MEDIUMWCAG 2.4.1 A
No Skip Link
Pages with long repeated menus provide no keyboard shortcut to jump directly to main content.
Try It Yourself
Demo warning
Without skip links, keyboard users pay a navigation tax on every page load.
Start tabbing from the top and count how many key presses are needed before reaching main content.
Simulate repeated navigation before main content is reachable.
Tab presses: 0 / 28 to reach main content
Still in repeated navigation links (28 more tabs).
Manual Testing Protocol
Follow this sequence to reproduce the failure consistently and verify the fix with the same workflow.
1. Setup
- Place focus at the top of page before navigation links.
- Avoid mouse clicks during the run.
2. Reproduction Steps
- Press Tab repeatedly until main content is reached.
- Count total key presses required from page start.
- Repeat once more to validate consistency.
3. Expected Failure Signals
- User must traverse many repeated links before reaching core content.
- Navigation overhead repeats on every page load.
- Task speed drops due to unnecessary keypresses.
4. Fix Verification
- A visible-on-focus skip link appears as first interactive element.
- Skip action moves focus directly to main content container.
- Skip target is present and consistently available on all templates.
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 2.4.1 (Level A) and affected user groups.
- Document business impact: conversion loss, support burden, legal/compliance risk, or trust damage.
The Impact
What Happens
- Dozens of extra key presses per page
- Fatigue accumulates across sessions
- Task flow slows dramatically
Who Gets Hurt
Keyboard users
Users with repetitive strain risk
Screen reader users with keyboard navigation
The Broken Code
<header>
<!-- 40+ links -->
</header>
<main id="main">...</main>
<!-- No "Skip to main content" link -->WCAG 2.4.1: Reference
"A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple Web pages."
Level A - Skip links save hundreds of unnecessary keystrokes in real workflows.
Related Medium Issues
Explore neighboring failures in the same severity band.