Offer a layout without horizontal scrolling
G206 gives the reader a way to switch to a layout that does not need horizontal scrolling to read a line of text. A single-column view, usually. W3C lists it as sufficient at both 1.4.10 Reflow, which is Level AA, and the Level AAA visual presentation rule, so this one genuinely belongs to the AA rule rather than being borrowed from above it. There is a second passing outcome that matters for anyone with wide data. The content does not have to fit on one screen. W3C's own example is a financial spreadsheet where January and September are nowhere near each other, and it passes because each column reads without further sideways scrolling. So the test is whether a line of text needs horizontal scrolling, not whether the whole table fits.
How we find it in an audit
Our reviewers use the switch at a narrow viewport and then read a line of text in the result. A toggle that changes the styling and still leaves lines running off the edge fails the test regardless of how much better it looks. We check whether the choice persists as well, which is our own addition rather than part of W3C's procedure.
How affected users experience it
Reading at 400 percent zoom on a dashboard locked to a 1200 pixel grid means scrolling sideways for every single line, then back to the left margin to find the next one. Nobody sustains that for long. A single-column view turns the same content into something that can be read straight down, which is how reading is supposed to work.
Passes vs. fails
Passes
A 'Single column' toggle stacks the cards full width, no line of text needs sideways scrolling, and the preference holds for the session.
Fails
A data dashboard locked to a 1200-pixel grid at every viewport, so reading any card at 400 percent zoom means scrolling sideways for every line.
How this gets tested
The W3C publishes test rules that define what a checker looks for here.
- Meta viewport allows for zoomA tool can check this
Other ways to satisfy this rule
21 guides on this site are filed under 1.4.8 Visual Presentation. W3C lists this one as sufficient for that rule on its own. Implement it correctly, in a way your readers' software actually supports, and the rule is met.
- C12sufficientSize text in percent so it scales
- C13sufficientUse named font sizes that respect user defaults
- C14sufficientSize text in em units, not pixels
- C19sufficientAlign text left or right, never justified
- C20sufficientCap line length with relative column widths
- C21sufficientGive paragraphs breathing room with line spacing
This guide is our interpretation of W3C technique G206: Providing options within the content to switch to a layout that does not require the user to scroll horizontally to read a line of text. W3C publishes its techniques as guidance rather than as the standard, and says so on every one of them. The success criterion is what conformance is measured against, and a technique is one documented way to meet it.