Bypass Blocks
A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple web pages.
In plain language
There needs to be a way to skip past repeated content (like a navigation menu that appears on every page) and jump straight to the main content.
Why it matters
Keyboard and screen reader users move through a page one element at a time. If they have to tab through the same 40-link menu on every single page before reaching the actual content, that's a huge, tiring barrier just to read an article.
In practice
Fails this criterion
A news site has a 40-link navigation bar at the top of every page with no way to skip it — keyboard users must tab through all of it every time to reach the article.
Meets this criterion
A hidden "Skip to main content" link appears as soon as it receives keyboard focus, letting users jump straight past the navigation to the article.
Test it yourself
Load any page and press Tab once. If the first stop isn't a "skip to content" link, and you'd otherwise have to tab through a full menu to reach the main content, this criterion is failing.