Internal links: inspect a sampled union, not click depth

Eligible static anchors are resolved against their page URL. Same-origin HTTP(S) links are normalized by dropping query, fragment and trailing slash; fragment-only navigation and configured asset classes are excluded. Homepage links and sampled-page links form a union compared with sitemap URL patterns.

Sampled pages may not be reachable from the homepage. Query normalization can merge distinct content selectors. No edge traversal, status crawl, rendered navigation or full-site graph is built. A URL absent from the union is not a confirmed orphan.

If navigation coverage matters, perform a bounded breadth-first crawl from an explicit start URL, preserving edges, path lengths and failed retrievals. Compare it with a justified inventory. Review helpful anchors and actual navigation rather than applying a universal two-click rule.

Home links to /help. A separately sampled /docs page links to /reference.

The union includes /help and /reference, but does not establish that /reference is reachable from Home at any depth. The /docs starting edge is unverified.

Public measurement separates Confirmed issue, Advisory, Unknown, Not applicable and Observed pass. An observed pass applies only to an explicit bounded rule; absence of an emitted failure is not a pass. Missing prerequisites do not earn repair credit.

Start 100. No observed links, missing nav elements and sitemap/union differences are advisory without deductions. Missing homepage returns 0 only for a direct auditor call; public audit retrieval failure is an error.

Legacy values are clamped to 0..100 and rounded. They are not readiness certification, risk indicators or predicted citation outcomes. Method changes do not rewrite historical records.

The observations above describe the local implementation, not guarantees from these sources. Protocol and provider documents help interpret purpose and perform checks this audit does not implement.

• HTML anchor/link semantics