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The following meet WCAG 2.0 AA standards for both legal conformance and accessibility best practices.

Page titles

Required

  • The page <title> MUST be present and MUST contain text.

  • The page <title> MUST be updated when the web address changes.

  • The page <title> MUST be accurate and informative.

Non-required / best practice

  • If a page is the result of a user action or scripted change of context, the text of the <title> SHOULD describe the result or change of context to the user.

  • The <title> SHOULD be concise.

  • The page <title> SHOULD be unique, if possible.

  • Unique information SHOULD come first in the <title>.

  • The page <title> SHOULD match (or be very similar to) the top heading in the main content.

Language

Required

  • The primary language of the page MUST be identified accurately on the <html> element.
  • The primary language of the page MUST be identified with a valid value on the <html> element.
  • Inline language changes MUST be identified with a valid lang attribute.
  • The language code MUST be valid.

Headings

Required

  • Headings MUST be accurate and informative.

Non-required / best practice

  • Text that acts as a heading visually or structurally SHOULD be designated as a true heading in the markup.

  • Text that does not act as a heading visually or structurally SHOULD NOT be marked as a heading.

  • Heading text SHOULD be concise and relatively brief.

  • Headings SHOULD convey a clear and accurate structural outline of the sections of content of a web page.

  • Headings SHOULD NOT skip hierarchical levels.

  • The beginning of the main content SHOULD start with <h1>.

  • Most web pages SHOULD have only one <h1>.

Navigation

Required

  • Navigation patterns that are repeated on web pages MUST be presented in the same relative order each time they appear and MUST NOT change order when navigating through the site.
  • A skip link MUST be either visible at all times or visible on keyboard focus.
  • The reading order MUST be logical and intuitive.
  • The navigation order of focusable elements MUST be logical and intuitive.

Non-required / best practice

  • A navigation list SHOULD be designated with the <nav> element or role="navigation".
  • A navigation list SHOULD include a visible method of informing users which page within the navigation list is the currently active/visible page.
  • A navigation list SHOULD include a method of informing blind users which page within the navigation list is the currently active/visible page.
  • A keyboard-functional "skip" link SHOULD be provided to allow keyboard users to navigate directly to the main content.
  • The "skip link" SHOULD be the first focusable element on the page.
  • If a table of contents for the page is included, it SHOULD reflect the heading structure of the page.
  • tabindex of positive values SHOULD NOT be used.
  • A paginated view SHOULD include a visible method of informing users which view is the currently active/visible view.
  • A paginated view SHOULD include a method of informing blind users which view is the currently active/visible view.

Required

  • Links MUST be visually distinguishable from surrounding text.
    Color alone must not be used to distinguish links from surrounding text unless the color contrast between the link and the surrounding text is at least 3:1 and an additional differentiation is provided when the link is hovered or receives focus.
  • Links MUST be semantically designated as such.
  • A link MUST have programmatically-discernible text, as determined by the accessible name calculation algorithm.
  • Features such as labels, names, and text alternatives for content that have the same functionality across multiple web pages MUST be consistently identified.
  • All focusable elements MUST have a visual focus indicator when in focus.

Non-required / best practice

  • Links and buttons SHOULD be designated semantically according to their functions.
  • The purpose of each link SHOULD be able to be determined from the link text alone.
  • The link text SHOULD NOT repeat the role ("link").
  • A link that opens in a new window or tab SHOULD indicate that it opens in a new window or tab.
  • A link to a file or destination in an alternative or non-web format SHOULD indicate the file or destination type.
  • Focusable elements SHOULD have enhanced visual focus indicator styles.

Lists

Required

Lists MUST be constructed using the appropriate semantic markup.

Tables

Required

  • Table headers MUST be designated with <th>.
  • Data table header text MUST accurately describe the category of the corresponding data cells.
  • Table data cells MUST be associated with their corresponding header cells.
  • Table data group headers MUST be associated with their corresponding data cell groups.
  • Header/data associations that cannot be designated with <th> and scope MUST be designated with headers plus id
  • Data table headers and data associations MUST NOT be referenced across nested, merged, or separate tables.
  • Layout tables MUST NOT contain data table markup.

Non-required / best practice

  • Tabular data SHOULD be represented in a <table>.
  • Data tables SHOULD have a programmatically-associated caption or name.
  • The name/caption of a data table SHOULD describe the identity or purpose of the table accurately, meaningfully, and succinctly.
  • The name/caption of each data table SHOULD be unique within the context of other tables on the same page.
  • A data table summary, if provided, SHOULD make the table more understandable to screen reader users.
  • Tables SHOULD NOT be used for the purpose of purely visual (non-data) layout.

iFrames

Required

Non-required / best practice

  • No labels