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navigation

GUIDELINES 2.4, 3.2.3

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Overview

Navigation refers to how your website and the content is laid out in order to make navigating, finding content, and determining where they are easy for the users.

Who is impacted

All users benefit from clear navigation, especially keyboard users, screen reader users, and those with cognitive disabilities.

How to test

Verify consistent navigation across pages, check for skip links, and ensure the focus order follows a logical sequence.

Resources

Visit W3C Understanding Navigable and WebAIM Navigation for detailed guidance.

Consistent Navigation

Navigation mechanisms that appear on multiple pages should be consistent in their order and presentation. Users rely on predictable navigation patterns to find content efficiently. When navigation changes unexpectedly between pages, it creates confusion and increases cognitive load, especially for users with cognitive disabilities.

Maintain the same navigation structure, labels, and ordering across your entire site. If a navigation menu appears in the header on one page, it should appear in the header on all pages with the same items in the same order.

Multiple Ways to Find Content

Provide more than one way for users to locate content within your website. This can include a navigation menu, site map, search function, or table of contents. Different users have different preferences and abilities when it comes to finding content, so offering multiple pathways improves accessibility for everyone.