How can I meet the “Consistent Help” accessibility requirement?
Question
Answer
If your website or web app has a help mechanism available on multiple pages, it needs to “occur in the same order relative to other page content,” according to Success Criterion 3.2.6: Consistent Help. This success criterion focuses on the serial order of the page content, and best practice is for the help mechanism to be present in a consistent visual location as well.
When help information comes in a consistent order on the page, users can more easily locate it when they need to. For example, if your contact phone number is the first text in the footer, it must be the first text in the footer on every page where it occurs.
Help mechanisms affected by this criterion include:
- “Human contact details,” such as a phone number or email address;
- “Human contact mechanism,” such as a contact form or live chat that reaches a human operator;
- “Self-help option,” such as a user guide or Frequently Asked Questions page;
- “Fully automated contact mechanism,” such as an automated chat bot.
This success criterion is required for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 A conformance. To learn more about a full WCAG audit, explore Accessible Web's audit services. Also, try our best-in-class online accessibility tools for free!
