Level AA · WCAG 2.0
3.2.4 Consistent Identification
Components that do the same thing are identified the same way wherever they appear — the same label, the same icon, the same accessible name.
Partly automated Some failures are detectable, others need judgement.
How it fails in practice
A search button called “Search” in the header and “Go” in the help centre. The same download icon named “PDF” on one page and “Get file” on the next. A screen-reader user cannot tell they are the same control.
How to fix it
Name a repeated function once, in the component, and reuse the component. Where the wording has to differ, keep it consistent in meaning, not just close.
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
- 9.3.2.4
- Automated check
- Partly automated
How to test it by hand
- List the controls and icons that repeat across the site: search, basket, download, print, share, close.
- For each, compare the visible label and icon on several pages.
- Compare the accessible names too, in the browser’s Accessibility pane: the same function has the same name everywhere.
In code
<!-- Header -->
<button type="submit" aria-label="Search">
<svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" aria-hidden="true"><path d="…"/></svg>
</button>
<!-- Help centre -->
<button type="submit" aria-label="Go">
<svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" aria-hidden="true"><path d="…"/></svg>
</button><!-- Both places render the same component -->
<button type="submit" aria-label="Search">
<svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" aria-hidden="true"><path d="…"/></svg>
</button>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.
Related criteria
Other criteria under the same guideline.
Find out which criteria your site fails
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