Meaningful Sequence
When the order of content affects meaning, the order must be programmatically determinable so that assistive technology presents content in the same meaningful sequence.
What it requires
WCAG 2.0 SC 1.3.2 requires the DOM order to match the meaningful order of the content. Screen readers, single-switch users, and users with reading-flow extensions all rely on the underlying source order. CSS positioning that reorders content visually without updating the DOM order is a common failure.
Common offenders: `position: absolute` on hero sections that visually appear above the fold but live at the bottom of the body; `flex-direction: row-reverse` or CSS `order` declarations on critical content; floating elements that disrupt the reading flow.
Common Shopify failure
Theme uses `flex-direction: row-reverse` to put a "Sale" badge before a product title visually, but the DOM order has the badge after — screen readers announce the title first, then the sale badge, scrambling the meaning.
How to fix it
AccessComply detects CSS reordering and rewrites the DOM order to match visual order. For absolutely-positioned content, the agent moves the element's DOM position to the meaningful location.
Primary source: W3C — WCAG 2.0 Understanding 1.3.2