fix: require signed accessibility evidence per route

artifacts/tests/a11y-manual/APP_HOME.md

@@ -1,15 +1,18 @@
 # APP_HOME accessibility review
 
 Status: pending-manual-review
-
+Route ID: APP_HOME
+Release ID:
 Reviewer:
-
+Reviewed at:
-Keyboard: automated tab-order fixture passed; human review pending.
+Signature:
-
+Attestation: pending
-Focus: automated visible-focus fixture passed; route-change review pending.
+M1 Keyboard: pending
-
+M2 Visible focus: pending
-Screen reader: pending.
+M3 Route focus: pending
-
+M4 Modal focus: not-applicable (no modal on this route)
-Reduced motion: automated media-query fixture passed; human review pending.
+M5 Error association: not-applicable (no form error on this route)
-
+M6 Color signal: pending
-Color signal: pending.
+M7 Reduced motion: pending
+Screen reader: pending
+Notes: Automated axe, keyboard-focus, and reduced-motion evidence is available; human review pending.

artifacts/tests/a11y-manual/NOT_FOUND.md

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# NOT_FOUND accessibility review
+
+Status: pending-manual-review
+Route ID: NOT_FOUND
+Release ID:
+Reviewer:
+Reviewed at:
+Signature:
+Attestation: pending
+M1 Keyboard: pending
+M2 Visible focus: pending
+M3 Route focus: pending
+M4 Modal focus: not-applicable (no modal on this route)
+M5 Error association: not-applicable (no form error on this route)
+M6 Color signal: pending
+M7 Reduced motion: pending
+Screen reader: pending
+Notes: Human review pending.

artifacts/tests/a11y-manual/SAMPLE_RESOURCE_LIST.md

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# SAMPLE_RESOURCE_LIST accessibility review
+
+Status: pending-manual-review
+Route ID: SAMPLE_RESOURCE_LIST
+Release ID:
+Reviewer:
+Reviewed at:
+Signature:
+Attestation: pending
+M1 Keyboard: pending
+M2 Visible focus: pending
+M3 Route focus: pending
+M4 Modal focus: not-applicable (no modal on this route)
+M5 Error association: not-applicable (no form error on this route)
+M6 Color signal: pending
+M7 Reduced motion: pending
+Screen reader: pending
+Notes: Human review pending.

docs/accessibility/manual-checklist.md

@@ -1,17 +1,47 @@
 # Manual accessibility review checklist
 
 Automated axe checks do not establish WCAG conformance. A human reviewer must
-copy this checklist to `artifacts/tests/a11y-manual/<route-id>.md`, execute it
+review all three route records in `artifacts/tests/a11y-manual/` against one
-on the release candidate, and sign it.
+release candidate and sign them. Copy the template fields exactly; the gate
+rejects blank identity/timestamp/signature fields, pending verdicts, mismatched
+release IDs, or missing routes.
 
-- Status: `pending` or `reviewed`
+Allowed item verdicts:
-- Reviewer and reviewed-at timestamp
-- Keyboard: all actions reachable in logical order
-- Focus: visible, route changes deterministic, modal restore verified
-- Screen reader: headings, live regions, errors, and actions announced once
-- Reduced motion: non-essential animation suppressed
-- Color signal: every state has text/icon/structure in addition to color
-- Notes and linked defect IDs
 
-Passing the automated threshold means only that the tested pages had zero
+- `pass`
-critical/serious axe findings under the recorded browser run.
+- `not-applicable (<specific reason>)`
+
+Required record:
+
+```text
+Status: reviewed
+Route ID: APP_HOME
+Release ID: <immutable release ID>
+Reviewer: <human reviewer identity>
+Reviewed at: <RFC 3339 timestamp>
+Signature: <reviewer identity or approved signature reference>
+Attestation: accepted
+M1 Keyboard: pass
+M2 Visible focus: pass
+M3 Route focus: pass
+M4 Modal focus: not-applicable (no modal on this route)
+M5 Error association: not-applicable (no form error on this route)
+M6 Color signal: pass
+M7 Reduced motion: pass
+Screen reader: pass
+Notes: <observations and linked defect IDs>
+```
+
+The reviewer must verify:
+
+- M1: every action works without a pointing device
+- M2: every focused element has a visible indicator
+- M3: route transitions move focus to a deterministic target
+- M4: modal focus is trapped and restored, when a modal exists
+- M5: errors are programmatically associated with their controls, when present
+- M6: state never relies on color alone
+- M7: non-essential motion is suppressed with reduced-motion preference
+- Screen reader: headings, live regions, errors, and actions are announced once
+
+Passing automated evidence means only that tested pages had no critical or
+serious axe findings under the recorded browser run.

scripts/lib/manual-a11y-evidence.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+export const MANUAL_A11Y_ROUTE_IDS = Object.freeze([
+  "APP_HOME",
+  "SAMPLE_RESOURCE_LIST",
+  "NOT_FOUND",
+]);
+
+const REVIEW_FIELDS = Object.freeze([
+  "M1 Keyboard",
+  "M2 Visible focus",
+  "M3 Route focus",
+  "M4 Modal focus",
+  "M5 Error association",
+  "M6 Color signal",
+  "M7 Reduced motion",
+  "Screen reader",
+]);
+
+/** @param {string} content */
+export function validateManualA11yEvidence(content) {
+  const fields = Object.fromEntries(
+    content
+      .split(/\r?\n/)
+      .map((line) => /^([^:]+):\s*(.*)$/.exec(line))
+      .filter(Boolean)
+      .map((match) => [
+        /** @type {RegExpExecArray} */ (match)[1].trim(),
+        /** @type {RegExpExecArray} */ (match)[2].trim(),
+      ]),
+  );
+  const failures = [];
+  if (fields.Status !== "reviewed") failures.push("Status");
+  if (!fields["Route ID"]) failures.push("Route ID");
+  if (!fields["Release ID"]) failures.push("Release ID");
+  if (!fields.Reviewer) failures.push("Reviewer");
+  if (!fields.Signature) failures.push("Signature");
+  if (fields.Attestation !== "accepted") failures.push("Attestation");
+  if (
+    !fields["Reviewed at"] ||
+    !Number.isFinite(Date.parse(fields["Reviewed at"]))
+  ) {
+    failures.push("Reviewed at");
+  }
+
+  for (const field of REVIEW_FIELDS) {
+    const result = fields[field];
+    if (
+      result !== "pass" &&
+      !/^not-applicable \(.+\)$/.test(result ?? "")
+    ) {
+      failures.push(field);
+    }
+  }
+  return Object.freeze({
+    fields: Object.freeze(fields),
+    failures: Object.freeze(failures),
+    passed: failures.length === 0,
+  });
+}

scripts/verify-a11y-manual.mjs

@@ -1,25 +1,71 @@
-import { readFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { mkdir, readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 
-const evidence = await readFile(
+import {
-  "artifacts/tests/a11y-manual/APP_HOME.md",
+  MANUAL_A11Y_ROUTE_IDS,
-  "utf8",
+  validateManualA11yEvidence,
+} from "./lib/manual-a11y-evidence.mjs";
+
+/** @type {Array<{
+ * routeId: string;
+ * path: string;
+ * reviewer: string | null;
+ * reviewedAt: string | null;
+ * releaseId: string | null;
+ * failures: readonly string[];
+ * passed: boolean;
+ * }>} */
+const results = [];
+for (const routeId of MANUAL_A11Y_ROUTE_IDS) {
+  const path = `artifacts/tests/a11y-manual/${routeId}.md`;
+  const evidence = await readFile(path, "utf8");
+  const validation = validateManualA11yEvidence(evidence);
+  const failures =
+    validation.fields["Route ID"] === routeId
+      ? validation.failures
+      : Object.freeze([...validation.failures, "Route ID mismatch"]);
+  results.push({
+    routeId,
+    path,
+    reviewer: validation.fields.Reviewer ?? null,
+    reviewedAt: validation.fields["Reviewed at"] ?? null,
+    releaseId: validation.fields["Release ID"] ?? null,
+    failures,
+    passed: validation.passed && failures.length === 0,
+  });
+}
+const releaseIds = new Set(results.map((result) => result.releaseId));
+const passed =
+  results.every((result) => result.passed) &&
+  releaseIds.size === 1 &&
+  results.every((result) => Boolean(result.releaseId));
+
+await mkdir("artifacts/tests/a11y-manual", { recursive: true });
+await writeFile(
+  "artifacts/tests/a11y-manual/report.json",
+  `${JSON.stringify(
+    {
+      schemaVersion: 1,
+      generatedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+      scope: MANUAL_A11Y_ROUTE_IDS,
+      results,
+      coherentRelease: releaseIds.size === 1,
+      passed,
+    },
+    null,
+    2,
+  )}\n`,
 );
 
-const required = [
+if (!passed) {
-  "Status: reviewed",
+  const failures = results
-  "Reviewer:",
+    .filter((result) => !result.passed)
-  "Keyboard:",
+    .map((result) => `${result.routeId}: ${result.failures.join(", ")}`);
-  "Focus:",
+  if (releaseIds.size !== 1) failures.push("release IDs do not match");
-  "Screen reader:",
-  "Reduced motion:",
-  "Color signal:",
-];
-
-const missing = required.filter((marker) => !evidence.includes(marker));
-if (missing.length > 0) {
   process.stderr.write(
-    `Manual accessibility evidence is incomplete: ${missing.join(", ")}\n`,
+    `Manual accessibility evidence is incomplete:\n${failures.join("\n")}\n`,
   );
   process.exit(1);
 }
-process.stdout.write("Manual accessibility evidence: PASS\n");
+process.stdout.write(
+  `Manual accessibility evidence: PASS (${results.length} routes)\n`,
+);

scripts/write-a11y-report.mjs

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ await writeFile(
       scope: ["APP_HOME", "SAMPLE_RESOURCE_LIST", "NOT_FOUND"],
       threshold: { critical: 0, serious: 0 },
       automatedStatus: "passed",
-      manualReview: "see artifacts/tests/a11y-manual/APP_HOME.md",
+      manualReview: "see artifacts/tests/a11y-manual/report.json",
     },
     null,
     2,

tests/unit/manual-a11y-evidence.test.js

@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { validateManualA11yEvidence } from "../../scripts/lib/manual-a11y-evidence.mjs";
+
+const reviewed = `Status: reviewed
+Route ID: APP_HOME
+Release ID: release-1
+Reviewer: reviewer@example.test
+Reviewed at: 2026-07-25T12:00:00Z
+Signature: review-record-1
+Attestation: accepted
+M1 Keyboard: pass
+M2 Visible focus: pass
+M3 Route focus: pass
+M4 Modal focus: not-applicable (no modal)
+M5 Error association: not-applicable (no form error)
+M6 Color signal: pass
+M7 Reduced motion: pass
+Screen reader: pass
+Notes: no defects`;
+
+describe("manual accessibility evidence", () => {
+  it("accepts a complete signed human review record", () => {
+    expect(validateManualA11yEvidence(reviewed)).toMatchObject({
+      failures: [],
+      passed: true,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("rejects pending, unsigned, or incomplete evidence", () => {
+    expect(
+      validateManualA11yEvidence(
+        reviewed
+          .replace("Status: reviewed", "Status: pending-manual-review")
+          .replace("Signature: review-record-1", "Signature:")
+          .replace("Screen reader: pass", "Screen reader: pending"),
+      ),
+    ).toMatchObject({
+      failures: ["Status", "Signature", "Screen reader"],
+      passed: false,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("does not treat an unexplained not-applicable verdict as evidence", () => {
+    expect(
+      validateManualA11yEvidence(
+        reviewed.replace(
+          "M4 Modal focus: not-applicable (no modal)",
+          "M4 Modal focus: not-applicable",
+        ),
+      ),
+    ).toMatchObject({
+      failures: ["M4 Modal focus"],
+      passed: false,
+    });
+  });
+});