Consistency

Guideline

Users have consistent and alternative methods for navigation.

Intent

The intent of this guideline is to help users locate, recognize, and navigate content by providing consistent navigation and, where appropriate, alternative ways to navigate. Consistent structure, navigation order, and navigation labels allow users to apply what they have learned from one page or view to another, reducing the effort required to find information and complete tasks.

People who use screen magnifiers or have a limited field of view benefit from repeated components appearing in the same relative order because they can quickly locate navigation and other frequently used content.

People with cognitive or learning disabilities benefit from consistent organization and terminology because they do not need to repeatedly learn or interpret different layouts or labels for the same functionality.

User needs

As a person with a cognitive or learning disability, I want to be able to easily cancel a subscription from a predictable location.
As a person with a cognitive or learning disability, I need interfaces and content to be organized in familiar and predictable ways.
As a person who is blind or has low vision, or a motor, cognitive or learning disability, I need one or more easy ways to find content throughout a website or application.
As a person with a cognitive or learning disability, I need what I learn on one screen about the purpose of controls and how content is structured in a website or application to apply to other screens in the same section of the website or application.
As a person with low vision, or a cognitive or learning disability, I need non-interactive elements, such as notification banners and typography, to be presented consistently throughout a website or application.
As a person who is blind, or who has low vision, or a motor, cognitive, or learning disability, I need the organization of content to remain consistent so that the mental model I have built continues to be useful.
As a person who is blind, or who has low vision, or a motor, cognitive, or learning disability, I need the order of content and interactions to remain consistent throughout my session so that I can rely on my understanding of how to find and interact with the content.

Provisions under this guideline

Consistent structural order (supplemental) developing
Consistent navigation order (supplemental) developing
Consistent navigation labels (supplemental) developing

Key Terms

method: detailed information, either technology-specific or technology-agnostic, on ways to satisfy the requirement
requirement: result of practices that reduce or eliminate barriers that people with disabilities experience