- Success Criterion 1.3.1
- Conformance level A
- W3C reference F42
Clickable Div Acting as a Link Button With No Real Role
1.3.1 — Info and Relationships
Scenario
Setting
An insurance company's claims form
What’s wrong
Something is made to act like a link or button using script only (a clickable div/span) — it isn't announced as a link/button and often can't be used by keyboard.
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
Tab to the clickable div/span in DevTools: check the Accessibility Tree — if it has no role of link/button and no keyboard handler, it fails.
How to fix
Use a real <a href> or <button> (or add the correct role, tabindex (keyboard-focus setting) and key handling) so it works as a link/button for everyone.
<h2>Shipping Address</h2>A real heading element exposes the section structure to assistive tech; a styled div doesn't.
Outcome
On an insurance company's claims form, this barrier is gone for screen-reader, braille — they no longer have to work around this.
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)
- Technique Related technique (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
- Structural HTML Tags Used Purely for Visual Styling
- Layout-Only Table Wrongly Coded With Real Header Cells
- Tabular Data Placed Inside a Preformatted Text Block