Level A · WCAG 2.0
1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence
When the order things are read in changes the meaning, that order has to be correct in the markup too.
Manual only No automated check says anything useful.
How it fails in practice
A two-column layout built with CSS positioning where the sidebar comes first in the source, so the page reads sidebar-then-article no matter what it looks like.
How to fix it
Put the DOM in reading order and let CSS place it. Grid and flexbox order are exactly the properties that break this — they move the picture and leave the reading order behind.
At a glance
- Level
- Level A — the minimum. Failing one of these usually makes something impossible rather than merely hard.
- Principle
- Perceivable
- Guideline
- 1.3 Adaptable
- Added in
- WCAG 2.0
- EN 301 549
- 9.1.3.2
- Automated check
- Manual only
Manual only
How far an automated check gets
Nothing automatic decides this. A scanner that reports it as passing is reporting that it did not look. It stays untested until a person tests it and records what they did — which is exactly how we treat it: as untested, not as passed.
Related criteria
Other criteria under the same guideline.
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