HIGHWCAG 1.3.1 A
No Landmark Regions
The interface is composed of generic containers without nav/main/banner/contentinfo regions.
Try It Yourself
Demo warning
When structure is missing, assistive users lose fast navigation shortcuts and scanability.
Review the simulated landmark rotor to see how empty structure forces linear exploration.
Page composition (broken)
- <div class="top">...</div>
- <div class="left-rail">...</div>
- <div class="page">...</div>
- <div class="bottom">...</div>
Landmark rotor
No landmarks available.
User must read line-by-line to find primary content.
Manual Testing Protocol
Follow this sequence to reproduce the failure consistently and verify the fix with the same workflow.
1. Setup
- Open SR simulation and move to page start.
- Prepare to navigate via structural shortcuts only.
2. Reproduction Steps
- Attempt landmark-based navigation (main, nav, footer equivalents).
- Try jumping directly to content without linear traversal.
- Measure how many focus moves are needed before meaningful content starts.
3. Expected Failure Signals
- No landmark regions are exposed for quick navigation.
- User must scan long navigation blocks repeatedly.
- Page orientation is slower and more cognitively demanding.
4. Fix Verification
- Page exposes semantic landmarks: header, nav, main, footer as appropriate.
- Landmarks have unique labels when multiple regions share role.
- Screen reader landmark list provides predictable navigation entry points.
Evidence Capture Checklist
- Record the exact user goal that fails (for example: submit form, complete checkout, navigate menu).
- Capture screen recording + keyboard path from first interaction to failure state.
- Map failure to WCAG 1.3.1 (Level A) and affected user groups.
- Document business impact: conversion loss, support burden, legal/compliance risk, or trust damage.
The Impact
What Happens
- Users must traverse content linearly
- Quick jumps to main content are impossible
- Repeated navigation becomes exhausting
Who Gets Hurt
Screen reader users
Keyboard users
Users relying on structural navigation
The Broken Code
<div class="header">...</div>
<div class="menu">...</div>
<div class="content">...</div>
<div class="footer">...</div>
<!-- No semantic landmarks -->WCAG 1.3.1: Reference
"Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined."
Level A - Semantics make large pages navigable. Without them, navigation speed collapses.
Related High Issues
Explore neighboring failures in the same severity band.