Perceivable / 1.3 Adaptable
1.3.2Meaningful Sequence
Level AEven when CSS layout, such as multi-column formatting or positioning, changes the visual order, the correct, meaning-preserving reading order must still be programmatically determinable. Screen readers and keyboard navigation follow DOM order, so reordering content visually with CSS alone -- without matching the DOM -- can leave the sequence nonsensical.
Note
A detailed commentary for this success criterion is not yet available. In the meantime, this page lists related patterns, techniques, and links to the normative sources.
Related Techniques
Specific implementation techniques for meeting this success criterion. This site doesn't include the full text, so follow the links to the original W3C documents.
Sufficient Techniques(7)
- C6: Positioning content based on structural markup(opens in a new tab)waic.jp(opens in a new tab)
- C8: Using CSS letter-spacing to control spacing within a word(opens in a new tab)waic.jp(opens in a new tab)
- C27: Making the DOM order match the visual order(opens in a new tab)waic.jp(opens in a new tab)
- G57: Ordering the content in a meaningful sequence(opens in a new tab)waic.jp(opens in a new tab)
- H34: Using a Unicode right-to-left mark (RLM) or left-to-right mark (LRM) to mix text direction inline(opens in a new tab)waic.jp(opens in a new tab)
- H56: Using the dir attribute on an inline element to resolve problems with nested directional runs(opens in a new tab)waic.jp(opens in a new tab)
- PDF3: Ensuring correct tab and reading order in PDF documents(opens in a new tab)waic.jp(opens in a new tab)
Failures(5)
- F1: Failure of Success Criterion 1.3.2 due to changing the meaning of content by positioning information with CSS(opens in a new tab)waic.jp(opens in a new tab)
- F32: Failure of Success Criterion 1.3.2 due to using white space characters to control spacing within a word(opens in a new tab)waic.jp(opens in a new tab)
- F33: Failure of Success Criterion 1.3.1 and 1.3.2 due to using white space characters to create multiple columns in plain text content(opens in a new tab)waic.jp(opens in a new tab)
- F34: Failure of Success Criterion 1.3.1 and 1.3.2 due to using white space characters to format tables in plain text content(opens in a new tab)waic.jp(opens in a new tab)
- F49: Failure of Success Criterion 1.3.2 due to using an HTML layout table that does not make sense when linearized(opens in a new tab)waic.jp(opens in a new tab)
Normative References
- Success Criterion 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence — WCAG 2.2(opens in a new tab)The normative requirement text.
- Understanding Meaningful Sequence — W3C(opens in a new tab)Official guidance on intent, examples, and techniques.