3.2.6 Consistent Help

WCAG 2.2 · 3.2.6 A Understandable

What it requires

If a web page offers any of these help mechanisms, and the same mechanism is repeated on multiple pages within a set of pages, it must appear in the same relative order on each page — relative to the rest of the page content — unless a change is initiated by the user. The help mechanisms covered are:

  • Human contact details (such as a phone number, email address, or postal address).
  • A human contact mechanism (such as a contact form, messaging tool, or social-media channel).
  • Self-help options (such as a help link, an FAQ, or a support page).
  • A fully automated contact mechanism (such as a chatbot).

The criterion does not require you to provide help. It only requires that help you already repeat is placed predictably, so users can locate it once and rely on finding it in the same place everywhere. "Same relative order" means the help item sits in a consistent position among the surrounding content — it need not be pixel-identical, but a user should not have to hunt for it page to page.

  • People with cognitive and learning disabilities — who benefit most: predictable placement reduces the effort of re-locating help and lowers anxiety when a task goes wrong.
  • People with low vision using magnification — who see only a small portion of the screen and rely on help being where they expect it.
  • People with motor disabilities — for whom searching the page again on every screen adds physical effort.
  • Anyone under stress or time pressure, who benefits from not re-learning the interface on each page.

How to detect it

Concrete checks for Consistent Help
Check How Automated?
Inventory help mechanisms List every contact link, help link, FAQ, or chat widget that appears on more than one page. No — manual review.
Compare relative order Open several pages in the set and confirm each repeated item sits in the same position relative to other content (e.g. last item in the header, or top of the footer). No — manual, cross-page.
Screen-reader order Navigate by landmarks/links on each page; the help item should be reached at the same point in the reading order. Partial — tooling lists order, judgement is manual.
Zoom / reflow At 400% zoom or narrow viewports, confirm help stays in a consistent place and is not reordered inconsistently between pages. No — manual.
Automated scanners Tools such as axe cannot judge cross-page consistency of help, so they will not flag a failure here. No.

How to fix it

  1. Decide on one home for each repeated help mechanism (for example, the last item in the site header or the start of the footer).
  2. Place that help block in the same location in your shared template or include, so every page renders it in the same relative position.
  3. Keep the order of items within the help block stable across pages.
  4. If a user action (such as collapsing a panel) changes the position, that is allowed — but never let it vary by accident between pages.
  5. Re-check after layout changes or A/B tests that the help item did not drift on some templates.

A single shared header partial keeps the help link in the same relative order on every page:

<header class="site-header">
  <a class="logo" href="/">Acme</a>
  <nav aria-label="Primary"><!-- main links --></nav>
  <!-- Help is ALWAYS the last item, on every page -->
  <a class="help-link" href="/help">Help &amp; contact</a>
</header>

Copy-paste tests

Automated coverage

There is no fully automated axe-core rule for 3.2.6 — scanners cannot judge cross-page consistency of help, so this criterion needs manual review using the console check and steps below.

Run this in the browser console

consistent-help-audit.js 
// Read-only: surfaces likely help mechanisms for cross-page review.
const re = /help|support|faq|contact|chat/i;
const hits = [...document.querySelectorAll('a, button, [role=link], [role=button]')]
  .filter(el => re.test(el.textContent) || re.test(el.getAttribute('aria-label') || ''))
  .map(el => {
    el.style.outline = '2px solid magenta'; // visual only, not saved
    const region = el.closest('header, footer, nav, main, aside');
    return { text: el.textContent.trim().slice(0, 40), region: region?.tagName || '(none)' };
  });
console.table(hits);
console.log('Note the order/region above, then compare against other pages in the set.');

What to check manually: open two or more pages in the set and confirm each repeated help item appears in the same relative order among surrounding content; no script can confirm that the ordering is intentional rather than an accidental template drift.