Scan a large site by template

Some sites have thousands of pages that all use the same few layouts, such as a directory of listings or a store. A normal scan reads the first pages it finds, up to your plan's page limit, so most of the site is never looked at. A template scan groups your site's pages by layout and tests a few varied pages from every group, so each layout is covered within the same page limit.

When to use it

• Your site has far more pages than your plan's page limit, and most of those pages look alike.
• Your latest scan stopped at the page limit. The scan page then shows "This site looks templated" with a Run a template scan button.
• You want a statement or a VPAT for a large site. A scan that stopped at the page limit cannot back either one, and a template scan can.

Small sites do not need it. If every page of your site fits inside your plan's limit, a normal scan already tests all of it.

How to run one

1. One time. Open the scan page for a scan that stopped at the limit and choose Run a template scan.
2. Every time. Open the site, choose the Settings tab and turn on Scan by template. Scan now and scheduled scans then both work this way until you turn it off.

A template scan counts as one scan against your monthly allowance and never goes over your plan's page limit. Expect it to take about as long as a normal scan, often 5 to 15 minutes.

What it tests

• It reads your sitemap and the links on your pages, then groups the addresses by layout. For example, every provider page that looks the same forms one template.
• From each template it tests up to 6 pages. They are chosen to include different page structures and the largest and smallest pages, because unusual pages are where layouts break.
• Every page linked from your home page, such as Contact, Privacy and Terms, is always tested.
• It follows the same rules as any scan: it obeys your robots.txt, does not log in and does not submit forms.

What it can miss

Layout and component problems repeat on every page that uses a template, so a template scan finds them. A problem that exists only in one page's own content, such as one listing with unusual text, can be missed, because that page may not be among the pages tested. Like any automated scan, it also cannot judge things that need a person, such as whether alt text is accurate. See What automated scans can and cannot find.

Where you will see it

• The scan history row shows a Template scan label.
• The scan page and the Issues tab say how many pages share how many templates, and how many pages were tested.
• The PDF and HTML reports include a table of the templates with the number of pages found and tested for each.

Statements and VPATs

A template scan can back an accessibility statement or a VPAT. Both say in one plain sentence that up to 6 pages from each template were tested rather than every page, so readers know the scope.