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Re: Best Practices

for

From: Jared Smith
Date: Mar 11, 2020 8:03AM

Sumit -

WCAG requires "a mechanism" to bypass repeated blocks of content on
multiple pages - typically interpreted to mean navigation. If your
main content starts with a heading (optimally an <h1>) or if you use a
<main> element, these could be considered mechanisms to bypass the
navigation, thus a "skip" link would not be necessary for WCAG
conformance.

However, while headings and regions are useful for screen reader
users, they do not (yet) provide much utility for sighted keyboard
users who would need to manually navigate through the repeated
navigation on each page. Because of this, we still strongly recommend
a "skip" link be provided, even if WCAG may not require it.

The things you listed aren't "best practices" arbitrarily - they are
best practices because they provide demonstrable benefit to users with
disabilities.

Thanks,

Jared