- Success Criterion 1.3.2
- Conformance level A
Prices or Labels Positioned Visually Near the Wrong Product in Code
1.3.2 — Meaningful Sequence
Scenario
Setting
A photo-sharing app's upload screen
What’s wrong
Absolutely positioned prices/labels visually adjacent to products but located elsewhere in page code (DOM).
Example
.step-2 { order: 1; } .step-1 { order: 2; } /* visual order ≠ DOM order */Why it matters
Screen-reader and keyboard users who encounter content in DOM order.
How to test
Disable CSS around prices/labels near products: if they're absolutely positioned, check whether their DOM position matches their visual adjacency to the product.
How to fix
The screen reader must read content in an order matching the visual/logical order, item by item — nothing skipped, merged, fragmented, or added.
<!-- DOM order matches the order the CSS makes visible: step-1, then step-2 -->When CSS reorders content visually, the underlying DOM order must still match, or the reading order breaks.
Outcome
On a photo-sharing app's upload screen, this barrier is gone for screen-reader and keyboard users who encounter content in DOM order — they reach the same outcome without extra effort.
Who is affected
Screen-reader and keyboard users who encounter content in DOM order.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
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