Page components (for example links, buttons and icons) that have the same functionality should be consistently identified with labels, names, and text alternatives throughout your website.

What you need to know

• The initial takeaway may seem to be that everything that looks identical needs to have the same identification, but there is a key nuance. Sometimes this means that things stay the exact same across your website. However, in other instances where the functionality is different, this can be wrong. Consistent usually means identical, but not always.
• Identical buttons within a series of pages might be labeled, “Go to Page 4” and “Go to Page 5.” Note this is consistent but not identical. It’s important to label things on your website that have the same functionality in a consistent manner. If something has the same function throughout a website, it will probably have the same identification on all pages, but it might not depending on the function.

What you need to do

• Keep all of your identification consistent throughout your website.

Reference

Read the full explanation of success criterion 3.2.4 on W3.org.

Related Resource

Review examples of success criterion 3.2.4 from W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative.