidence is incomplete or needs review, so this subject is not scored. Missing evidence is not treated as an interruption-free page.
The type, and who can use it
Measured on 1 rendered page; latest measurement 2026-09-05. Every number is a mechanical fact about the page, not a judgment of its design.
| What | Measured | The bar |
|---|---|---|
| Body type size | 18px | 16px, the browser default |
| Characters per line | 77 | 45–90 |
| Line height | 1.78 | 1.5 (WCAG 1.4.8) |
| Text contrast | 21.0:1 | 4.5:1 (WCAG AA), 7:1 (AAA) |
| Text column | 58% of the window | at least 45% |
| Reflows at phone width | yes | WCAG 1.4.10 |
| Dark mode | no | noted, not scored |
| Automated accessibility checks | 3 automated checks failed (3 serious): aria-allowed-attr, aria-prohibited-attr, listitem | WCAG 2.1 A and AA, via axe-core |
| Keyboard | no trap; focus visible on 93% of stops | never trapped, always visible |
| Structure | main landmark, 2 h1, no skipped heading levels | a main landmark, one h1, no skips |
| Alt text | 100% of 4 content images described | every content image |
| Reader mode | parses | parses (Firefox’s Readability) |
Automated accessibility checks catch an estimated 30–40% of real problems, so “no automated violations detected” is a floor, not a certificate. We never say “accessible”. How these are scored.
Recorded automated findings
| Recorded behavior | Policy cost | Use in this grade |
|---|---|---|
| Asks you to register, but you can read without it | 0.30 | Needs review; not scored |
These records are retained for inspection. Only verified interruption evidence contributes to that subject; uncertain records are not silently treated as clean. Metering keeps its separate grade cap. These costs are not currently applied as search-ranking multipliers.
Measurement dates
Oldest evidence 46 days old. At least one subject is due for rechecking (30 days or older). Dates refer to the evidence, never the card rebuild.
- Access and interruptions:
- Readability and accessibility:
Measurement history
Newest 5 saved observations. Each describes a sampled page at that time; older, failed or held observations do not override the current reviewed card. Raw automated findings may have been superseded by later review or detector replay. No previous grade is inferred.
Read dated observations
- — Access observation: pass
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/
Evidence source: frontier-2026-09-07.jsonl · observation bae5b74dd75d - — Readability and accessibility observation; prose source p; desktop type 18px; phone overflow not observed
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/nasa-nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope
Evidence source: readability-top5000.jsonl · observation 90344fb63b6a - — Access observation: penalised; raw automated findings soft registration nag
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/colorado-gold-mountain-fire-wildfires-west-pete-mcbride
Evidence source: verdicts-top5000.jsonl · observation 3e4c85252e44 - — Access observation: penalised; raw automated findings soft registration nag
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/brazil-giant-anteater-road-collision-behind-the-scenes
Evidence source: verdicts-top5000.jsonl · observation 9f1032b5de18 - — Access observation: pass
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/paid-content-take-the-scenic-route-in-seattle
Evidence source: verdicts-top5000.jsonl · observation 681c966575dd
How we know
| Pages rendered | 4 |
|---|---|
| Site verdict | errors dropped; majority of remaining; ties to the stricter verdict; active reviewed exclusions override admission |
| Figures shown | numeric measurements generally use medians; interruption costs, overflow, keyboard traps and accessibility failures retain the strongest observed finding |
| Speed varied | 0.3s to 12.9s across 4 pages, so we show the range rather than one number. A spread that wide usually means our measurement, not the site. |
| Cited by | 9,852 encyclopedia articles |
Think this is wrong? It may well be — the measurements cover only a handful of pages. Any reviewed admission decision and its dated evidence are shown above. Re-measurement on request is not built yet, so there is no button here that would do anything. When it exists it will be free and it will be on this page.