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Skip link

Overview Style Guidelines Code Demos Accessibility
  1. Keyboard navigation
  2. Focus order
  3. Hiding a skip link
  4. ARIA Authoring Practices Guide (APG)
  5. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
  1. Keyboard navigation
  2. Focus order
  3. Hiding a skip link
  4. ARIA Authoring Practices Guide (APG)
  5. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Keyboard navigation

Users will interact with the skip link using a keyboard primarily.

Screenshots of navigation with and without skip link showing and keyboard navigation text
Key Result
Tab Makes the skip link appear and shifts focus to it
Shift + Tab Hides the skip link and moves focus to the previous control or interactive element, if any
Enter Activates the skip link and shifts focus to the main content

Focus order

The skip link should be the first item on a page to receive focus. After the skip link is activated, the first interactive element in the main content area will receive focus next.

Screenshot of navigation and hero of redhat.com with a skip link and arrows showing focus order

In order to hide the skip link until it’s called by the user, positioning it outside the viewport is recommended. Using display: none or the hidden attribute in CSS removes it from keyboard navigation and makes it unusable. Other methods, like making its size equal to 0px, can also prevent screen readers from accessing the element.

Learn more about making invisible content accessible for screen readers.

ARIA Authoring Practices Guide (APG)

Learn to use the accessibility semantics defined by the Accessible Rich Internet Application (ARIA) specification to create accessible web experiences.

View APG resources

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Understanding documents provide detailed explanations for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) guidelines and success criteria.

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