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p15r
Severity InspectCritical

The Assassin Bug

Silent blockers that stop users at the door.

Critical findings represent complete failure states for accessibility. If a user cannot proceed at all, it belongs here and must be fixed immediately.

Core path blocked

Key journeys like login, payment, or form submission are unreachable for some users.

No workaround

Users cannot bypass the issue with keyboard, assistive tech, or alternate content.

Assistive tech failure

Screen reader output or keyboard order breaks the entire interaction model.

Immediate escalation

This tier always jumps to the top of engineering and QA priorities.

Inspection Snapshot

User impact
Access denied
A user group cannot complete a core task.
Risk profile
Highest
Directly tied to legal and compliance exposure.
Response target
Immediate
Triage and patch starts the same day.

Inspector Notes

Assassin-tier defects are complete stoppages. They are not simply frustrating; they remove access to the service itself for affected users.

Treat these findings like production incidents. Contain impact fast, patch with semantic correctness, and verify with real assistive technology before closing.

Field Notes: Assassin Bug

  • •Assassin bugs are ambush predators in the Reduviidae family.
  • •They strike quickly and immobilize prey with a single puncture.
  • •Some species can attack targets much larger than themselves.
  • •Their feeding strategy is precise, silent, and highly efficient.
  • •The nickname comes from their sudden, targeted attack pattern.

Typical Findings In This Tier

Examples your audit team is likely to classify here.

Missing skip navigation

Keyboard and screen reader users must tab through long nav blocks before reaching content.

Critical images without text alternatives

Essential information exists only in visuals, making content inaccessible to blind users.

Form controls without labels

Inputs are present, but users cannot determine what data each field expects.

Keyboard trap in modal

Focus enters a component but cannot escape, ending the user journey.

Fix Focus

Keep remediation practical and measurable.

1

Contain first

Ship a fast mitigation for the blocked task even if the final refactor comes later.

2

Patch with semantics

Use correct landmarks, labels, focus order, and ARIA only where needed.

3

Verify with real tooling

Re-test with keyboard and screen readers in the exact flow that failed.

"Accessibility incidents are production incidents. If a user cannot continue, the fix cannot wait."
p15r triage standard

Jump To Another Tier

All tiers

Assassin

Critical

Hornet

High

Mosquito

Medium

Ladybug

Low

Hornet