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Text requirements for web

Find text requirements for testing web experiences.

Heading structure (TXT-1)

Headings and labels (TXT-1-1)

Headings and labels must accurately describe their content.

How to test

Tool: Accessibility Insights

  1. Reveal headings via Accessibility Insights > Ad hoc tools>Accessible Names.
  2. View all headings and labels on the page.
  3. Confirm that the page headings and labels accurately describe their content.

Test outcomes

  • Pass: Headings and labels are used and they accurately describe their content.

  • Fail: Headings and labels are not used or they do not accurately describe their content.

  • NA: There is not sufficient content to warrant the use of headings or labels.

Related WCAG criteria

WCAG 2.2 AA - 2.4.6 Headings and Labels

Use a single descriptive H1 (TXT-1-2)

Each page must have only one H1 which is descriptive of the overall page topic/purpose. The H1 and the page title should be similar and consistent.

How to test

Tool: Accessibility Insights

  1. Reveal headings via Accessibility Insights > Ad hoc tools > Headings.
  2. View all headings and confirm there is a single H1 on the page.
  3. Confirm that the H1 is descriptive of the overall page topic/purpose.
  4. Confirm that the H1 and page title are similar and consistent.

Test outcomes

  • Pass: There is only one H1 level heading present and it is descriptive of the page topic/purpose and similar to the page title.

  • Fail: There are two or more H1 level headings present or the H1 is not descriptive of the page topic/purpose or not similar to the page title.

Related WCAG criteria

WCAG 2.2 A - 1.3.1 Info and Relationships

Sequential headings (TXT-1-3)

Headings must be implemented sequentially in order without skipping levels. (for example: Heading 1, then Heading 2, then Heading 3 and so on). Headings of the same level may be repeated (for example: H2, H2, H2, etc.).

How to test

Tool: Accessibility Insights

  1. Reveal headings via Accessibility Insights > Ad hoc tools > Headings.
  2. View all headings and confirm that headings occur in sequential order without skipping levels. (for example: Heading 1, then Heading 2, then Heading 3 and so on, no skipping numbers).

Test outcomes

  • Pass: Headings descend in single increments with no skipping.

  • Fail: Headings do not descend in single increments and levels are skipped.

Related WCAG criteria

WCAG 2.2 A - 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence

Semantic markup (TXT-2)

Group items with lists (TXT-2-1)

Groups of items (for example: a navigation menu or group of tabs) must be marked up as a list.

How to test

Tool: Browser Dev Tools (F12)

  1. Locate any text content that is presented in a list format such as bulleted or numbered lists.
  2. Locate any groups of items that should be marked up as lists (for example: a navigation menu or group of tabs).
  3. Use the browser inspect feature to examine the HTML for these list components and confirm that they are properly marked up as lists.

Test outcomes

  • Pass: All groups of items are marked as lists.

  • Fail: All groups of items are not marked as lists.

  • NA: No groups of items are present.

Related WCAG criteria

WCAG 2.2 A - 1.3.1 Info and Relationships

Logical order (TXT-3)

Code order = logical content order (TXT-3-1)

The logical order of content must be present in the code order, allowing for successful use of the content when linearized and/or without CSS.

How to test

Tool: Web Accessibility Evaluation Toolbar (WAVE)

  1. Open the WAVE tool with the page you are testing open in your browser.
  2. Use the toggle switch to ‘Disable styles’.
  3. Confirm that the logical order of content is present in the code order.

Test outcomes

  • Pass: The logical order of the content is followed.

  • Fail: The logical order of the content is not followed.

Related WCAG criteria

WCAG 2.2 A - 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence

Non-sensory instructions (TXT-4)

Instructions don’t rely on sensory cues (TXT-4-1)

Instructions must never refer solely to sensory cues such as size, shape, color, sound, or spatial directions.

Note: When instructions refer to an interactive element, use the programmatic name of the element.

How to test

Tool: Visual inspection

  1. Review any instruction text (on-screen and screen reader only).
  2. Confirm that Instructions and interactions never refer solely to sensory cues such as size, shape, color, sound, or spatial directions.

Test outcomes

  • Pass: Instructions and interactions never refer solely to sensory cues such as size, shape, color, sound, or spatial directions.

  • Fail: Instructions and interactions refer solely to sensory cues such as size, shape, color, sound, or spatial directions.

  • NA: No instructions are present.

Related WCAG criteria

WCAG 2.2 A - 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics

Tables (TXT-5)

No layout tables (TXT-5-1)

Tables must not be used for layout purposes. Layout tables are not a direct WCAG 2.2 AA failure, however when a table is linearized it can complicate or confuse the linear order of the content (See WCAG F49 for details).

How to test

Tool: ANDI

  1. Run the ANDI tool on the page.
  2. Locate any table elements identified by ANDI on the page.
  3. Confirm that none of the tables are used for layout purposes.

Test outcomes

  • Pass: Tables are not used for layout positioning; CSS is used instead.

  • Fail: One or more layout table(s) is used.

Related WCAG criteria

WCAG 2.2 A - 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence

Markup tables (TXT-5-2)

All data tables must use THs and every TH must have scope=“col” or “row” set unless any implied relationships would be untrue. In that case, headers= must be used to hard code how headers are read to users.

How to test

Tool: ANDI

  1. Run the ANDI tool on the page.
  2. Locate any table elements identified by ANDI on the page.
  3. Confirm that elements are used as appropriate and every element has scope as appropriate. If present, confirm that headers point to the correct elements’ IDs.

Test outcomes

  • Pass: Tables have correct elements, elements, and scope applied appropriately.

  • Fail: One or more tables does not have correct elements, elements, and scope applied appropriately.

  • NA: No tables are present.

Related WCAG criteria

WCAG 2.2 A - 1.3.1 Info and Relationships

Identify tables (TXT-5-3)

Data tables must be identified for screen readers by including the “title” of the table in its element, for example: “Transaction History for x2304”.

Note: The caption may be hidden visually with CSS.

How to test

Tool: Screen reader

Bring up the list of tables (or cycle through each if a list is not available) with each supported screen reader and confirm that each table is identified.

Test outcomes

  • Pass: All tables have titles that are read by the screen reader.

  • Fail: One or more tables does not have a title that is read by the screen reader.

  • NA: No tables are present.

Related WCAG criteria

WCAG 2.2 A - 1.3.1 Info and Relationships

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