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Accessible Technology

Finding content

Overview

Web users, especially users with disabilities, depend on web pages being predictable. If navigation is consistent from page to page within a website, this makes it much easier for screen reader users, screen magnification users, and others to find particular items within the navigation.

Also, all users have adopted a variety of methods for finding content on websites. Some people prefer to use search, others prefer navigation menus, and others prefer site maps. For some users, the choice might be dictated by a particular feature’s ease of use. For example, some users with disabilities might find that it’s easier to use search than to operate a dropdown menu. In order to address the diverse needs of all users, multiple means should be provided for finding content on your website.

Techniques

Consistent navigation

Use menus and other navigation mechanisms consistently across all web pages within a website. Be sure menus appear in approximately the same place on each page, with items repeated in the same relative order across pages.

In addition, any links, buttons, images, or other components that are used repeatedly throughout a website should be labeled consistently. For example, if a web application includes a “Sign In” link on some pages, and a “Log In” link on other pages, this can lead to confusion as screen reader users familiar with the “Sign In” link might try a search for that on pages where it’s labeled differently and would come up empty-handed.

For techniques related to navigation within a web page, see our Navigation page.

Multiple means of finding content

Provide multiple means of finding content on your website, for example:

  • Provide a navigation menu
  • Provide a search feature
  • Provide a site map

The standard UW WordPress Theme has been created with accessibility in mind, and satisfies the needs described on this page, as does the Drupal theme that’s available on the Community Themes and Modules wiki. For additional information, see the Using UW-branded Themes section of our Websites home page.

WCAG 2.1 Success Criteria

The issues described on this page, and associated Techniques pages, map to the following success criteria in the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1: