Question 13: Does the site provide clear navigation mechanisms?
What does this mean?
Web developers should provide clear and consistent navigation mechanisms -- orientation information, navigation bars, site maps, etc. -- to increase the likelihood that users will find what they are looking for.
Why does this present a problem?
Without clear and consistent navigation, all users, regardless of cognitive, visual, or other disability may have a difficult time navigating a complex or confusing Web site.
What are the solutions?
1. Clearly indicate text links
- Make a hypertext link informative when read out of context, whether it is on its own or as part of a sequence of links. For example, rather than using the word "more", use full descriptions like "more about career information" or "full text of the report". Make link text succinct.
- Avoid using "click here" as clicking refers to using the mouse, which is not possible for everyone, and it is meaningless when read out of context.
- Do not use the same link phrase to describe links that point to different URLs. Same link text should point to the same resource.
For example:
Bad form: For <a href="question2.html">more information</a> on question 2
For <a href="question3.html">more information</a> on question 3
Better: For <a href="question2.html">more information on question 2</a>
For <a href="question3.html">more information on question 3</a>
- Use the <TITLE> attribute to provide more information about links, when needed.
For example:
<A href="application.html">The application is available in HTML</A>,
<A href="application.pdf" title="Application in PDF">PDF</A>,
<A href="application.txt" title="Application in text">plain text</A>
2. Provide metadata
- Treasury Board Standard 6.3 requires that all Government of Canada Web sites adopt the following five metatags as a metadata standard for description of Web resources: Title, Originator, Language of Resource, Date, and Controlled Subject.
3. Provide general layout information
4. Use consistent navigation mechanisms
- Typical navigation mechanisms include navigation bars, site maps and tables of contents. Using these mechanisms consistently increases the usability of the site information.
5. Include navigation bars
- Provide consistent navigation bars to assist users in moving about the site.
- Treasury Board Standard 6.1 requires that all Government of Canada Web pages include the common menu bar at the top of each page. The menu bar must contain, in this order: Language (English/French) for bilingual sites only, Contact Us, Help, Search, and Canada Site.
- Treasury Board Standard 6.2 requires an institutional menu bar, similar in design and placement to the common menu bar. Plain language is also required for buttons that identify an organization's programs and services.
6. Skip related links
- As navigation bars are generally at the top of the page, individuals using screen readers must listen to the navigation links before getting to the main content. Similarly, people using the keyboard must tab through the links to get to the main content. This can be time-consuming and repetitive.
- Grouping related links into a unit (e.g., a navigation bar) enables a skip feature to be implemented by one of these methods:
- Placing hypertext links at the beginning of related links (e.g., navigation bars) to enable users to "skip to main content" or "skip navigational links".
- Using <MAP> to group links and identify the group with TITLE.
For example:
<BODY>
<MAP title="Navigation Bar" name="navbar">
<P>
[<A href="#home">Bypass navigation bar</A>]
[<A href="home.html">Home</A>]
[<A href="career.html">Career Info</A>]
[<A href="job.html>Jobs</A>]
[<A href="sitemap.html">Site map</A>]
</P>
</MAP>
<H1><A name="home">Welcome to Career Corner!</A></H1>
<!-- main content of page -->
</BODY>
[Bypass navigation bar] [Home]
[Career Info] [Jobs] [Site
map]
7. Provide a variety of search functions
- Provide search functions that satisfy varying skill levels and preferences. Search engines might include a spellchecker, "best guess" alternatives, query-by-example searches, similarity searches, etc.
- Users with spelling disabilities and users unfamiliar with the language of the site will have a difficult time finding what they need if the search requires perfect spelling.
8. Implement front-loading
9. Provide information about document collections
- If the document (Web page) is part of a collection, provide information that identifies this document's location within the collection. This can be achieved by:
- Including a table of contents, site index, or site map.
- Using page counters (e.g., page x of y) to indicate the position in relation to the whole set.
- Using <LINK> with REL or REV to indicate the URL of the next and previous pages for extra navigation information.
For example, the <HEAD> of this chapter may include:
<LINK rel="Contents" href="toc.html">
<LINK rel="Question 12" href="q12.html">
<LINK rel="Question 14" href="q14.html">
<LINK rel="Glossary" href="glossary.html">
<LINK rel="Index" href="index.html">
The text-based browser Lynx will build a small menu of links at the top of the page that reads like this:
# Contents Question 12 Question 14 Glossary Index
10. Skip ASCII Art
- As screen readers read aloud every character in ASCII art (images created with text characters and symbols), provide a link enabling users to jump over it.
- If using ASCII art, provide a text equivalent.
TIP Signature Files
Avoid or minimize ASCII art in signature files at the bottom of email messages.
For example, in the email signature below, a screen reader will sound each asterisk:
***************************
Jo Anybody, Career Counsellor
E-mail: janybody@xxx.com
***************************
What is the bottom line?
The bottom line, as stated in WCAG Guideline 13, is provide clear navigation mechanisms.
