WCAG 2.4.5 — Multiple Ways to Find Content

Who Is Affected

Users with cognitive disabilities who may struggle with complex menu structures, users with motor disabilities who find it difficult to navigate through many menu levels, elderly users who prefer familiar navigation patterns, and any visitor unfamiliar with your site's organization.

What This Means

People need more than just your main navigation menu to find content on your website. WCAG requires at least two ways to locate any page (except for pages that are steps in a process, like checkout pages). Common methods include:

• Site search functionality
• Site map or site index
• Breadcrumb navigation
• Topic-based landing pages
• A-Z index of services

This requirement recognizes that different users have different mental models of how information should be organized. What seems logical to your department may not match how citizens think about your services.

Fix: CMS / Theme

Most government websites need to add missing navigation features at the theme level:

Add Site Search

Joomla:

1. Go to Extensions → Modules → New
2. Select "Smart Search Module" or "Search Module"
3. Configure to search all content areas
4. Position in header or sidebar on all pages
5. Test that it returns relevant results

WordPress:

1. Go to Appearance → Widgets or Appearance → Customize → Widgets
2. Add a "Search" widget to your header or sidebar
3. For better results, install a plugin like "Relevanssi" or "SearchWP"
4. Test search functionality across different content types

Create a Site Map Page

Joomla:

1. Go to Menus → All Menu Items → New
2. Select "System Links → Site Map"
3. Configure to show all published menu items
4. Add link to site map in your footer

WordPress:

1. Install a sitemap plugin like "WP Sitemap Page"
2. Create a new page and insert the sitemap shortcode
3. Add the sitemap page link to your footer menu
4. Ensure it displays all public pages and posts

Add Breadcrumb Navigation

Joomla:

1. Go to Extensions → Modules → New
2. Select "Breadcrumbs Module"
3. Position above main content area
4. Configure to show on all pages except homepage

WordPress:

1. Install a breadcrumb plugin like "Breadcrumb NavXT"
2. Add the breadcrumb code to your theme template
3. Configure to show category/page hierarchy
4. Style breadcrumbs to be visually distinct but not overwhelming

Fix: Content Editor

Content editors can improve navigation by creating topic-based entry points:

Create Service Landing Pages

1. Group related services and information by topic
2. Create overview pages that link to detailed content
3. Add these landing pages to your main navigation
4. Include links to popular or related content on each page

Build an A-Z Index

1. Create a page listing all services alphabetically
2. Link each entry to the relevant service page
3. Add this index to your main menu or footer
4. Keep it updated as you add new services

Improve Internal Linking

1. Add "See also" or "Related services" sections to content pages
2. Link to relevant forms, applications, or related departments
3. Use descriptive link text that explains the destination
4. Review older content to add helpful cross-links

Standard Reference

WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 2.4.5 — Multiple Ways, Level AA

More than one way is available to locate a Web page within a set of Web pages except where the Web Page is the result of, or a step in, a process.

• W3C Understanding SC 2.4.5
• WCAG Technique G125 — Links to navigate to related Web pages
• WCAG Technique G126 — List of links to all other Web pages
• WCAG Technique G161 — Search function to help users locate content
• WCAG Technique G63 — Site map with links to sections or pages