Techniques for WCAG 2.0

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G124: Adding links at the top of the page to each area of the content

Applicability

All technologies that contain links

This technique relates to:

Description

The objective of this technique is to provide a mechanism to bypass blocks of material by providing a list of links to the different sections of the content. The links in this list, like a small table of contents at the beginning of the content, set focus to the different sections of the content. This technique is particularly useful for pages with many independent sections, such as portals. It may also be combined with other techniques for skipping blocks within a section.

Examples

Example 1

The Web pages on a site all start with three links that navigate to the main content of that Web page, the search field, and the navigation bar.

Resources

Resources are for information purposes only, no endorsement implied.

Tests

Procedure

For each link in the set of links provided for this purpose:

  1. Check that the only controls in the Web page that precede the link are other links in the set.

  2. Check that the description of each link communicates that it links to some section of the content.

  3. Check that the link is either always visible or visible when it has keyboard focus.

  4. Check that activating the link moves the focus to that section of the content.

Expected Results

If this is a sufficient technique for a success criterion, failing this test procedure does not necessarily mean that the success criterion has not been satisfied in some other way, only that this technique has not been successfully implemented and can not be used to claim conformance.

Techniques are Informative

Techniques are informative—that means they are not required. The basis for determining conformance to WCAG 2.0 is the success criteria from the WCAG 2.0 standard—not the techniques. For important information about techniques, please see the Understanding Techniques for WCAG Success Criteria section of Understanding WCAG 2.0.