- Success Criterion 1.3.2
- Conformance level A
Empty Elements Making Screen Readers Announce ‘Blank’ Repeatedly
1.3.2 — Meaningful Sequence
Scenario
Setting
A webinar platform's registration form
What’s wrong
Empty elements or stray whitespace in the code are announced as 'blank' — often several times in a row — adding meaningless stops between real content for screen reader users.
Example
Try this on a webinar platform's registration form: empty elements or stray whitespace in the code are announced as 'blank' — often several times in a row — adding meaningless stops between real content for screen reader users.
Why it matters
Screen-reader and keyboard users who encounter content in DOM order. On a webinar platform's registration form, that means they can't navigate the content by its real structure.
How to test
Read the full page with a screen reader: repeated announcements of 'blank' usually mean empty elements or stray whitespace nodes are in the reading order — inspect the DOM at that point.
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.
Outcome
With the fix in place on a webinar platform's registration form, they navigate the content in a sensible order.
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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