When developing compliant websites, it’s important to know how screen readers scan websites. Like the human eye, they start at the top and work their way down the page, reading each element of a website and the associated content via tag. For this reason, skip links are important for ADA compliance because the first thing on a web page is usually not the main content. Incorporating skip links as one of the first items on your website allow a user to bypass the navigation when using a screen reader and jump right into the bulk of the website content.

Tips to help with compliance may include, Webpage links should make sense when read aloud and place distinguishing information first. Always organize content pages with the appropriate headings. Define landmark roles and use HTML 5 elements (<main>, <nav>, <header>, etc.) appropriately. When using dynamic content, use appropriate values (aria-live=”off” or aria-live) to tell the screen reader how to announce the update.