*This article is an English translation of a Japanese article.
When using a website, enabling users to identify their current location is essential for providing a smooth and stress-free navigation experience. By clearly indicating where users are, they can avoid confusion and easily find the path to the next step or the information they seek. For users with visual or cognitive impairments, clearly marking the current location directly contributes to improved accessibility.
This article will explore the importance of indicating “current location” in web accessibility and provide detailed implementation methods to enhance user experience.
Why Knowing the Current Location is Important
When users browse a website, being able to understand where they are within the site is crucial for a positive user experience. Without clarity on their current location, certain users may face significant challenges, particularly:
- Visually Impaired Users: Users who rely on screen readers cannot rely on visual cues. They need to be informed about their current page and the hierarchical level of that page through auditory feedback.
- Users with Cognitive Disabilities: For those who may struggle with processing information, knowing their current location can reduce confusion and provide a stress-free navigation experience.
- First-time Visitors: For users unfamiliar with the site’s structure, clearly marking the current location helps them understand the overall site hierarchy and navigate with confidence.
Practical Methods for Clearly Indicating Current Location
There are several important strategies to ensure users can easily identify their current location within a website. Below are effective methods to display current location for an accessible website.
1. Using Breadcrumb Navigation
Breadcrumbs provide a visual cue that shows where the current page fits within the website’s hierarchy. This helps users understand their location and easily navigate back to higher-level pages or previous sections. Breadcrumbs are especially crucial for websites with deep navigation structures.
Example:
<nav aria-label="Breadcrumb">
<ul>
<li><a href="/">Home</a></li>
<li><a href="/category">Category</a></li>
<li>Current Page</li>
</ul>
</nav>
This approach makes it easy for both visual users and those using screen readers to understand their current location within the site.
2. Clear Page Titles
The page title is a basic yet crucial way for users to know which page they are on. Page titles should be included in the HTML <title> tag and should also be visibly clear. Since screen readers announce the page title first, setting appropriate and easy-to-understand titles is essential.
Example:
<title>Product Information - Web Accessibility Site</title>
<h1>Product Information</h1>
The page title should be simple but descriptive enough to instantly convey the content of the page.
3. Highlighting Navigation Menus
In navigation menus, visually highlighting the current page or category is an effective way to show users their current location. This helps users easily identify which section they are in and decide on their next action.
Example:
.current-page {
font-weight: bold;
text-decoration: underline;
}
Applying a visual distinction to the current page or section helps users intuitively understand their location.
4. Proper Focus Indicators
For users who navigate using a keyboard, clear focus indicators are essential to visually confirm which element is currently focused. Proper focus styles for links and buttons ensure that users can understand where they are and where they can go next.
Example:
a:focus, button:focus {
outline: 2px solid #005fcc;
}
Focus indicators guide users through the site, helping them understand their current position and the next action step.
Tools to Check Current Location Accessibility
To ensure that the current location is correctly indicated, using accessibility testing tools is highly recommended. These tools can help identify if users can accurately recognize their location on the website:
-
WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool): WAVE detects accessibility issues related to navigation and suggests improvements.
-
Axe: This tool automates site-wide accessibility testing, helping verify the effectiveness of breadcrumbs and navigation.
-
Keyboard Accessibility Checker: This tool ensures that navigation is fully operable by keyboard and that users can properly perceive their current location. By utilizing these tools, you can verify whether the current location is clear to all users and make any necessary improvements.
Accessibility Guidelines for Current Location
The WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.1 includes criteria related to indicating “current location.” Specifically, 2.4.8 Location requires that information is provided to help users understand their location within a site. Following this guideline ensures that content is organized and easy to navigate for all users.
Additionally, 1.3.1 Info and Relationships emphasizes the need to convey relationships and structure clearly, making the indication of the current location an essential part of compliance with this criterion.
Conclusion
To improve web accessibility, ensuring that users can accurately identify their current location is crucial. By implementing features such as breadcrumb navigation, highlighted menus, clear page titles, and proper focus indicators, you can create a user-friendly website where all users, regardless of ability, can navigate with ease.
Adhering to accessibility standards and designing your site to prevent users from getting lost is an important step toward creating an inclusive web environment. Use these methods to build a more accessible and intuitive website experience for everyone.
We have released the UUU Web Accessibility Widget Tool, designed to make web accessibility easy to implement. This tool helps improve the accessibility of websites quickly and efficiently, even without specialized knowledge.
If you’re interested in enhancing your website’s accessibility, please check out the details. We are here to support you in making your website more user-friendly and accessible to a wider audience.