Meaningful Sequence - Success Criterion 1.3.2 (Level A)

Question

Is the content on your site or application presented in a logical reading order when viewed with assistive technology, an alternate stylesheet, or by keyboard-only navigation?

Why is this important?

People with visual and hearing impairments, cognitive disabilities or learning disabilities may rely on assistive technology or individualized stylesheets to render content.

The content on a web page or application must have meaningful order. This allows assistive technology to read the content correctly to enable the user to fully understand the intended meaning.

Whom does it benefit?

Example 1

As a person with a mobility impairment, reliant on keyboard navigation,
I want to be able to tab and use arrow keys to navigate through the page following the visual order
so that I can comprehend the meaning of the content.

Example 2

As a person with a visual impairment using a screen reader,
I want the content presented in a logical reading order
so that I do not misinterpret the meaning and concepts being presented.

What should you do?

Ensure that the reading order and visual presentation of the content are the same on the site or application.

How do you do it?

Here are a few of the many ways you can ensure content reads properly for assistive technology users.

Reading order should be programmatically determined to maintain a meaningful sequence.
Ensure the code order matches the visual order.
Separate navigation elements from the content.
Ensure that keyboard-only users are able to tab through the content in the intended reading order.
Turn off the CSS and check that your site or application displays in the correct order.