1.3.2
Andrew Hick edited this page Jun 6, 2023
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When the sequence in which content is presented affects its meaning, a correct reading sequence can be programmatically determined.
Always.
Do one of the following, or if you find the results confusing, do one more:
- Use the Web Developer extension and go to 'Miscellaneous > Linearize page' - note this does not work with modern CSS layouts such as flexbox
- Switch off styles with the Web Developer extension's 'CSS > Disable All Styles' or with WAVE's 'Styles > Off' (if things are hidden using CSS and also hidden for screen readers, they must be ignored in a view without styles; images might interfere with understanding of text, maybe switch them off as well)
- Enable caret browsing in Firefox - under 'Preferences > Browsing', select "Always use the cursor keys to navigate within page" and use the arrow keys to navigate through the page (this can be quite buggy)
- Use a screen reader, ideally NVDA (ignore live region updates, caveat: different screen readers might do different things and/or be buggy)
Check that:
- the reading order of the content (the way content is read by assistive technologies) makes sense - it does not need to be the same as the visual order
- if layout tables are used, the order still makes sense when the table is linearised (from left to right, top to bottom)
Ignore focus order Success Criterion.
- have the same reading order as the visual order
- do not use layout tables
Use a screen reader to check that the page order makes sense.