> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.devally.com/EfyQpV4281edZ3h0g8tY/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.devally.com/EfyQpV4281edZ3h0g8tY/core-concepts/interactive-blocks/understanding-issues.md).

# Understanding Issues

## Understanding issues

#### What is an issue? <a href="#what-is-an-issue" id="what-is-an-issue"></a>

An issue is the underlying accessibility problem in your product, like "Color contrast insufficient" or "All page content should be contained by landmarks". It's identified against a WCAG success criterion.

A single issue can appear in many places. Those places are tracked one level down as **cases** (the pattern) and **occurrences** (specific instances). Selectors, screenshots, and code examples live on cases, not on the issue itself.

#### Issue properties <a href="#issue-properties" id="issue-properties"></a>

When you open an issue you'll see:

* **Issue key**: a workspace-friendly identifier, e.g. `DEB-34`
* **Summary**: human-readable description of the problem
* **WCAG reference**: link to the relevant WCAG success criterion
* **Severity**: Low, Medium, or High
* **Status counts**: how many of the issue's cases are Active, Resolved, or Regressed
* **Impact**: how the issue affects users, plus the user groups primarily affected
* **Recommended fix**: how to address the issue, with estimated implementation effort and impact

Below these, the issue page lists the cases where this issue actually appears.

#### How to prioritize issues <a href="#how-to-prioritise-issues" id="how-to-prioritise-issues"></a>

When you're faced with multiple issues, start with the most critical ones first. Here's a practical approach:

1. **Start with high severity**: focus on the issues that create the biggest barriers for users
2. **Look at scope**: how many cases and pages each issue affects
3. **Consider dependencies**: some issues are best fixed together

For example, an issue that appears across your entire site (like missing alt text on all product images) will have much higher impact than one that only affects a single page. Related issues are often worth fixing together. If you're updating a component's styling, you might address color contrast and focus indicators at the same time.

#### Status <a href="#status" id="status"></a>

Issues, cases, and occurrences all share the same three statuses:

* **Active**: detected in the latest audit
* **Resolved**: previously detected, not detected now
* **Regressed**: was resolved, but reappeared in a later audit

At the issue level you see the rollup across all of its cases. Re-audit to update these counts.

#### Next steps <a href="#next-steps" id="next-steps"></a>

Now that you understand issues, you're ready to see where they appear in your application. The next step is to explore cases, which show you the specific places where each issue manifests.

* Working with cases: see where issues appear


---

# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the following URL with the `ask` and `goal` query parameters:

```
GET https://docs.devally.com/EfyQpV4281edZ3h0g8tY/core-concepts/interactive-blocks/understanding-issues.md?ask=<question>&goal=<user_goal>
```

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is what the user is ultimately trying to achieve, the reason they need the answer. Sharing it helps GitBook give you a better, more relevant answer. A goal is most helpful when it describes the outcome the user wants rather than restating the question. For example, with `ask=how do I create an API token`, a goal like `automate deployments from our CI pipeline` lets GitBook tailor the answer to that use case.

The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.