Provide clear navigation mechanisms

These checkpoints tell you how to make your site easy to navigate. You 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. The checkpoints are:

• Clearly identify the target of each link [Priority 2]
• Provide metadata to add semantic information to pages and sites [Priority 2]
• Provide information about the general layout of a site (e.g., a site map or table of contents) [Priority 2]
• Use navigation mechanisms in a consistent manner [Priority 2]
• Provide navigation bars to highlight and give access to the navigation mechanism [Priority 3]
• Group related links, identify the group provide a way to bypass the group [Priority 3]
• If search functions are provided, enable different types of searches for different skill levels and preferences [Priority 3]
• Place distinguishing information at the beginning of headings, paragraphs, lists [Priority 3]
• Provide information about document collections (i.e., documents comprising multiple pages) [Priority 3]
• Provide a means to skip over multi-line ASCII art [Priority 3]

Why the checkpoints are important

Without clear and consistent navigation, all users, regardless of cognitive, visual, or other disability may have a difficult time navigating a complex or confusing site.