Level AA · WCAG 2.0
3.2.3 Consistent Navigation
Navigation that repeats across pages stays in the same relative order on each of them.
Manual only No automated check says anything useful.
How it fails in practice
A header menu whose items reshuffle on the shop pages. A search field in the header on most templates and below the content on the blog. Somebody who learned the site by where things are has to learn it again.
How to fix it
Render repeated navigation from one shared template. A section may add its own items, but the items every page shares keep their order.
At a glance
- Level
- Level AA — the level EN 301 549 requires, and therefore the level the BFSG and the EAA are measured against.
- Principle
- Understandable
- Guideline
- 3.2 Predictable
- Added in
- WCAG 2.0
- EN 301 549
- 9.3.2.3
- Automated check
- Manual only
How to test it by hand
- Open three pages built from different templates — the home page, a listing, an article or checkout step.
- Compare the main menu, the footer links and any sub-navigation. The items they share appear in the same order on each.
- Tab through the navigation on each page. Focus meets the shared items in the same order as well.
In code
<!-- Home page -->
<nav aria-label="Main">
<a href="/">Home</a> <a href="/shop/">Shop</a> <a href="/help/">Help</a>
</nav>
<!-- Shop pages -->
<nav aria-label="Main">
<a href="/shop/">Shop</a> <a href="/help/">Help</a> <a href="/">Home</a>
</nav><!-- Every page, from one partial -->
<nav aria-label="Main">
<a href="/">Home</a> <a href="/shop/">Shop</a> <a href="/help/">Help</a>
</nav>
<!-- The shop adds its own items without moving the shared ones -->
<nav aria-label="Shop">
<a href="/shop/new/">New in</a> <a href="/shop/sale/">Sale</a>
</nav>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.
Find out which criteria your site fails
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