Run through this list before every frontend launch. It is not exhaustive — it is the short list of checks that catch the most common shipping problems.
Responsive
- Test at 360, 768, 1024, 1280 and 1920 widths
- No horizontal scroll at any width
- Tap targets are at least 44×44px
- Text is readable without zooming on mobile
- Images do not overflow their containers
Accessibility
- Logical heading hierarchy (one h1, then h2s, then h3s)
- Every image has alt text or empty alt if decorative
- Colour contrast meets WCAG AA
- Keyboard-only navigation works for every interactive element
- Focus is visible on every interactive element
- Forms have explicit labels and error messages
SEO
- Unique title and meta description on every page
- Canonical URL set
- Open Graph and Twitter card images render correctly
- Sitemap.xml is reachable and accurate
- Robots.txt does not block important routes
- Structured data validates in Rich Results Test
Performance
- Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5s on mobile
- No layout shift above the fold
- Images are correctly sized and lazy-loaded below the fold
- Fonts are preloaded and subset
- JavaScript bundle is reasonable for the page's complexity
Deployment
- Environment variables set on the hosting platform
- No secrets in the client bundle
- Redirects configured for any renamed routes
- Custom domain resolves correctly
- HTTPS certificate is valid
- Error monitoring is in place (at minimum, server logs)
Written by Aditya — independent web designer and frontend developer based in Delhi. Get in touch.