NAV4. Difficulty navigating within an item

Definition

A situation that arises from difficulty skimming through information in an open item (e.g., a scanned document) (text with tooltip) A digital document that is created by using a scanner or similar device to capture the text, graphics, and images of a physical document, converting them into a file format such as PDF, JPEG, or PNG.  due to inadequate navigation aids (text with tooltip) A feature that offers essential support for screen-reader users to understand the structure of a web document.  and complex structure.

Factors Leading to the Situation

  • Complex information presentation: illogical organization of information
  • Inadequate features/functions: insufficient navigation features
  • Lack of features/functions/items/information: lack of shortcuts (text with tooltip) A gesture that enhances accessibility by enabling BVI users to quickly access assistive tools and features.  to the desired content

Guidelines

  1. Ensure efficient and effective navigation to a specific section within an item.
  2. Provide alternative mechanisms to navigate through tabulated content.
  3. Provide an overview of lengthy and complicated items with links to the sections.

Rationale for Suggesting the above Guidelines

DL (text with tooltip) The acronym for digital library (DL) users often need to locate or find specific information within an item. This becomes challenging when there is a lack of structured navigation aids and a shortcut (text with tooltip) A gesture that enhances accessibility by enabling BVI users to quickly access assistive tools and features. to the desired section with an item in a DL. The guidelines provide BVI (text with tooltip) The acronym for Blind and Visually Impaired. It refers to BVI users who rely on screen readers to interact with digital libraries (DLs).  users with efficient and structured navigation options to assist in navigating within an item. With such navigational options, BVI users can locate or find the specific information they need within an item in a DL.

Techniques and Methods to Comply with a Specific Design Guideline

1.1. Use headings and Document Map (text with tooltip) A tool that enables jumping to a specific page within an item.  to allow users to jump directly to relevant sections.
1.2. Offer a “Jump to” or “Find in document” feature.
2.1. Use Semantic HTML (text with tooltip) A set of elements that clearly describe their purpose and content to improve accessibility and provide meaningful structure to web pages.  and ARIA landmarks (text with tooltip) A semantic HTML that identifies the organization and structure of a webpage by categorizing and labeling its regions. , especially for contents in table forms.
3.1. Include a brief description of an item’s content or structure.

Features Suggested for Users

1.1.1. “Headings”/ “ Document map (text with tooltip) A tool that enables jumping to a specific page within an item. ”
1.2.1. “Jump to”/ “Find in document” (See example 1.2.1.a1., 1.2.1.a2. and 1.2.1.a3.)
2.1.1. “Navigation within tables” (See example 2.1.1.a.)
3.1.1. Brief item description 

Examples of Best Practice

“Jump to” feature, in NAV4 Figure a1, provides users with a quick and convenient way to navigate to different sections within a document. It typically consists of a list of page numbers that users can select to instantly jump to specific sections of content without having to scroll or navigate manually. Library page with 'Jump to' feature on the left. Drop-down shows numbered pages for users to navigate to specific sections of a document.
NAV4 Figure a1. An example of “Jump to” feature

“Find in the document”, in NAV4 Figure a2, provides users with a convenient way to find information within a document.
A PDF file opened online and a "Find in document" feature is provided to help users search within the file.
NAV4 Figure a2. An example of “Find in document” in PDF document

In NAV4 Figure a3, “Jump to section” enables users to quickly get into the section or contents while navigating within the page. This library webpage shows the "Jump to section" feature, explains the role of headings, and information about heading syles and hierarchy.
NAV4 Figure a3. An example of “Table of Contents” enabling navigation to sections

The code in NAV4 Figure a4 uses <section> elements with role=”region” and aria-label (text with tooltip) An HTML attribute that provides a text label for an object, such as a button.  to define accessible landmarks, allowing screen readers to navigate and identify distinct sections easily. The combination of semantic HTML, unique IDs, and descriptive labels enhances usability and accessibility for all users.

View and Copy code 
<!-- ARIA Landmark - Section 1 -->
<section id="section1" role="region" aria-label="Section 1">
  <h2>Section 1 Title</h2>
  <p>Content of Section 1...</p>
</section>
 
<!-- ARIA Landmark - Section 2 -->
<section id="section2" role="region" aria-label="Section 2">
  <h2>Section 2 Title</h2>
  <p>Content of Section 2...</p>
</section>
 
<!-- ARIA Landmark - Section 3 -->
<section id="section3" role="region" aria-label="Section 3">
  <h2>Section 3 Title</h2>
  <p>Content of Section 3...</p>
</section>
 

ARIA landmark to semantically defined sections on a webpage
NAV4 Figure a4. An example code for ARIA landmark

Examples of Poor Practice

1.1.1.b. Difficulty navigating within an item

The VoiceOver failed to read a document line by line but read words inside of the rectangular part indicated by the red arrow in the NAV4 Figure b1. As a result, the participant was not able to locate or find specific information within a document. “[highlights PDF link] … This is a very big document so I am just looking to see…because there is no word search, I cannot… [scrolls down page] This is going to take too long to look through.”(S28-B-M) A large multi-column document. Screen readers read only content in a highlighted rectangular section, but not line by line.
NAV4 Figure b1. Screenshot of difficulty navigating within an item

Resources

See also: