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5. Skip Nav

Requirement

A “Skip Navigation” solution is present for pages with repeated navigation.

Evaluation Process

Web pages with repetitive navigation must provide a "skip to content" link, allowing keyboard users to bypass the header and access the main content directly. This link should be the first focusable element. While it can be visually hidden by default, it must become visible upon receiving keyboard focus. Activating the link must move the user's focus to the start of the main content area. This functionality is not required on pages lacking a primary navigation block. 

Stanford University homepage with Skipnav exposed.
A skip nav link that becomes visible on focus on the Stanford homepage.

Scoring Guide

  • Pass: There is a skip nav link, it becomes visible on focus, and it correctly targets the unique content on the page.
  • Partial Fail: There is a skip nav link, but the focus shifts to a place on the page that is inappropriate, but still above the body of the page.
  • Fail: There is not a skip nav link that functions as expected.
  • Not Applicable: The pages do not have a main navigation that requires skipping, or this is downloadable software (Mac, Windows, iOS, etc.) rather than a web page.
  • Unknown: This should not be used. 

More Information

More information about skip navigation links is available here:

Relevant WCAG Information

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