- Success Criterion 1.3.1
- Conformance level A
List Items Placed Outside Their Parent List Element
1.3.1 — Info and Relationships
Scenario
Setting
An online spreadsheet's toolbar
What’s wrong
Malformed list structure: list items (li) outside list code (ul/ol), or lists containing non-li children, breaking item enumeration.
Example
<div class="heading">Shipping Address</div>Why it matters
Screen-reader, braille, and reading-tool users who depend on coded structure rather than visual layout.
How to test
Inspect a list in DevTools: li elements must be direct children of ul/ol, and only li belongs inside — other tags or wrong nesting break item announcement.
How to fix
Nest list items (li) directly inside list code (ul/ol) and keep non-item elements out of the list.
<h2>Shipping Address</h2>A real heading element exposes the section structure to assistive tech; a styled div doesn't.
Outcome
On an online spreadsheet's toolbar, this barrier is gone for screen-reader, braille — they get the same result as anyone else here.
Who is affected
Screen-reader, braille, and reading-tool users who depend on coded structure rather than visual layout.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Text Styled to Look Like a Heading Instead of Coded as One
- Text Columns Faked With Spaces Instead of Real Table Markup
- Table Layout Faked With Spaces Instead of Real Table Code
- Clickable Div Acting as a Link Button With No Real Role
- Structural HTML Tags Used Purely for Visual Styling
- Layout-Only Table Wrongly Coded With Real Header Cells