Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS)
Certification - Semantic Structure and
Navigation
Firstathingascreenareadersahear:a-aans--Pagea<title>a(alsoathisaisagoodaforaSEO)
Pagea<title>arules:a-aans--
Pagea<title>amustabeapresentaandamustacontainatext.aMustabeaupdatedawhenatheawebaaddr
essachanges.aMustabeaaccurateaandainformative.aIfaaapageaisathearesultaofaaauseraactionaora
scriptedachangeaofacontext,atheatextaofathea<title>aSHOULDadescribeathearesultaorachangea
ofacontextatoatheauser.aShouldabeaconcise.aShouldabeauniqueaifapossible.aUniqueainformatio
nashouldacomeafirst.aTheapagea<title>aSHOULDamatcha(orabeaveryasimilarato)atheatopaheadi
ngainatheamainacontent.
TheaprimaryalanguageaofatheapageaMUSTabeaidentifiedaaccuratelyaonathea<html>aelement.a
-aans--
Ifathealanguageaisanotaspecified,aoraifaitathealanguageadesignationaisainaccurate,aaascreenare
aderawillareadatheadocumentainatheauser'sadefaultalanguage,awhichamayaresultainaaaveryabad
aaccentaifatheapagealanguageadoesn'tamatchatheauser'sadefault.aOranotaunderstandable.
TheaprimaryalanguageaofatheapageaMUSTabeaidentifiedawithaaavalidavalueaonathea<html>aele
ment.a-aans--Usinga2aletteralanguageacodeaoraLCIDastring.
InlinealanguageachangesaMUSTabeaidentifiedawithaaavalidalangaattribute.a-aans--
Identifyaanyachangesaofalanguageawithinatheadocument.aThealangaattributeacanabeaappliedat
oablockalevelaelementsa(<div>,a<h1>,a<p>,a<table>,aetc.)aasawellaasainlineaelementsa(<span
>,a<a>,a<strong>,aetc.).
Example:
<p>WhileainaSpain,amyafriendatriedatoaspeakaSpanish,a
butasheawasn'taveryagood.aEveryoneakeptasayinga
"<spanalang="es">Noacomprendoanadaadealoaqueadices.</span>"</p>
LandmarksaSHOULDabeausedatoadesignateapre-
definedapartsaofathealayouta(<header>,a<nav>,a<main>,a<footer>,aetc.).a-aans--
UseaeitheraHTMLa5alandmarksaoratheiraARIAaequivalentsatoamarkasectionsaofathealayoutainat
headesign,asoathatascreenareaderausersacanaeasilyafindatheirawayaaroundathealayout.
Landmarksaareausedatoadesignateasectionsaofatheaoverallapageadesignaandalayout.aHeadin
gsaareausedatoadesignateasectionsawithinatheacontent.
, AllatextaSHOULDabeacontainedawithinaaalandmarkaregion.a-aans--
Labelsaforaheaders,amains,asections,aarticles,aasides,afooters,aetc.aUsingajusta<div>aisn'taen
ough.
MultipleainstancesaofatheasameatypeaofalandmarkaSHOULDabeadistinguishableabyadifferenta
discerniblealabelsa(aria-labelaoraaria-labelledby).a-aans--Example:a<navaaria-
label="Corporateaandalegalainfo">
AapageaSHOULDaNOTacontainamoreathanaoneainstanceaofaeachaofatheafollowingalandmarks
:abanner,amain,aandacontentinfo.a-aans--
TheaARIAaspecificationastatesathatathealandmarksarole="banner",arole="main",aandarole="c
ontentinfo"aareameantatoabeausedaonlyaonceaperapage.aOtheraARIAalandmarksacanabeaused
amultipleatimes.aInterestingly,atheaHMTLa5aspecificationaallowsamultipleainstancesaofatheaeq
uivalentalandmarks:a<header>,a<main>,aanda<footer>.aTheaofficialarestrictionaisaonlyaonaAR
IAalandmarks.aEvenaso,aitaisaappropriateainamostawebadesignsatoahaveaonlyaoneaeachaofathe
sealandmarks,awhetheratheyaareaspecifiedausingaARIAaoraHTMLa5.
TheatotalanumberaofalandmarksaSHOULDabeaminimizedatoatheaextentaappropriateaforatheac
ontent.a-aans--
Oneaofatheamainapurposesaofalandmarksaisatoaallowablindausersatoaquicklyafindaandanavigate
atoatheaappropriatealandmark,asoayouashouldakeepatheatotalanumberaofalandmarksarelativelya
low.aIfayouadon't,ascreenareaderausersawillahaveatoasortathroughatooamuchaextraainformationa
toafindawhatathey'realookingafor.
LandmarksaSHOULDabeamadeabackwardacompatible.a-aans--
TextathataactsaasaaaheadingavisuallyaorastructurallyaSHOULDabeadesignatedaasaaatrueahead
ingainatheamarkup.a-aans--
Headingsaareaaboutalogicalastructure,anotavisualaeffects.aBigaboldatextamayalookalikeaaaheadi
ngatoavisualausers,abutascreenareadersaignoreatheasizeaandafont-
weightaofatheatext,asoablindausersacannotaknowaaaphraseaisaaaheadingaunlessaitaisamarkedau
painatheaHTMLacodeaasasuch,ausinga<h1>,a<h2>,a<h3>,a<h4>,a<h5>,aora<h6>.
TextathatadoesanotaactaasaaaheadingavisuallyaorastructurallyaSHOULDaNOTabeamarkedaasaaa
heading.a-aans--Ifayouawantatoacreateabig,aboldatextaforanon-
headingatext,auseastylesatoaachieveathataeffect.aIfayouauseaheadingamarkupa(<h1>,a<h2>,aet
c.)aforanon-
headingatext,ayouawillaconfuseascreenareaderausersabyacreatingaanainaccurateastructuralaou
tlineaofatheapageacontents.
HeadingsaMUSTabeaaccurateaandainformative.a-aans--
Headingsashouldabeadescriptiveaenoughatoagiveausersaaagoodasenseaofatheacontentatheyawi
llafindawithinathatasectionaofatheadocument.aWhenascreenareaderausersapullaupathealistaofahe
adings,atheyawillahearathealevelaofatheaheading,aplusatheatextawithinatheaheading,aincludingaa
ltatextaforaanyaimagesainsideatheaheading.
Certification - Semantic Structure and
Navigation
Firstathingascreenareadersahear:a-aans--Pagea<title>a(alsoathisaisagoodaforaSEO)
Pagea<title>arules:a-aans--
Pagea<title>amustabeapresentaandamustacontainatext.aMustabeaupdatedawhenatheawebaaddr
essachanges.aMustabeaaccurateaandainformative.aIfaaapageaisathearesultaofaaauseraactionaora
scriptedachangeaofacontext,atheatextaofathea<title>aSHOULDadescribeathearesultaorachangea
ofacontextatoatheauser.aShouldabeaconcise.aShouldabeauniqueaifapossible.aUniqueainformatio
nashouldacomeafirst.aTheapagea<title>aSHOULDamatcha(orabeaveryasimilarato)atheatopaheadi
ngainatheamainacontent.
TheaprimaryalanguageaofatheapageaMUSTabeaidentifiedaaccuratelyaonathea<html>aelement.a
-aans--
Ifathealanguageaisanotaspecified,aoraifaitathealanguageadesignationaisainaccurate,aaascreenare
aderawillareadatheadocumentainatheauser'sadefaultalanguage,awhichamayaresultainaaaveryabad
aaccentaifatheapagealanguageadoesn'tamatchatheauser'sadefault.aOranotaunderstandable.
TheaprimaryalanguageaofatheapageaMUSTabeaidentifiedawithaaavalidavalueaonathea<html>aele
ment.a-aans--Usinga2aletteralanguageacodeaoraLCIDastring.
InlinealanguageachangesaMUSTabeaidentifiedawithaaavalidalangaattribute.a-aans--
Identifyaanyachangesaofalanguageawithinatheadocument.aThealangaattributeacanabeaappliedat
oablockalevelaelementsa(<div>,a<h1>,a<p>,a<table>,aetc.)aasawellaasainlineaelementsa(<span
>,a<a>,a<strong>,aetc.).
Example:
<p>WhileainaSpain,amyafriendatriedatoaspeakaSpanish,a
butasheawasn'taveryagood.aEveryoneakeptasayinga
"<spanalang="es">Noacomprendoanadaadealoaqueadices.</span>"</p>
LandmarksaSHOULDabeausedatoadesignateapre-
definedapartsaofathealayouta(<header>,a<nav>,a<main>,a<footer>,aetc.).a-aans--
UseaeitheraHTMLa5alandmarksaoratheiraARIAaequivalentsatoamarkasectionsaofathealayoutainat
headesign,asoathatascreenareaderausersacanaeasilyafindatheirawayaaroundathealayout.
Landmarksaareausedatoadesignateasectionsaofatheaoverallapageadesignaandalayout.aHeadin
gsaareausedatoadesignateasectionsawithinatheacontent.
, AllatextaSHOULDabeacontainedawithinaaalandmarkaregion.a-aans--
Labelsaforaheaders,amains,asections,aarticles,aasides,afooters,aetc.aUsingajusta<div>aisn'taen
ough.
MultipleainstancesaofatheasameatypeaofalandmarkaSHOULDabeadistinguishableabyadifferenta
discerniblealabelsa(aria-labelaoraaria-labelledby).a-aans--Example:a<navaaria-
label="Corporateaandalegalainfo">
AapageaSHOULDaNOTacontainamoreathanaoneainstanceaofaeachaofatheafollowingalandmarks
:abanner,amain,aandacontentinfo.a-aans--
TheaARIAaspecificationastatesathatathealandmarksarole="banner",arole="main",aandarole="c
ontentinfo"aareameantatoabeausedaonlyaonceaperapage.aOtheraARIAalandmarksacanabeaused
amultipleatimes.aInterestingly,atheaHMTLa5aspecificationaallowsamultipleainstancesaofatheaeq
uivalentalandmarks:a<header>,a<main>,aanda<footer>.aTheaofficialarestrictionaisaonlyaonaAR
IAalandmarks.aEvenaso,aitaisaappropriateainamostawebadesignsatoahaveaonlyaoneaeachaofathe
sealandmarks,awhetheratheyaareaspecifiedausingaARIAaoraHTMLa5.
TheatotalanumberaofalandmarksaSHOULDabeaminimizedatoatheaextentaappropriateaforatheac
ontent.a-aans--
Oneaofatheamainapurposesaofalandmarksaisatoaallowablindausersatoaquicklyafindaandanavigate
atoatheaappropriatealandmark,asoayouashouldakeepatheatotalanumberaofalandmarksarelativelya
low.aIfayouadon't,ascreenareaderausersawillahaveatoasortathroughatooamuchaextraainformationa
toafindawhatathey'realookingafor.
LandmarksaSHOULDabeamadeabackwardacompatible.a-aans--
TextathataactsaasaaaheadingavisuallyaorastructurallyaSHOULDabeadesignatedaasaaatrueahead
ingainatheamarkup.a-aans--
Headingsaareaaboutalogicalastructure,anotavisualaeffects.aBigaboldatextamayalookalikeaaaheadi
ngatoavisualausers,abutascreenareadersaignoreatheasizeaandafont-
weightaofatheatext,asoablindausersacannotaknowaaaphraseaisaaaheadingaunlessaitaisamarkedau
painatheaHTMLacodeaasasuch,ausinga<h1>,a<h2>,a<h3>,a<h4>,a<h5>,aora<h6>.
TextathatadoesanotaactaasaaaheadingavisuallyaorastructurallyaSHOULDaNOTabeamarkedaasaaa
heading.a-aans--Ifayouawantatoacreateabig,aboldatextaforanon-
headingatext,auseastylesatoaachieveathataeffect.aIfayouauseaheadingamarkupa(<h1>,a<h2>,aet
c.)aforanon-
headingatext,ayouawillaconfuseascreenareaderausersabyacreatingaanainaccurateastructuralaou
tlineaofatheapageacontents.
HeadingsaMUSTabeaaccurateaandainformative.a-aans--
Headingsashouldabeadescriptiveaenoughatoagiveausersaaagoodasenseaofatheacontentatheyawi
llafindawithinathatasectionaofatheadocument.aWhenascreenareaderausersapullaupathealistaofahe
adings,atheyawillahearathealevelaofatheaheading,aplusatheatextawithinatheaheading,aincludingaa
ltatextaforaanyaimagesainsideatheaheading.
