Web Frontend Code Review Patterns

Load these checks for browser-targeted HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript, JSX, and TSX. Confirm the rendering/runtime path from source and relevant framework configuration; apply TypeScript checks alongside these checks when applicable.

Read Review principles before applying these checks; it defines authority, applicability, evidence, and blocking criteria.

Accessibility

• Every interactive element (button, link, input, select) must have an accessible name — either visible text, aria-label, or aria-labelledby
• Verify focus behavior for the component's semantics: modal interaction needs appropriate containment and restoration; do not impose a modal focus trap on an ordinary nonmodal panel.
• Check text contrast and large-text eligibility against the target's applicable accessibility standard; record the actual foreground/background and sizing evidence rather than guessing from visual appearance.
• Icon-only buttons without visible text must have aria-label or a visually-hidden text span
• Verify form controls have programmatically associated names/labels appropriate to their semantics; visual proximity alone does not establish that relationship.
• Images conveying information must have descriptive alt text; decorative images use alt=""
• Keyboard navigation must work — focus order must follow visual order, no focus traps outside intentional modal patterns

XSS Prevention

• element.innerHTML = userValue is a blocking finding — use textContent for plain text
• dangerouslySetInnerHTML (React) or equivalent without sanitization is a blocking finding
• User-controlled values used in eval(), Function(), or setTimeout(string) are a blocking finding
• Validate user-controlled URL schemes for the actual attribute and content context; prevent executable or unauthorized navigation/content while preserving deliberately supported media sources.

Performance

• Investigate interleaved layout reads (offsetWidth, getBoundingClientRect) and style writes for repeated layout work; establish the affected rendering path and cost before assigning severity.
• Check that image layout reserves the required space through dimensions or an equivalent supported layout rule; report observed or source-established layout-shift risk.
• Review off-screen image loading against the critical rendering path and intended preload behavior; recommend lazy loading where it addresses a demonstrated cost.
• Check the actual script-loading semantics and critical rendering effect of large bundles; absence of a particular attribute alone does not establish a performance defect.
• Trace expensive render work to its input size, frequency, and user-visible cost before recommending memoization or another optimization.

CSS

• Inspect !important for an actual cascade conflict or project-policy violation; a justified third-party override is not defective solely because of the keyword.
• Apply the project's design-token conventions where they exist; do not impose a new token system on unrelated styles.
• Trace undocumented z-index values to stacking behavior and project policy before requiring named tokens or a new scale.
• position: fixed or position: sticky without overflow and scroll container awareness is flagged
• Verify whether broad component selectors affect unintended descendants; identify the affected component and style consequence.

Forms

• Verify user-operable fields have accessible names and any visible/programmatic labels required by their semantics and the target standard; preserve supported wrapping, association, or equivalent naming mechanisms.
• Where the target accessibility standard requires identifying input purpose, verify the field's purpose and relevant autocomplete metadata.
• Validation error messages must be associated with the field via aria-describedby — color alone is not sufficient to communicate errors
• Form submission must not clear field values without user confirmation when validation fails

Event Listener Cleanup

• Verify listeners stop affecting the component when its lifetime ends, through explicit removal, supported abort/disposal behavior, or an equivalent lifetime guarantee.
• For document.addEventListener, trace the long-lived emitter and actual cleanup mechanism; report retained listeners or stale effects rather than requiring one cleanup spelling.
• AbortController is preferred for fetch-and-cleanup patterns — pass the signal and abort on cleanup

Anti-Patterns

<!-- WRONG: no label, no accessible name -->
<input type="text" placeholder="Search..." />

<!-- RIGHT: associated label -->
<label for="search">Search</label>
<input type="text" id="search" autocomplete="off" />

<!-- WRONG: XSS vector -->
<div id="output"></div>
<script>
  document.getElementById("output").innerHTML = userInput;
</script>

<!-- RIGHT: safe text insertion -->
<script>
  document.getElementById("output").textContent = userInput;
</script>

/* Investigate this value against the actual stacking contract. */
.modal { z-index: 9999; }

/* RIGHT: design token */
.modal { z-index: var(--z-modal); }

/* Investigate the override's scope and reason. */
.button { color: red !important; }

/* RIGHT: explained override */
/* Overrides third-party widget styles that cannot be targeted more specifically */
.widget-container .button { color: red !important; }