Design Consistency

ISSUE:

The use of consistent design strategies for all related documents will make navigation easier for everyone. A consistent look and feel, across all pages of a site, aids visitors in identifying ownership of a page. Once you have designed an accessible and effective page, use it as a template for all other pages of the site.

Navigation bars are often the first thing a visitor encounters on a Web page. Each time a page loads, screen-reader users may have to listen to all of the navigational controls before hearing the main content of the page. Similarly, visitors who have difficulty controlling a pointing device and visitors with information tracking impairments may have difficulty scrolling the main content of the page into view.

STANDARD:

• Use a consistent look and navigational scheme for all pages of a site.



• A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation controls and jump to the main content of a page.

EXAMPLE:

The following HTML code is used to create the "Skip to Main Content" option at the top of this page.

<a href="#main"><img src="http://cap.umn.edu/Images/hdr-m.gif" alt="Gold University of Minnesota M. Skip to main content." width="50" height="30" border="0"></a>

<a name="main">Beginning of page content</a>