Level A
When the sequence in which content is presented affects its meaning, a correct reading sequence can be programmatically determined.>
Explanation
When the order of content is important, the content order must be preserved, no matter how it is presented. This means the order of the content makes sense whether someone is looking at it, listening to it, or has stripped out all the visual styling.
Responsibilities
- Content
- Design
- Development
- QA
Requirements
- The visual order of content matches the underlying code order;
- Tabular data is presented using proper HTML markup (
<table>,<tr>,<th>, and<td>elements).
Common mistakes
- The DOM order does not match the visual order because CSS properties like flexbox and grid-layout have been used to alter the visual presentation;
- When CSS styles are disabled, the content order is meaningless;
- Tabular data is displayed using CSS to present the appearance of a table, but the proper HTML markup has not been used;
- The tabindex attribute has been used to force a tab order through the content.
Official resources
- 1.3.2 meaningful Sequence
- Understanding 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence
- How to meet 1.3.2 meaningful Sequence