Navigation Bar Rules

HTML Markup Details

ul element and other container elements

The ul element is the preferred navigation bar container element.

Other container elements that are identified as navigation bars include nested table elements that contain mostly links and map elements that contain area elements. These containers are not as accessible or interoperable as ul element.

li and a elements

The li element should be used as the container for individual a elements in ul element navigation bar.

h2-h6 elements

Heading elements (h2-h6) should provide descriptive labels for a collection of links for page and site navigation; the h2 element is preferred for most navigation bars.

The heading should immediately precede the navigation bar container element.

Heading elements can be hidden in a graphical rendering by using CSS absolute positioning.

Accessibility Evaluation Rules

Navigation Bar Evaluation Rules

no.	FAE 2007	FAE 2008	Description
1	N/A	Pass/Fail	h2 or other heading element must immediately precede each container element that appears to be a navigation bar. Container elements that are considered navigation bars are: ul and ol elements that contain li elements that are mostly links. Nested table element whose table cells are mostly links. map element that contains area elements. Implementation Notes: FAE will consider only those container elements that appear before the last h1 element in a web resource for the purpose of evaluation.
2	Pass/Fail	Pass/Warning	Each area element should have a redundant text link (a element) with href values matching the href values of the area elements.
3	N/A	Pass/Check	Most web pages should contain at least one navigation bar.
4	Pass/Fail	N/A	Each ul and ol element that contain li elements that are mostly links must be immediately preceded by a heading element.

FAE Rule Implemetation

FAE 2007

The Illinois Functional Accessibility Evaluator (FAE) currently implements FAE 2007 rules.

The Illinois Firefox Accessibility Extension currently implements these rules.

FAE 2008

The FAE 2008 rules are designed to optimize the rules for implementation of Section 508, W3C User Agent Accessibility Guidelines and Illinois Information technology Accessibility Act requirements and are based on the requirements of these standards and experience with the problems of FAE 2007.

Illinois Functional Accessibility Evaluator Implementation of FAE 2008 rules is currently under development.

The Illinois Firefox Accessibility Extension currently implements some of these rules.