Interaction - navigating and finding

Introduction

People navigate and find content using different strategies and approaches depending on their preferences, skills, and abilities. For instance, someone using a website for the first time may need clearer guidance than someone who has more experience with the particular site, and someone using the Web on a mobile device with a small screen may require more orientational cues than someone using a desktop computer. While these are typically usability aspects that affect people with and without disabilities, some situations affect people with disabilities to a greater extent.

Examples of such situations include:

• A person is not seeing the screen and needing to get an overview and orient themselves by scanning the headings on a web page; the headings need to be also designed to support such purposes.
• A person who is only seeing small portions of the screen at a time due to screen magnification, and need to orient themselves using visual cues; the visual design needs to also support such purposes.
• A person using only the keyboard (or keyboard alternatives) to navigate through the web content; the structure of web pages need to be designed to also support and efficient use of the keyboard.
• A person who has difficulty remembering the addresses, names, or particular functionality of websites; web browsers need to provide supporting functionality that is easy to use and remember.
• A person who may have difficulty with hierarchical menu navigation, as how most navigation menus are designed to be; websites need to provide alternative mechanisms for navigation.

Many functions to support different styles of navigation are built directly into web browsers and assistive technologies. For example, most commonly available browsers provide bookmark functionality, and screen readers provide functions to list headings, links, and other structures on a web page. However, the design of the content is also an essential factor to support different styles of navigation.

Examples of accessibility features

• Consistency and predictability – labeling of functions such as links, buttons, and controls should be consistent, and the expected function should be predictable from the label.
• Descriptive titles, headings, and labels – page titles, section headings, and labels for forms, links, and controls are sometimes read on their own or out of context and need to be descriptive.
• Helpful error and success messages – dialogs and other messages, such as after submitting forms, need to help users complete their tasks and avoid disorientation, distraction, confusion, or discomfort.
• Multiple navigation mechanisms – websites need to provide multiple ways to locate web pages, for example by providing sitemaps and search functionality in addition to hierarchical navigation menus.
• Skip links – mechanisms to allow keyboard users to skip over repetitive blocks of content such as page headings, navigation bars, or menus. Note: too many skip links are counterproductive to this purpose.
• Visual orientation cues – examples include using background colors to indicate different parts of the content, using unique headings, and placing relevant information in prominent areas of a web page.

Examples of assistive technologies and adaptive strategies

• Bookmarks and history – using web browser functions to help remember pages, find previously visited pages, or quickly go to pages without needing to type a web address.
• Keyword search – using web browser functions to find text within a web page, and website functionality to search for web pages by keyword. Search engines that are maintained and optimized for a particular website can provide more precise search results.
• Keyboard navigation – moving through the content using the keyboard, typically by using the tab key to jump from one structural item such as link, header, or list item, to the next. Keyboard navigation largely depends on web browser support but also on website design features such as skip links.
• Page maps – displaying a small image of the entire web page with an indicator highlighting the portion within the web page that is being currently viewed.
• Pictorial links – some web browsers, plug-ins, and websites show small images of the link targets (sometimes called “screen shots”) rather than the addresses or names; for example in combination with bookmarks and history listings, back and forward buttons in web browsers, or links on web pages.

Stories related to interaction

• Alex, reporter with repetitive stress injury
• Ilya, senior staff member who is blind
• Preety, middle school student with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Dyslexia
• Yun, retiree with low vision, hand tremor, and mild short-term memory loss
• Luis, basketball fan with Down syndrome
• Noor, teenager who is deaf and blind