Understandable Guideline 3.2 Predictable

3.2.6 Consistent Help

Put help in the same place on every page that has it

Level A New in WCAG 2.2 Needs a person to check

What it asks for, in plain English

If you offer a way to get help, such as a phone number, an email address, opening hours, a contact form, a chat widget or a link to an FAQ, it should appear in the same relative place on every page where it appears. Someone who found it in the footer on one page should find it in the footer on the next.

It does not require you to offer help at all, and it does not say what kind. It only says that once you offer it across a set of pages, you should not move it about. The test is relative position within the layout, so a help link that is last in the header on desktop and last in the collapsed menu on a phone is fine.

The usual failure is a chat bubble that sits bottom right on the marketing pages and top left in the checkout, or a Contact link that is in the header on some pages and only in the footer on others.

This is an independent explanation. The binding wording is the W3C Recommendation, and the W3C's own Understanding 3.2.6 page has the full intent, techniques and definitions.

Who it affects

Someone with a cognitive disability or a memory impairment needs to ask a question and cannot find the contact link they used yesterday because it has moved.

A person who is anxious about getting something wrong abandons a form when the help they saw on the first step is not where they expect it on the third.

A screen reader user learns that help is the last thing in the footer and goes straight there; if it moves to the header on some pages, they conclude there is no help.

Example

Broken

The help link is in the header on the product page and in the footer on the checkout page.

Fixed

The help link is the last item in the header on both pages.

Show the markup behind both examples
Broken
<style>body{margin:0;padding:12px;font-family:system-ui;font-size:13px}.site{border:1px solid #d1d5db;border-radius:6px;margin-bottom:10px;overflow:hidden}.bar{display:flex;gap:14px;align-items:center;padding:8px 12px;background:#065f46;color:#fff}.bar b{margin-right:auto}.bar a,.foot a{color:inherit}.site p{margin:0;padding:10px 12px;color:#6b7280}.foot{display:flex;gap:14px;padding:6px 12px;background:#f3f4f6;color:#374151}.foot a{margin-left:auto}</style>
<div class="site"><div class="bar"><b>Plants</b><a href="#">Need help? Email us</a></div><p>Product listing</p><div class="foot"><span>Terms</span><span>Privacy</span></div></div>
<div class="site"><div class="bar"><b>Checkout</b></div><p>Delivery details</p><div class="foot"><span>Terms</span><span>Privacy</span><a href="#">Need help? Email us</a></div></div>
Fixed
<style>body{margin:0;padding:12px;font-family:system-ui;font-size:13px}.site{border:1px solid #d1d5db;border-radius:6px;margin-bottom:10px;overflow:hidden}.bar{display:flex;gap:14px;align-items:center;padding:8px 12px;background:#065f46;color:#fff}.bar b{margin-right:auto}.bar a,.foot a{color:inherit}.site p{margin:0;padding:10px 12px;color:#6b7280}.foot{display:flex;gap:14px;padding:6px 12px;background:#f3f4f6;color:#374151}.foot a{margin-left:auto}</style>
<div class="site"><div class="bar"><b>Plants</b><a href="#">Need help? Email us</a></div><p>Product listing</p><div class="foot"><span>Terms</span><span>Privacy</span></div></div>
<div class="site"><div class="bar"><b>Checkout</b><a href="#">Need help? Email us</a></div><p>Delivery details</p><div class="foot"><span>Terms</span><span>Privacy</span></div></div>

How to check it

  1. Find the help mechanisms on the site: contact details, a help or FAQ link, a chat button.
  2. Open five or six pages across the site, including forms and the checkout, and note where each help mechanism sits in the page order.
  3. The position relative to the rest of the page should match on every page that includes it.
  4. Check the phone layout separately; the relative order should still hold inside collapsed menus.

What Websight checks for 3.2.6

Websight has no automated check for this criterion. It lists it in the manual checklist that comes with every report, so it is not forgotten.

Only a person can check this, since it means comparing the position of help across pages. Websight lists it in its manual checklist.

Practical tips

  • Put help in the footer component or the header component, and nowhere else.
  • Chat widgets: fix the position in one config and reuse it on every page, including checkout and account pages.
  • A page with no help at all is allowed; just do not move it on the pages that have it.

Scan your page and see where 3.2.6 stands

Websight gives a score out of 100, explains each automated finding in plain English, and lists the checks a person still needs to do.

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