ACT Rule cf77f2 · composite · proposed
Bypass Blocks of Repeated Content
Every page repeats a header and a navigation menu, and a screen reader user meets them again on every single page of the site. This composite rule asks whether there is a way past them. It accepts four. A skip link, a landmark, a heading on the main content, or a menu that collapses.
A tool can find the places this applies and then hand you the decision. The rule is proposed, so it has not yet been implemented in full by a tool and reviewed by a W3C working group, and the wording can still change.
What passing this rule proves
When this rule fails, 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks is not satisfied, and that half is certain. When it passes, W3C's own outcome mapping says the criterion still needs further testing. So a green result here is evidence that one specific thing is not broken, and it is the answer W3C gives on 59 of its 87 live rules.
The four rules underneath decide nothing on their own, which is why W3C combines them here. W3C also notes that whatever mechanism you provide has itself to meet every Level A criterion, and none of that is checked. A skip link that never becomes visible when it takes focus is the classic case. Press tab once on your own home page and you will know.
The criteria this rule is a test for
These are the criteria the rule names as its own conformance requirement. Each one is a far bigger question than this rule asks, and our page for it sets out what the whole criterion covers.
- 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks Level A
The rules this one combines
A composite rule runs no test of its own. It takes the outcomes of the atomic rules below and turns them into one answer, which is how W3C handles a criterion that can be met in more than one way. Not one of them maps to this criterion on its own.
- Document has heading for non-repeated content Nothing implements this yet
- Document has a landmark with non-repeated content A tool can check this
- Block of repeated content is collapsible Nothing implements this yet
- Document has an instrument to move focus to non-repeated content Nothing implements this yet
The normative rule text lives at W3C
What the rule applies to, and exactly what it expects, is published by W3C and can change. We link to it rather than restate it, so nothing here can quietly fall out of date against the source. Read rule cf77f2 at W3C.
Users need a way to skip past repeated content
A navigation block that repeats on every page is a small cost with a mouse and a large one without. Tabbing through forty links to reach the article on every page is the experience it creates.
Several answers work. A skip link, real landmarks, or a heading that starts the main content each give a way through.
Skip links that are hidden from everyone rather than only visually never appear on focus. No one can use them because they are completely invisible.
Fixes that satisfy it
If this rule fails on your site, these are the techniques that put it right.
All 87 ACT rules are grouped by the criteria they test, and 24 of them decide nothing about WCAG on their own. Run a free scan to see which of these your own pages trip.