A page may contain several navigation landmarks: primary navigation, lessons, breadcrumbs, and more. Clear labels help people tell the regions apart. The important question is always where the link leads and whether the person reading the page can predict it.
What You Need to Know
Use a unique accessible label when several nav elements exist. Choose labels based on purpose rather than generic numbers like Navigation 1.
Example: See It in Action
Take a look at this small piece of HTML. You can use it in a practice document and change the text to make it your own.
This is a short HTML fragment. To try it as a webpage, put it inside the body element of a complete HTML document.
<nav aria-label="Main navigation"><a href="index.html">Home</a>
</nav>
<nav aria-label="Lesson pages"><a href="lesson-1.html">Lesson 1</a>
</nav>
<nav aria-label="Breadcrumb"><a href="lessons.html">Lessons</a>
</nav>Let’s Understand the Example
- An a element becomes a working link when it has an href. Its visible text should tell readers where they will go.
- Nav identifies a major collection of navigation links.
- Aria-label supplies an accessible name when a visible label is unavailable or inadequate.
- Href contains the destination of a link. A value starting with # points to an id on the same page.
The first example link points to index.html. Check whether that destination exists relative to the document. A link changes where readers go; it does not perform an action such as saving a form.
What Should You See?
You should see a link named “Home”. Selecting it leads to index.html when that destination exists. Try it with the mouse and the keyboard.
Imagine this link is read out of context. Would its text still explain the destination? Rename unclear links before trying to make them look nicer with CSS.
Try It Yourself
- Give each nav region in the example a distinct purpose-based label.
- Save your changes, open or refresh the page, and compare the result with the original example.
- Tell a friend what your change did. If you are not sure, undo it, refresh the page, and compare.
Common Beginner Mistakes
- Using the same aria-label on several navigation regions that do different jobs.
- Avoid dead links, empty href values and clickable-looking text without a real destination.
Key Takeaways
- A page may contain several navigation landmarks: primary navigation, lessons, breadcrumbs, and more.
- An a element becomes a working link when it has an href. Its visible text should tell readers where they will go.
- Use a unique accessible label when several nav elements exist. Choose labels based on purpose rather than generic numbers like Navigation 1.