www.clocktowerassoc.com (Post-AXIOM)

What Changed Between Audits

This audit follows an AXIOM Levels 1–3 implementation on the axiom-implementation branch. The changes targeted every finding from the previous audit's Top 5 Priority Actions, plus additional AXIOM markup. Key implementation items:

#	Change	Files Touched
1	Created AXIOM manifest (axiom.json) with site metadata, capabilities, navigation hierarchy, agent policy, and technical info	public/axiom.json (new), Layout.tsx
2	Rebuilt sitemap.xml — removed 28 phantom URLs, added 7 missing pages, updated all lastmod dates	public/sitemap.xml
3	Added JSON-LD structured data — Service with OfferCatalog on /services, BreadcrumbList on spec pages	services.tsx, SpecLayout.tsx
4	Removed bogus SearchAction from WebSite schema (site has no /search endpoint)	StructuredData.tsx
5	Added ARIA state attributes — aria-expanded, aria-controls on mobile menu; aria-pressed on dark mode toggle; aria-hidden on decorative SVGs	Header.tsx, DarkModeToggle.tsx
6	Removed 3 dead href="#" social links from footer	Footer.tsx
7	Fixed dual h1 on /axiom — markdown headings downgraded via ReactMarkdown components prop	axiom/index.tsx
8	Added data-axiom-page-type and data-axiom-page-purpose to Layout wrapper	Layout.tsx, all page files
9	Added data-axiom-role, data-axiom-priority section-level annotations across all pages	services.tsx, axiom/index.tsx, about.tsx, contact.tsx, index.tsx
10	Added data-axiom-action and data-axiom-intent on CTAs and navigation links	axiom/index.tsx, services.tsx, Header.tsx
11	Fixed Button component to pass data-* attributes through to Next.js Link variant	Button.tsx

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Dimension 1: Content Survivability — 95/100 (Weight: 25%)

Core question: What percentage of the site's meaningful content remains visible and functional without JavaScript execution?

Test Results

All six pages serve fully pre-rendered HTML. Raw curl response contains complete semantic content.

Page	Raw HTML Size	Semantic Elements	Rendering Method
/	20,680 bytes	h1, h2, h3, p, section, nav, header, footer, main	Auto-static export
/services	22,017 bytes	h1, h2, h3, p, section, nav, header, footer, main	Auto-static export
/axiom	58,264 bytes	h1, h2, h3, p, section, nav, header, footer, main	SSG (getStaticProps)
/axiom/scoring-framework	96,328 bytes	h1, h2, h3, p, section, nav, header, footer, main, table	SSG (getStaticProps)
/about	23,011 bytes	h1, h2, h3, p, section, nav, header, footer, main	Auto-static export
/contact	15,645 bytes	h1, h2, p, section, nav, header, footer, main, form	Auto-static export

Navigation Without JavaScript

All navigation links use real <a href> tags with valid paths. Zero href="#" links on any page.

Page	Total Links	Real hrefs	href="#" Placeholders
/	20	20	0
/services	20	20	0
/axiom	25	25	0
/axiom/scoring-framework	21	21	0
/about	18	18	0
/contact	18	18	0

Findings

#	Finding	Severity	Status
CS-1	<noscript> tags exist but are empty — no fallback messaging	Low	Unchanged (not needed with full SSG)
CS-2	Cloudflare email obfuscation via data-cfemail — requires JS to decode	Info	Unchanged (Vercel deployment bypasses Cloudflare)

Score Justification

≥95% of content present in initial HTML on all pages. Full SSR/SSG. All navigation uses real <a href> tags. Zero dead placeholder links (was 3 per page in previous audit). Minor deduction for empty <noscript> tags, though SSG makes them unnecessary.

Previous: 92 → New: 95 (+3, dead link removal)

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Dimension 2: Structural Legibility — 92/100 (Weight: 20%)

Core question: How easily can an agent identify the core layout — navigation, main content, sidebar, footer — directly from the DOM structure?

Landmark Coverage

Element	/	/services	/axiom	/about	/contact
<header>	1	1	1	1	1
<nav>	1	1	1	1	1
<main>	1	1	1	1	1
<footer>	1	1	1	1	1
<section>	2	3	5	5	1
Breadcrumb <nav>	—	—	—	1 (/framework, /axiom-specification)	—

Heading Hierarchy

Clean sequential hierarchy on all pages including /axiom (previously broken).

/ (Homepage) — Clean

h1: Building the Future Through Innovation
  h2: What We Do
    h3: Custom Software Development
    h3: Cloud Infrastructure & DevOps
    h3: Technology Consulting
  h2: Ready to Transform Your Business?
  h2: Company [footer]
  h2: Developer Tools [footer]

/axiom — Fixed (previously had dual h1)

h1: The Agentic Web Is Here. Is Your Site Ready?
  h2: Two Frameworks. One Problem.
    h3: AXIOM
    h3: AXIOM
  h2: Six Dimensions of Agent Readiness
    h3: Content Survivability
    h3: Structural Legibility
    ...
  h2: The Agentic Web: Why Your Website Is...    ← was h1, now h2
    h3: A Business Case for Agent-Ready...        ← was h2, now h3
    ...
  h2: Read the Technical Specifications
  h2: Is Your Infrastructure Agent-Ready?

ARIA Attributes

Attribute	Count	Elements
aria-hidden="true"	11	Decorative SVG icons across all pages
aria-pressed	2	Dark mode toggle button (1 per theme state)
aria-label	2	"Breadcrumb" on spec page nav elements
aria-expanded	1	Mobile menu toggle button
aria-controls	1	Mobile menu button → id="mobile-menu"

Previous audit: zero ARIA state attributes site-wide.

Semantic-to-Generic Ratio

Page	Div Count	Semantic Count	Ratio (Semantic:Div)
/	—	—	1.6:1
/services	—	—	1.1:1
/axiom	—	—	0.4:1 (very semantic)
/about	—	—	0.9:1

All pages well above the 30% threshold for the 90+ scoring band.

Findings

#	Finding	Severity	Status
SL-1	Footer <h2> headings ("Company", "Developer Tools") pollute heading outline on every page	Low	Unchanged
SL-2	No <article> or <aside> elements used anywhere	Low	Unchanged
SL-3	Multiple <section> elements without aria-label (except those with data-axiom-role)	Low	Improved (AXIOM roles provide partial disambiguation)

Score Justification

Full landmark coverage. Clean heading hierarchy on all pages (dual h1 fixed). lang="en" set on <html>. ARIA state attributes on all stateful controls (aria-expanded, aria-pressed, aria-controls). Semantic ratios above 30% site-wide. Breadcrumb navigation with aria-label on spec pages. Minor deductions for footer heading pollution and missing aria-label on some <section> elements.

Previous: 72 → New: 92 (+20)

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Dimension 3: Interactive Manifest Clarity — 90/100 (Weight: 20%)

Core question: Can an agent find and invoke the site's key actions — CTAs, forms, interactive controls — through the accessibility tree?

Native Interactive Elements

100% of interactive elements use native HTML elements. Zero custom <div> click handlers.

Element	/	/services	/axiom	/about	/contact
<button>	2	1	1	1	2
<a href>	20	20	25	18	18
<input>	2	0	0	0	2
<textarea>	1	0	0	0	1

CTA Discoverability

All primary CTAs appear in the accessibility tree with descriptive labels:

CTA	Label	Pages	AXIOM Annotation
Contact link (header)	"Contact Us"	All	data-axiom-action="contact"
Primary CTA	"Start a Conversation"	/, /services	data-axiom-action="contact"
AXIOM CTA	"Request an AXIOM Audit"	/axiom (×2)	data-axiom-action="contact"
Framework link	"Read the AXIOM Scoring Framework"	/axiom	data-axiom-action="navigate" data-axiom-intent="Read AXIOM scoring framework"
Spec link	"Read the AXIOM Specification"	/axiom	data-axiom-action="navigate" data-axiom-intent="Read AXIOM implementation specification"
Service link	"Learn about AXIOM"	/services	—

ARIA State Communication

Control	Attribute	Behavior
Mobile menu button	aria-expanded={true/false}	Toggles with menu open/close
Mobile menu button	aria-controls="mobile-menu"	Points to menu container
Dark mode toggle	aria-pressed={true/false}	Reflects current theme state
Decorative SVGs	aria-hidden="true"	Excluded from accessibility tree

Dead Links

Zero href="#" links across all pages. Previous audit found 3 per page (social media placeholders in footer). These were removed entirely.

Findings

#	Finding	Severity	Status
IMC-1	"Learn about AXIOM" link on /services lacks data-axiom-action annotation	Low	New
IMC-2	Form submit button uses <button type="submit"> — correct but no data-axiom-action annotation	Low	New (minor)
IMC-3	"Learn More" generic link text on homepage hero	Low	Unchanged

Score Justification

All interactions use native elements. 100% accessible name coverage. ARIA state attributes on all stateful controls. Zero dead links (was 3 per page). AXIOM action annotations provide explicit machine-readable intent on primary CTAs. Minor deductions for a few CTAs missing AXIOM annotations and one generic "Learn More" link text.

Previous: 78 → New: 90 (+12)

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Dimension 4: Data Extractability — 85/100 (Weight: 15%)

Core question: How well is business-critical data structured in semantic HTML that agents can accurately parse and extract?

Structured Data (JSON-LD)

Schema Type	Pages	Status
Organization	All pages	Present — name, url, logo, description, contactPoint
WebSite	All pages	Present — name, url, description. SearchAction removed (no /search endpoint).
Service + OfferCatalog	/services	New — "Web Audit Services" with 4 offers (Accessibility, SEO, AXIOM, GEO)
BreadcrumbList	/axiom/scoring-framework, /axiom/build-spec	New — 3-level breadcrumb hierarchy

Previous audit: zero JSON-LD on any page.

AXIOM Manifest

Property	Value
Location	/axiom.json (linked via <link rel="axiom-manifest"> in <head>)
Version	3.0
Capabilities	2 actions: Contact Form (form_submit), Request AXIOM Audit (link_follow)
Navigation	7 sections with children, full site hierarchy
Agent Policy	tier2_allowed: true, tier3_allowed: true, crawl_delay: 1, max_requests_per_minute: 60
Technical	rendering: "hybrid", spa_framework: "Next.js", content_survivability: "full"

AXIOM Page-Level Markup

Page	data-axiom-page-type	data-axiom-page-purpose
/	homepage	—
/services	landing	"Browse audit service offerings and request a consultation"
/axiom	landing	"Learn about the AXIOM scoring framework and AXIOM build specification for agent-ready web infrastructure"
/axiom/scoring-framework	documentation	—
/axiom/build-spec	documentation	—
/about	landing	—
/contact	contact	"Send a message to Clocktower and Associates"

AXIOM Section-Level Markup

Page	Section	data-axiom-role	data-axiom-priority
/	CTA section	interactive	high
/services	Services grid	primary-content	critical
/services	CTA section	interactive	high
/axiom	Overview section	primary-content	high
/axiom	Business case	primary-content	critical
/axiom	CTA section	interactive	high
/about	Company overview	primary-content	critical
/about	CTA section	interactive	high
/contact	Contact form section	interactive	critical

Findings

#	Finding	Severity	Status
DE-1	Zero <time datetime> elements — dates are not machine-readable	Medium	Unchanged
DE-2	Tables on /axiom/scoring-framework lack <caption> and scope attributes	Medium	Unchanged
DE-3	No <dl>/<dt>/<dd> usage for service attribute data on /services	Low	Unchanged
DE-4	data-axiom-page-purpose missing on / and /about	Low	New
DE-5	Organization schema sameAs array is empty (no social profile URLs)	Info	Unchanged

Score Justification

Massive improvement from the previous audit. Four JSON-LD schema types (Organization, WebSite, Service+OfferCatalog, BreadcrumbList) provide comprehensive structured data. The AXIOM manifest at /axiom.json gives agents a complete machine-readable index of the site's structure, capabilities, and policy. Page-level and section-level AXIOM attributes provide semantic context throughout the DOM. Remaining deductions for missing <time> elements, incomplete table metadata, and a few pages without data-axiom-page-purpose.

Previous: 30 → New: 85 (+55)

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Dimension 5: Navigation Traversability — 92/100 (Weight: 10%)

Core question: Can an agent systematically explore the site via static links without requiring complex JavaScript interactions?

Sitemap Analysis

Location: /sitemap.xml (referenced in robots.txt) Total URLs: 33 Last modified: 2026-02-19 (all pages — current)

Category	URLs	Count
Core pages	/, /services, /about, /contact	4
AXIOM	/axiom, /axiom/scoring-framework, /axiom/build-spec	3
Showcase	/showcase, /showcase/johnny, /showcase/repram, /showcase/termlife	4
Developer Tools	/tools/*	22

Phantom URLs: 0 (was 28 in previous audit) Missing pages: 0 (was 7 in previous audit) Stale dates: 0 (was 43 pages with 8-month-old lastmod)

Breadcrumbs

Page	Breadcrumb Nav	BreadcrumbList JSON-LD
/axiom/scoring-framework	Yes (<nav aria-label="Breadcrumb">)	Yes (Home → AXIOM → AXIOM Scoring Framework v3.0)
/axiom/build-spec	Yes (<nav aria-label="Breadcrumb">)	Yes (Home → AXIOM → AXIOM Specification v3.0)
All other pages	No	No

Previous audit: breadcrumb UI existed but no BreadcrumbList JSON-LD.

Link Coverage From Homepage

Destination	Reachable	Clicks
/services	Header nav	1
/axiom	Header nav	1
/tools/*	Header nav → Tools hub	1
/about	Header nav	1
/contact	Header nav + hero CTA	1
/showcase	Footer link	1
/axiom/scoring-framework	/axiom → link	2
/axiom/build-spec	/axiom → link	2

Maximum click depth: 2 (spec pages via /axiom).

AXIOM Navigation Index

The axiom.json manifest provides a parallel machine-readable navigation hierarchy with 7 top-level sections and nested children, giving agents an alternative discovery path independent of DOM link crawling.

robots.txt

User-agent: *
Disallow: /api/
Disallow: /_next/
Disallow: /admin/
Allow: /images/
Allow: /static/
Crawl-delay: 1
Sitemap: https://www.clocktowerassoc.com/sitemap.xml

No AI-specific bot blocks. All major agent crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended) are allowed.

Findings

#	Finding	Severity	Status
NT-1	Breadcrumbs only on 2 spec pages — no breadcrumbs on /services, /about, /contact	Medium	Unchanged
NT-2	1 "Learn More" generic link text on homepage	Low	Unchanged
NT-3	robots.txt allows all crawlers, including AI agents	Pass	Unchanged
NT-4	Maximum click depth from homepage: 2	Pass	Unchanged
NT-5	Zero href="#" links site-wide	Pass	Fixed (was 3 per page)
NT-6	AXIOM manifest provides complete site navigation hierarchy	Pass	New

Score Justification

Clean sitemap with zero phantom URLs and current dates. All navigation uses static <a href> links. Breadcrumbs with BreadcrumbList JSON-LD on spec pages. Zero dead links. Permissive robots.txt. AXIOM manifest provides a complete machine-readable navigation index. Maximum click depth of 2. Minor deduction for breadcrumbs only on 2 of 7 page types and one generic link text.

Previous: 68 → New: 92 (+24)

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Dimension 6: Agent Response Fitness — 88/100 (Weight: 10%)

Core question: When the site's content is read as plain text — stripped of all visual formatting — does it tell a coherent, useful story that an agent can summarize accurately?

Plain Text Stream (Homepage, First 300 Characters)

Building the Future Through Innovation
Clocktower and Associates delivers enterprise-grade technology solutions,
custom software development, and strategic consulting to help your
business thrive in the digital age.
Learn More
Get in Touch
What We Do

Value proposition within the first 200 characters. Navigation chrome is minimal. Content ordering follows a logical narrative: headline → proposition → CTA → services → CTA → contact form.

Plain Text Stream (/axiom, First 400 Characters)

AXIOM SCORING FRAMEWORK & BUILD SPECIFICATION
The Agentic Web Is Here.
Is Your Site Ready?
AI agents are browsing the web on behalf of your customers right now.
When they visit your site, they don't see your design, your layout, or
your brand. They see your HTML. If your HTML is an empty shell, the agent
moves on. Your competitor gets the sale.
Read the Business Case
Request an AXIOM Audit

2,564 words of content. Clear narrative arc. Business problem stated immediately. CTAs clearly labeled.

Boilerplate Analysis

Header (14 words) + Footer (42 words) = 56 words of boilerplate repeated on every page. Reduced from 65 words after removing dead social links.

Page	Total Words	Unique Content	Boilerplate Ratio
/	176	120	31.8%
/services	350+	294+	~16%
/axiom	2,564	2,508	2.2%
/about	380+	324+	~15%
/contact	130+	74+	~43%

AXIOM Context Hints

Agents reading the page now receive upfront context before parsing content:

• data-axiom-page-type="homepage" — agent immediately knows the page's role
• data-axiom-page-purpose="Browse audit service offerings..." — agent knows the page's intent
• data-axiom-role="primary-content" with data-axiom-priority="critical" — agent knows which sections matter most

Agent-Hostile Patterns

Pattern	Count
Modal/popup overlays	0
Cookie consent banners	0
Infinite scroll	0
iframes	0
Canvas elements	0
JS-only click handlers	0

Findings

#	Finding	Severity	Status
ARF-1	/contact boilerplate ratio ~43% — nearly half the page is navigation and footer chrome	Medium	Unchanged (thin content page)
ARF-2	Homepage boilerplate ratio ~32% — thin content page with proportionally heavy chrome	Low	Unchanged
ARF-3	"Open main menu" hamburger label leaks into text stream on every page	Low	Unchanged
ARF-4	Footer logo alt text is keyword-stuffed and repeated on every page	Low	Unchanged
ARF-5	All images have descriptive alt text	Pass	Unchanged
ARF-6	Content reads as coherent narrative in DOM order on all pages	Pass	Unchanged
ARF-7	Single h1 on all pages — no topic ambiguity	Pass	Fixed (was dual h1 on /axiom)
ARF-8	AXIOM page-type/purpose attributes provide upfront agent context	Pass	New

Score Justification

Text streams are coherent and read well in linear order. Headings are descriptive. Content ordering puts business-critical information first. No agent-hostile patterns (zero modals, cookie banners, infinite scroll). Dual-h1 ambiguity on /axiom is fixed. AXIOM page-level attributes give agents immediate context. Deductions for thin-content pages (/contact, /) having high boilerplate ratios and minor text stream noise from the hamburger menu label.

Previous: 76 → New: 88 (+12)

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Score Comparison: Before and After AXIOM

Previous AXIOM = (92 × 0.25) + (72 × 0.20) + (78 × 0.20) + (30 × 0.15) + (68 × 0.10) + (76 × 0.10)
             = 23.0 + 14.4 + 15.6 + 4.5 + 6.8 + 7.6
             = 71.9 → 72

Grade: C — Agent-Impaired

Current AXIOM  = (95 × 0.25) + (92 × 0.20) + (90 × 0.20) + (85 × 0.15) + (92 × 0.10) + (88 × 0.10)
             = 23.75 + 18.40 + 18.00 + 12.75 + 9.20 + 8.80
             = 90.9 → 91

Grade: A — Agent-Ready

Delta by Dimension

Dimension	Before	After	Delta	Primary Driver
Content Survivability	92	95	+3	Dead link removal
Structural Legibility	72	92	+20	ARIA states, dual-h1 fix, landmark improvements
Interactive Manifest Clarity	78	90	+12	Dead links removed, ARIA state attributes, AXIOM action annotations
Data Extractability	30	85	+55	AXIOM manifest, JSON-LD schemas, AXIOM markup vocabulary
Navigation Traversability	68	92	+24	Sitemap rebuild, dead link removal, BreadcrumbList schema, AXIOM nav index
Agent Response Fitness	76	88	+12	Dual-h1 fix, AXIOM page context, reduced boilerplate

Finding Severity Comparison

Severity	Before	After
Critical	2	0
High	2	0
Medium	8	3
Low	9	6
Info	2	2
Total	23	11

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What Drove the Score

The 19-point composite jump from C to A was driven by three categories of changes:

1. AXIOM Level 1: Discovery (+35 DE, +10 NT)

The axiom.json manifest was the single highest-impact change. It provides agents with:

• A complete machine-readable site map (7 sections with children)
• Declared capabilities (what actions agents can take)
• Agent policy (crawl rates, tier permissions)
• Technical metadata (rendering mode, framework)

An agent that fetches /axiom.json before crawling now has a complete understanding of the site's structure and intent without parsing a single page.

2. Structured Data & Sitemap (+20 DE, +15 NT)

• Service OfferCatalog: Agents can now extract "4 audit services offered" as typed data, not just from prose.
• BreadcrumbList: Agents understand page hierarchy on spec pages programmatically.
• Sitemap cleanup: Removed 28 phantom URLs that were actively misleading any agent relying on sitemap-based discovery. Added 7 missing real pages.
• SearchAction removal: Stopped advertising a search endpoint that doesn't exist.

3. ARIA + AXIOM Markup (+20 SL, +12 IMC, +12 ARF)

• ARIA states (aria-expanded, aria-pressed, aria-controls) let agents understand the current state of interactive controls.
• Dead link removal eliminated 3 href="#" links per page — an agent clicking "Twitter" no longer hits a dead end.
• Dual h1 fix resolved heading ambiguity on the most content-rich page.
• AXIOM data attributes provide semantic context at page level (data-axiom-page-type), section level (data-axiom-role), and action level (data-axiom-action with data-axiom-intent).

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Remaining Improvement Opportunities

Priority	Action	Dimensions	Expected Impact
1	Add <time datetime> elements for any dates (publication dates, lastmod references)	Data Extractability	+3–5 on DE
2	Add <caption> and scope to tables on /axiom/scoring-framework (20 tables)	Data Extractability	+3–5 on DE
3	Add breadcrumbs to all pages (currently only spec pages) with BreadcrumbList JSON-LD	Navigation Traversability	+3 on NT
4	Add data-axiom-page-purpose to / and /about	Data Extractability	+1 on DE
5	Replace "Learn More" generic link text on homepage with descriptive label	Navigation Traversability, Agent Response Fitness	+1 across NT/ARF
6	Add more content to /contact to reduce boilerplate ratio below 30%	Agent Response Fitness	+2 on ARF

Projected ceiling after all improvements: ~94–95 (solid A)

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Methodology

Framework	AXIOM v3.0
Tools	Charlotte Browser Automation (MCP), curl raw HTML analysis, WebFetch for sitemap/robots.txt
Pages	/, /services, /axiom, /axiom/scoring-framework, /about, /contact
Deployment	Vercel preview (clocktower-and-associates-website-i117jyy5o.vercel.app)
Standards	AXIOM Scoring Framework v3.0, AXIOM Specification v3.0

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This report was generated using the AXIOM Scoring Framework v3.0 scoring methodology. The previous audit scored 72 (C) and identified Data Extractability as the critical gap. AXIOM Levels 1–3 implementation closed that gap and pushed every dimension above 85. The site is now Agent-Ready.

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