Web Accessibility for Charities: Making Content Easy to Navigate

11 May 2026

A Digital Dispatch by Sian Jamieson, Partnership Lead

Accessibility

One of the easiest ways to accidentally make a website inaccessible is by making it difficult to navigate. This is especially important for people using screen readers, keyboard navigation, screen magnifiers, or assistive technology. But honestly, good navigation benefits everyone.

We’ve all landed on websites that feel confusing, cluttered, or impossible to move around quickly.

As part of the World Wide Web Consortium WCAG accessibility guidelines, “Navigable Content” focuses on helping users orient themselves and move through websites confidently

This blog is the next part of our ongoing Web Accessibility for Charities series, where we’ve been exploring practical ways organisations can make their websites more inclusive, usable, and human-centred online.

So far, we’ve covered:

And one thing becomes clearer the deeper we go: a lot of accessibility guidance is also just ‘good digital communications practice’.

Clear headings, descriptive links, logical structure, easy-to-find information, consistent navigation, content that doesn’t overwhelm people…

These aren’t simply “accessibility features” added for a small group of users. They’re often the same things that help everyone use websites more confidently and comfortably, especially busy people skimming content on phones, or supporters quickly looking for services, events or contact details.

There are many pointers within WCAG guidance that can genuinely help digital communications officers do their day-to-day jobs better. Because good accessibility and good user experience are deeply connected.

Level A: The Essentials for Making Content Easy to Navigate

These are the foundations of navigable content, the things that stop websites becoming actively difficult to use.

Skip Links (Bypass Blocks)

Ever tried tabbing through a website using only a keyboard? Without “skip to content” links, users may need to tab through dozens of navigation items before reaching the actual page content.

A simple “Skip to main content” link can massively improve usability for:

keyboard users,
screen reader users,
and people using screen magnifiers.

This is one of those tiny accessibility tweaks that makes a surprisingly big difference.

Clear Page Titles

Every page should clearly explain what it is. Good page titles help users:

understand where they are,
distinguish between browser tabs,
and navigate search results more easily.

Compare:

❌ “Volunteers”
✅ “Volunteer Opportunities | Charity Name”

Simple, but incredibly useful.

Logical Keyboard Navigation (Focus Order)

When someone tabs through a page using a keyboard, the order needs to make sense. Focus shouldn’t randomly jump around the screen.

For example:

forms should move logically from top to bottom,
menus should follow a sensible order,
interactive elements should match the visual layout where possible.

If navigation feels chaotic with a keyboard, it’s probably inaccessible.

Descriptive Links

“Click here.” “Read more.” “Learn more.”

These are common and often terrible for accessibility.

People using screen readers may navigate by pulling up a list of links out of context. If every link says “Read more”, the page becomes almost impossible to scan.

Instead:

❌ Read more
✅ Read more about volunteer opportunities
✅ Download our accessibility guide (PDF)

Good link text helps everybody understand where a link goes before they click it.

Level AA: The Recommended Standard for Making Content Easy to Navigate

This is the level most charities, nonprofits and public organisations should be aiming for.

Multiple Ways to Find Content

Not everyone navigates websites the same way. Some people prefer:

search,
menus,
site maps,
breadcrumbs,
or related links.

AA standards recommend providing more than one way to reach important content. For larger charity websites especially, relying on one navigation system alone can quickly become overwhelming.

Clear Headings and Labels

Headings are one of the most important accessibility tools on the web.

They help users:

skim content,
understand structure,
and jump between sections using assistive technology.

A good heading structure is a bit like a well-organised document:

one clear page title,
logical sections,
meaningful labels,
and no vague headings like “Other Information”.

This matters hugely for screen reader users and people with cognitive or attention-related difficulties.

Visible Keyboard Focus

If someone is navigating by keyboard, they need to clearly see where they are on the page.

You’ve probably seen this before:

a blue outline around a button,
a highlighted menu item,
or a visible border around a form field.

That’s called a focus indicator. Removing these indicators for “clean design” reasons is a very common accessibility mistake. If users can’t see what’s selected, they can’t reliably use the site.

Don’t Hide Focused Elements

Modern websites are often the victims of sticky headers, pop-ups and floating chat widgets. Unfortunately, these can accidentally cover the thing that a keyboard user is currently interacting with.

AA standards recommend making sure focused items stay visible and aren’t obscured by overlays or sticky elements.

Because nothing says “stressful user experience” quite like tabbing into a button you literally can’t see.

Level AAA: Enhanced Accessibility for Making Content Easy to Navigate

AAA standards go even further to improve orientation and usability. Not every organisation can realistically meet all AAA requirements but many are worth considering where possible.

Breadcrumbs and Location Indicators

Breadcrumbs are secondary navigation trails that show users where they are within a website’s structure. Usually displayed near the top of a page, they help people understand their current location within the site.

Users should always understand:

where they are,
how they got there,
and how to move back through a site.

Breadcrumbs can be especially helpful on:

large charity websites,
resource libraries,
knowledge hubs,
and ecommerce or directory-style sites.

Fully Descriptive Links

AAA pushes link clarity even further. At this level, links should ideally make sense entirely on their own, even without surrounding context.

So instead of:

“PDF”

You’d use:

“Download Annual Report 2025 (PDF)”

Tiny detail. Huge usability improvement.

Section Headings Everywhere

Long pages should be broken into clearly labelled sections.

This helps users:

scan content quickly,
navigate using assistive technology,
and avoid feeling overwhelmed by walls of text.

Honestly, this is just good content design full stop.

Good Navigation Is Good Accessibility

At its heart, navigable content is about reducing stress and confusion. Helping people understand:

where they are,
what to do next,
and how to quickly find what they need.

And while these recommendations are essential for many disabled users and people using assistive technology, they also improve the experience for almost everybody else visiting your website too.

That’s why accessibility work so often overlaps with good design, thoughtful content curation, and strong digital communications strategy.

A well-structured, clearly organised website: