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Lessons · HTML and CSS · regions you can jump to

Regions you can jump to

<header>, <nav>, <main> and <footer> are named regions a screen reader user can jump straight to.

Hone is a place to practise programming. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.

What it is for

'Jump to main' is the most-used shortcut there is, and it works only if there is a main to jump to. Four elements instead of four divs buys the whole feature.

How to think about it

Exactly one main: the content of this page, minus everything repeated on every page. Several navs are fine -- primary, breadcrumbs, in-page -- but label them, or they are announced as identical regions.

Worked example

<header>…</header><nav>…</nav><main>…</main><footer>…</footer>
The browser reports the four in order, and exactly one main.

Your turn

How many main elements a page should have.

The trap

Three unlabelled navs are a menu with no names on it. aria-label on each is the whole fix.

Practise regions you can jump to on HoneA question on it now, a coding challenge where there is one, and it is remembered for review. Free, no email needed.