Multiple Ways to Find Pages: The Decisions That Matter
Offering more than one way to locate a page within a site, such as navigation menus, site search, a sitemap or links from related content.
Marcus Adeyemi
Why does it matter?
People find information differently, and someone who cannot use complex menus may rely on search, so WCAG requires more than one way at level AA.
What are the numbers?
- WCAG 2.4.5 Multiple Ways, AA more than one way is available to locate a page within a set of pages
- Common methods navigation, search, sitemap, table of contents and related links
- Exception pages that are a step in a process, such as checkout
- Search accessibility the search form itself must be accessible
What should I do?
- Provide site search on content-rich sites
- Keep an HTML sitemap or index for large sites
- Link related content within pages
- Make search results pages accessible
- Test that key pages can be reached at least two ways
What should I avoid?
Avoid:
- Relying only on mega menus
- Search that returns no results for common terms
- Orphan pages with no internal links
- Sitemaps that are out of date
When should I get help?
Short answer Bring in help when large sites rely on a single navigation system, or when users cannot find key content.
Where this comes from
- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative — Understanding SC 2.4.5 Multiple Ways
- Nielsen Norman Group — Search and navigation
The figures and practices above come from the sources listed.
Working on something like this?
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Where to go next
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