meta-refresh-timing-absent
Page must not use a timed meta refresh
Checks that <meta http-equiv="refresh"> does not impose a positive delay of 20 hours or less.
Applies to. Applies to the first <meta http-equiv="refresh"> element, in document order, whose content attribute has a parseable leading delay value. Per HTML's shared declarative refresh steps, a document only ever acts on its first valid meta refresh; any later one (valid or not) is inert markup a browser never processes, so it is not evaluated.
Expectation. The delay is 0 (an immediate redirect, which users cannot be caught by mid-read), or exceeds 20 hours. Any other positive delay refreshes or redirects the page on a timer the user did not initiate and cannot pause, stop, or extend, which WCAG 2.2.1 (Timing Adjustable) requires be possible.
Examples
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="90000; URL=/x">
A delay over 20 hours (72000s) is exempt under WCAG 2.2.1 Exception 3.
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="30; URL=/x">
A 30-second delay refreshes the page on a timer the user cannot pause, stop, or extend.