diff --git a/lib/commons/color/color.js b/lib/commons/color/color.js
index de8e6ea62..d7edff475 100644
--- a/lib/commons/color/color.js
+++ b/lib/commons/color/color.js
@@ -131,6 +131,16 @@ export default class Color {
    * @instance
    */
   parseString(colorString) {
+    // [a11y-rule-color-contrast]: a detached/inert node's computed *-color resolves
+    // to '' (AXE-3861); colorjs throws "Empty color reference" and that abort takes
+    // down the whole in-page Type-B collection. Treat blank as transparent, not fatal.
+    if (typeof colorString !== 'string' || colorString.trim() === '') {
+      this.red = 0;
+      this.green = 0;
+      this.blue = 0;
+      this.alpha = 0;
+      return this;
+    }
     // Colorjs <v0.5.0 does not support rad or turn angle values
     // @see https://github.com/LeaVerou/color.js/issues/311
     colorString = colorString.replace(hslRegex, (match, angle, unit) => {
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 923d9e06d..bc2be3e78 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1826,9 +1826,9 @@
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+      "version": "1.1.7",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@csstools/css-syntax-patches-for-csstree/-/css-syntax-patches-for-csstree-1.1.7.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-fQ+05118eQS1cofO3aJpB5efgpBZMvIzwr/sbC8kDLVA5XLG8q1kJV5yzrUAI1f7lvhPnm8fgIjzFB8/O/5Dig==",
       "dev": true,
       "funding": [
         {
@@ -1840,11 +1840,14 @@
           "url": "https://opencollective.com/csstools"
         }
       ],
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">=18"
-      },
+      "license": "MIT-0",
       "peerDependencies": {
-        "postcss": "^8.4"
+        "css-tree": "^3.2.1"
+      },
+      "peerDependenciesMeta": {
+        "css-tree": {
+          "optional": true
+        }
       }
     },
     "node_modules/@csstools/css-tokenizer": {
@@ -4875,13 +4878,14 @@
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     },
     "node_modules/css-tree": {
-      "version": "3.1.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/css-tree/-/css-tree-3.1.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-0eW44TGN5SQXU1mWSkKwFstI/22X2bG1nYzZTYMAWjylYURhse752YgbE4Cx46AC+bAvI+/dYTPRk1LqSUnu6w==",
+      "version": "3.2.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/css-tree/-/css-tree-3.2.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-X7sjQzceUhu1u7Y/ylrRZFU2FS6LRiFVp6rKLPg23y3x3c3DOKAwuXGDp+PAGjh6CSnCjYeAul8pcT8bAl+lSA==",
       "dev": true,
+      "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
-        "mdn-data": "2.12.2",
-        "source-map-js": "^1.0.1"
+        "mdn-data": "2.27.1",
+        "source-map-js": "^1.2.1"
       },
       "engines": {
         "node": "^10 || ^12.20.0 || ^14.13.0 || >=15.0.0"
@@ -8006,14 +8010,11 @@
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-      "version": "9.0.5",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ip-address/-/ip-address-9.0.5.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-zHtQzGojZXTwZTHQqra+ETKd4Sn3vgi7uBmlPoXVWZqYvuKmtI0l/VZTjqGmJY9x88GGOaZ9+G9ES8hC4T4X8g==",
+      "version": "10.4.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ip-address/-/ip-address-10.4.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-oSK96Grm3aP6OrS263xVxbNDGVL7rzBtYdpGqlDG8iQdoenDoTs/nkki+DflYbAEE8Xl6o5YxhxlrKvI3nqKXQ==",
       "dev": true,
-      "dependencies": {
-        "jsbn": "1.1.0",
-        "sprintf-js": "^1.1.3"
-      },
+      "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">= 12"
       }
@@ -8538,12 +8539,6 @@
         "xmlcreate": "^2.0.4"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/jsbn": {
-      "version": "1.1.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/jsbn/-/jsbn-1.1.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-4bYVV3aAMtDTTu4+xsDYa6sy9GyJ69/amsu9sYF2zqjiEoZA5xJi3BrfX3uY+/IekIu7MwdObdbDWpoZdBv3/A==",
-      "dev": true
-    },
     "node_modules/jsdoc": {
       "version": "4.0.4",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/jsdoc/-/jsdoc-4.0.4.tgz",
@@ -9688,10 +9683,11 @@
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-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/mdn-data/-/mdn-data-2.12.2.tgz",
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-      "dev": true
+      "version": "2.27.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/mdn-data/-/mdn-data-2.27.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-9Yubnt3e8A0OKwxYSXyhLymGW4sCufcLG6VdiDdUGVkPhpqLxlvP5vl1983gQjJl3tqbrM731mjaZaP68AgosQ==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "license": "CC0-1.0"
     },
     "node_modules/mdurl": {
       "version": "2.0.0",
@@ -10132,25 +10128,6 @@
         "url": "https://github.com/sindresorhus/nano-spawn?sponsor=1"
       }
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-    "node_modules/nanoid": {
-      "version": "3.3.11",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/nanoid/-/nanoid-3.3.11.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-N8SpfPUnUp1bK+PMYW8qSWdl9U+wwNWI4QKxOYDy9JAro3WMX7p2OeVRF9v+347pnakNevPmiHhNmZ2HbFA76w==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "funding": [
-        {
-          "type": "github",
-          "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/ai"
-        }
-      ],
-      "peer": true,
-      "bin": {
-        "nanoid": "bin/nanoid.cjs"
-      },
-      "engines": {
-        "node": "^10 || ^12 || ^13.7 || ^14 || >=15.0.1"
-      }
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     "node_modules/natural-compare": {
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       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/natural-compare/-/natural-compare-1.4.0.tgz",
@@ -11241,35 +11218,6 @@
         "mkdirp": "bin/cmd.js"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/postcss": {
-      "version": "8.5.6",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/postcss/-/postcss-8.5.6.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-3Ybi1tAuwAP9s0r1UQ2J4n5Y0G05bJkpUIO0/bI9MhwmD70S5aTWbXGBwxHrelT+XM1k6dM0pk+SwNkpTRN7Pg==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "funding": [
-        {
-          "type": "opencollective",
-          "url": "https://opencollective.com/postcss/"
-        },
-        {
-          "type": "tidelift",
-          "url": "https://tidelift.com/funding/github/npm/postcss"
-        },
-        {
-          "type": "github",
-          "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/ai"
-        }
-      ],
-      "peer": true,
-      "dependencies": {
-        "nanoid": "^3.3.11",
-        "picocolors": "^1.1.1",
-        "source-map-js": "^1.2.1"
-      },
-      "engines": {
-        "node": "^10 || ^12 || >=14"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/prelude-ls": {
       "version": "1.2.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/prelude-ls/-/prelude-ls-1.2.1.tgz",
@@ -12204,10 +12152,11 @@
       }
     },
     "node_modules/shell-quote": {
-      "version": "1.8.4",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/shell-quote/-/shell-quote-1.8.4.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-VsC6n6vz1ihYYyZZwX7YZSF5l5x36ca17OC+a69h94YqB7X6XLwf+5MOgynYir2SLFUbl8gIYvBo8K8RoNQ6bQ==",
+      "version": "1.10.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/shell-quote/-/shell-quote-1.10.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-w1aiOKwKuRgtwAReIIj89puqg+I7GvX4IbLrvmhXbzQsj1+Zwi4VO3+fa6ZF91TWSjIxoEkKnMeHcLEODK5ZXA==",
       "dev": true,
+      "license": "MIT",
       "engines": {
         "node": ">= 0.4"
       },
@@ -12417,18 +12366,44 @@
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-      "version": "4.2.4",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/socket.io-parser/-/socket.io-parser-4.2.4.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-/GbIKmo8ioc+NIWIhwdecY0ge+qVBSMdgxGygevmdHj24bsfgtCmcUUcQ5ZzcylGFHsN3k4HB4Cgkl96KVnuew==",
+      "version": "4.2.7",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/socket.io-parser/-/socket.io-parser-4.2.7.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-IH/iSeO9T6gz1KkFleGDWkG9N3dl4jXVYUtMhIqH10Md0ttMer8nUNWiP1DKuNrybD2xBrixLJdCC9J6ECoYkg==",
       "dev": true,
+      "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@socket.io/component-emitter": "~3.1.0",
-        "debug": "~4.3.1"
+        "debug": "~4.4.1"
       },
       "engines": {
         "node": ">=10.0.0"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/socket.io-parser/node_modules/debug": {
+      "version": "4.4.3",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/debug/-/debug-4.4.3.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-RGwwWnwQvkVfavKVt22FGLw+xYSdzARwm0ru6DhTVA3umU5hZc28V3kO4stgYryrTlLpuvgI9GiijltAjNbcqA==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "license": "MIT",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "ms": "^2.1.3"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=6.0"
+      },
+      "peerDependenciesMeta": {
+        "supports-color": {
+          "optional": true
+        }
+      }
+    },
+    "node_modules/socket.io-parser/node_modules/ms": {
+      "version": "2.1.3",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ms/-/ms-2.1.3.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-6FlzubTLZG3J2a/NVCAleEhjzq5oxgHyaCU9yYXvcLsvoVaHJq/s5xXI6/XXP6tz7R9xAOtHnSO/tXtF3WRTlA==",
+      "dev": true,
+      "license": "MIT"
+    },
     "node_modules/socks": {
       "version": "2.8.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/socks/-/socks-2.8.1.tgz",
@@ -15210,9 +15185,9 @@
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-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@csstools/css-syntax-patches-for-csstree/-/css-syntax-patches-for-csstree-1.0.14.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-zSlIxa20WvMojjpCSy8WrNpcZ61RqfTfX3XTaOeVlGJrt/8HF3YbzgFZa01yTbT4GWQLwfTcC3EB8i3XnB647Q==",
+      "version": "1.1.7",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@csstools/css-syntax-patches-for-csstree/-/css-syntax-patches-for-csstree-1.1.7.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-fQ+05118eQS1cofO3aJpB5efgpBZMvIzwr/sbC8kDLVA5XLG8q1kJV5yzrUAI1f7lvhPnm8fgIjzFB8/O/5Dig==",
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@@ -17376,13 +17351,13 @@
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-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/css-tree/-/css-tree-3.1.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-0eW44TGN5SQXU1mWSkKwFstI/22X2bG1nYzZTYMAWjylYURhse752YgbE4Cx46AC+bAvI+/dYTPRk1LqSUnu6w==",
+      "version": "3.2.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/css-tree/-/css-tree-3.2.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-X7sjQzceUhu1u7Y/ylrRZFU2FS6LRiFVp6rKLPg23y3x3c3DOKAwuXGDp+PAGjh6CSnCjYeAul8pcT8bAl+lSA==",
       "dev": true,
       "requires": {
-        "mdn-data": "2.12.2",
-        "source-map-js": "^1.0.1"
+        "mdn-data": "2.27.1",
+        "source-map-js": "^1.2.1"
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@@ -19696,14 +19671,10 @@
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-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ip-address/-/ip-address-9.0.5.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-zHtQzGojZXTwZTHQqra+ETKd4Sn3vgi7uBmlPoXVWZqYvuKmtI0l/VZTjqGmJY9x88GGOaZ9+G9ES8hC4T4X8g==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "requires": {
-        "jsbn": "1.1.0",
-        "sprintf-js": "^1.1.3"
-      }
+      "version": "10.4.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ip-address/-/ip-address-10.4.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-oSK96Grm3aP6OrS263xVxbNDGVL7rzBtYdpGqlDG8iQdoenDoTs/nkki+DflYbAEE8Xl6o5YxhxlrKvI3nqKXQ==",
+      "dev": true
     },
     "ip-regex": {
       "version": "4.3.0",
@@ -20056,12 +20027,6 @@
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-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/jsbn/-/jsbn-1.1.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-4bYVV3aAMtDTTu4+xsDYa6sy9GyJ69/amsu9sYF2zqjiEoZA5xJi3BrfX3uY+/IekIu7MwdObdbDWpoZdBv3/A==",
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@@ -20918,9 +20883,9 @@
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-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/mdn-data/-/mdn-data-2.12.2.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-IEn+pegP1aManZuckezWCO+XZQDplx1366JoVhTpMpBB1sPey/SbveZQUosKiKiGYjg1wH4pMlNgXbCiYgihQA==",
+      "version": "2.27.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/mdn-data/-/mdn-data-2.27.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-9Yubnt3e8A0OKwxYSXyhLymGW4sCufcLG6VdiDdUGVkPhpqLxlvP5vl1983gQjJl3tqbrM731mjaZaP68AgosQ==",
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@@ -21234,13 +21199,6 @@
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       "dev": true
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-    "nanoid": {
-      "version": "3.3.11",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/nanoid/-/nanoid-3.3.11.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-N8SpfPUnUp1bK+PMYW8qSWdl9U+wwNWI4QKxOYDy9JAro3WMX7p2OeVRF9v+347pnakNevPmiHhNmZ2HbFA76w==",
-      "dev": true,
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       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/natural-compare/-/natural-compare-1.4.0.tgz",
@@ -21418,7 +21376,7 @@
         "minimatch": "^3.1.3",
         "pidtree": "^0.3.0",
         "read-pkg": "^3.0.0",
-        "shell-quote": "^1.6.1",
+        "shell-quote": "1.10.0",
         "string.prototype.padend": "^3.0.0"
       },
       "dependencies": {
@@ -22068,18 +22026,6 @@
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-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/postcss/-/postcss-8.5.6.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-3Ybi1tAuwAP9s0r1UQ2J4n5Y0G05bJkpUIO0/bI9MhwmD70S5aTWbXGBwxHrelT+XM1k6dM0pk+SwNkpTRN7Pg==",
-      "dev": true,
-      "peer": true,
-      "requires": {
-        "nanoid": "^3.3.11",
-        "picocolors": "^1.1.1",
-        "source-map-js": "^1.2.1"
-      }
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     "prelude-ls": {
       "version": "1.2.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/prelude-ls/-/prelude-ls-1.2.1.tgz",
@@ -22794,9 +22740,9 @@
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-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/shell-quote/-/shell-quote-1.8.4.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-VsC6n6vz1ihYYyZZwX7YZSF5l5x36ca17OC+a69h94YqB7X6XLwf+5MOgynYir2SLFUbl8gIYvBo8K8RoNQ6bQ==",
+      "version": "1.10.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/shell-quote/-/shell-quote-1.10.0.tgz",
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@@ -22931,7 +22877,7 @@
         "debug": "~4.3.2",
         "engine.io": "6.6.7",
         "socket.io-adapter": "~2.5.2",
-        "socket.io-parser": "~4.2.4"
+        "socket.io-parser": ">=4.2.7"
       }
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     "socket.io-adapter": {
@@ -22945,13 +22891,30 @@
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-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/socket.io-parser/-/socket.io-parser-4.2.4.tgz",
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+      "version": "4.2.7",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/socket.io-parser/-/socket.io-parser-4.2.7.tgz",
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       "dev": true,
       "requires": {
         "@socket.io/component-emitter": "~3.1.0",
-        "debug": "~4.3.1"
+        "debug": "~4.4.1"
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+      "dependencies": {
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+          "version": "4.4.3",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/debug/-/debug-4.4.3.tgz",
+          "integrity": "sha512-RGwwWnwQvkVfavKVt22FGLw+xYSdzARwm0ru6DhTVA3umU5hZc28V3kO4stgYryrTlLpuvgI9GiijltAjNbcqA==",
+          "dev": true,
+          "requires": {
+            "ms": "^2.1.3"
+          }
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+        "ms": {
+          "version": "2.1.3",
+          "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ms/-/ms-2.1.3.tgz",
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+          "dev": true
+        }
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@@ -22960,7 +22923,7 @@
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       "dev": true,
       "requires": {
-        "ip-address": "^9.0.5",
+        "ip-address": ">=10.4.0",
         "smart-buffer": "^4.2.0"
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diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 8881afb15..3f5b1d4c1 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -212,6 +212,10 @@
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     "js-yaml@3": "3.15.0",
     "js-yaml@4": "4.3.0",
-    "linkify-it": "5.0.2"
+    "linkify-it": "5.0.2",
+    "postcss": "8.5.25",
+    "shell-quote": "1.10.0",
+    "ip-address": ">=10.4.0",
+    "socket.io-parser": ">=4.2.7"
   }
 }
diff --git a/test/commons/color/color.js b/test/commons/color/color.js
index c7057bb69..906486260 100644
--- a/test/commons/color/color.js
+++ b/test/commons/color/color.js
@@ -430,6 +430,30 @@ describe('color.Color', () => {
       assert.equal(c.blue, 144);
       assert.equal(c.alpha, 0.5);
     });
+
+    // [a11y-rule-color-contrast]: AXE-3861 — a detached/inert node's computed
+    // *-color resolves to ''; colorjs throws "Empty color reference" and the abort
+    // takes down the whole in-page Type-B collection. Guard: blank -> transparent.
+    it('does not throw on an empty string (returns transparent)', () => {
+      const c = new Color(255, 255, 255, 1);
+      assert.doesNotThrow(() => c.parseString(''));
+      assert.equal(c.red, 0);
+      assert.equal(c.green, 0);
+      assert.equal(c.blue, 0);
+      assert.equal(c.alpha, 0);
+    });
+
+    it('does not throw on a whitespace-only string', () => {
+      const c = new Color();
+      assert.doesNotThrow(() => c.parseString('   '));
+      assert.equal(c.alpha, 0);
+    });
+
+    it('does not throw on a non-string value', () => {
+      const c = new Color();
+      assert.doesNotThrow(() => c.parseString(null));
+      assert.equal(c.alpha, 0);
+    });
   });
 
   describe('toHexString', () => {