WCAG 2.0 · Level AA · Operable
2.4.5 Multiple Ways
Manual verification
How to validate 2.4.5 by hand
Check whether users can locate a page through at least two distinct routes, unless it is a step in a process or result.
Start with the extension result
Reopen the reported URL and reproduce the same state (for example, after expanding a menu or submitting a form). Use the result’s Highlight action when available, or its affected-element details and CSS selector, to find the reported content. Apply the checks below to that content and its context. If the element or state has changed, rescan and record that difference before deciding whether the finding still applies.
- Choose representative pages and identify the available navigation route, such as menus, search, sitemap, or related links.
- Try to locate each page using a second route without relying on the first route’s exact link path.
- Determine whether any page is properly excepted because it is a step or result of a process.
Evidence to record
Record the page, the two routes available (or missing), and whether the page qualifies for the process/result exception.
Scope and exceptions
This is about ways to locate pages within the site, not two links on the same page. Pages in a process or resulting from an action have an exception.
Record the review outcome
- Confirmed: the recorded evidence shows the requirement is not met in the tested page state, and no applicable exception explains it.
- Not reproduced: the reported issue is absent in the current state. Record the URL, state, and affected element you checked; this does not prove other pages or states conform.
- Needs more review: evidence is incomplete, the content requires human judgment, or an exception is uncertain. Record what remains to be checked instead of treating it as a pass.