Consistent Navigation
Summary:
WCAG 3.2.3, "Consistent Navigation," means providing a stable and familiar navigational experience across a website. Once you've established a pattern, try to keep to it. This is particularly beneficial for users with cognitive disabilities, visual impairments, or those who rely on assistive technologies for orientation.
What:
This guideline requires that navigational mechanisms that are repeated on multiple pages within a set of web pages occur in the same relative order each time they are repeated.
Why:
Consistent navigation helps users learn and remember how to navigate a site, reducing confusion and the cognitive load required to find information.
Examples and Scenarios:
- Website Menus: The main navigation menu should maintain the same order across all pages.
- Footers: Footer links should appear in the same sequence on every page.
- Sidebar Widgets: In blogs or news sites, sidebar content like categories or tags should be consistently positioned.
How to Comply:
- Websites: Keep the order of menus, footers, and other navigational elements consistent across the site.
- Mobile Apps: Ensure that tab bars, side menus, or other repeated navigational elements follow a consistent order.
- Software Applications: Similar to websites, maintain a consistent navigation structure throughout different sections of the application.
Exceptions:
- Context-Specific Changes: If a particular context or function of a page necessitates a different navigational structure.
- User-Requested Customization: Changes made according to user preferences or settings might alter the order of navigational elements.