• Success Criterion 3.2.3
  • Conformance level AA

Footer Link Groups Ordered Differently Across Page Templates

3.2.3 — Consistent Navigation

Scenario

Setting

A fashion e-commerce site's checkout page

What’s wrong

Footer link groups ordered differently across templates.

Example 

<!-- Product page footer -->
<footer><section>Shipping</section><section>Returns</section><section>Help</section></footer>

<!-- Checkout footer -->
<footer><section>Help</section><section>Shipping</section><section>Returns</section></footer>

Why it matters

A shopper who found the Returns policy in the footer's second group on the product page can't find it in the same position at checkout, right when return terms matter most.

How to test

Compare footer link groupings across different page templates: differing order across templates fails.

How to fix

Share one footer partial across all templates instead of letting each page define its own order.

<!-- Identical footer template on every page, including checkout -->
<footer><section>Shipping</section><section>Returns</section><section>Help</section></footer>

Outcome

A shopper finds the Returns section in the same footer position on every page, including checkout.

Who is affected

Screen reader users who explore footers by landmark order lose the mental map they built on earlier pages.

Learn more

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