How the DesignScan score works
Updated 23 October 2026
Every scan ends in one number from 0 to 100: the DesignScan score. It is the weighted average of nine gauges, each scored 0–100.
The nine gauges
| Gauge | What it looks at |
|---|---|
| Design | Layout on desktop and phone, viewport, fonts, old table layouts. |
| Website Age | The year the site feels like, dated from its code, fonts, frameworks and images. |
| Speed | Core Web Vitals and how heavy the page is. |
| SEO | Titles, meta description, headings, indexability, sitemap, structured data. |
| Images | Oversized or outdated image formats and missing alt text. |
| Code | Doctype, HTTPS, errors and outdated libraries. |
| UX | The UX Doctor’s findings: tap targets, contrast, calls to action. |
| Accessibility | Contrast, labels, zoom and language settings. |
| People | Votes from the community, once a site has at least three. |
Grades and the verdict
The score becomes a grade (A to E) and a verdict: polish, don’t rebuild, fix or time to start over. A gauge without data, such as People before three votes, is left out and the other gauges share its weight.
Why a score can change
Rescans measure the site again, new votes move the People gauge, and when DesignScan tunes its weights all stored scans are rescored so every site is measured the same way.