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.
Partly automated Some failures are detectable, others need judgement.
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
- Partly automated
Partly automated
How far an automated check gets
A tool finds some failures here and cannot see the rest. A clean automated result means the checks that exist found nothing — not that the criterion is met. This is the gap that makes a green scan look like an accessible site, and it is where the keyboard agent, the agents still in development and a human reviewer do the remaining work.
Where it matters most
The guides that list it among the criteria to check first.
Related criteria
Other criteria under the same guideline.
Find out which criteria your site fails
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