Verify aria-flowto supports reading order

Rule ID Layout 3
Definition Verify that the use of the aria-flowto attribute supports the intended reading order of content on the page.
Purpose
  • The reading order of content on the page can, in some cases, be made easier to understand by users of assistive technology with the use of aria-flowto.
  • By default the reading order used by assisitive technologies is the same as the DOM ordering of content.
  • When the DOM order of content is interspersed with unrelated content, aria-flowto can be used to keep related content together. For example a multi-column newspaper where an article spans several columns, aria-flowto can be used to make it look like one continuous column to assistive technology.
  • The aria-flowto reorganizes the content by changing the order of how the content is represented in accessibility Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) used by operating systems to communicate to screen readers.
Mappings
  • HTML4 Legacy Techniques (Required)
  • HTML5 and ARIA Techniques (Required)
WCAG Success Criteria

1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A, Primary Success Criterion)

Rule Category Styling/Content
Scope Element
Target Resources Elements with aria-flowto attribute
Techniques
  • The aria-flowto attribute value contains a sequence of idrefs that changes the reading order of content on the page as rendered by assistive technologies.
  • Since aria-flowto changes reading order to assistive technologies, it is important to read the page with a screen reader to verify the content affected by the aria-flowto places related information in the proper sequence.
Informational Links