Success Criterion 1.3.2
Conformance level A

Hidden or Off-Screen Content Left in the Reading Order

1.3.2 — Meaningful Sequence

Scenario

Setting

A food-delivery app's order-tracking screen

What’s wrong

Visually hidden or off-screen content (inactive carousel slides, skeleton states, stale views) left in the reading order, so the announced sequence diverges from the visible one.

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

Read the full page with a screen reader without looking at the screen: if off-screen/hidden content (inactive carousel slides, skeleton loaders, stale views) gets read as if visible, it fails.

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 food-delivery app's order-tracking 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