Multiple Ways
More than one way must be available to locate a web page within a set of pages — typical implementations: site search, navigation menu, sitemap, related-content links.
What it requires
WCAG 2.4.5 protects users who navigate sites differently — keyboard-only users prefer hierarchical menus; screen-reader users often prefer site search; cognitive-disability users benefit from sitemaps and related-links blocks. The criterion is met when ANY two of these mechanisms are available.
Single-page applications with no menu, no search, and no sitemap can fail this even when every page is reachable via deep linking.
Common Shopify failure
Single-page Hydrogen storefronts that ship without a header navigation, without a search, and without a sitemap. Multi-page Shopify themes with the search bar hidden or broken usually still pass via menu + sitemap.
How to fix it
AccessComply audits storefronts for at least 2 navigation mechanisms (search + menu, or menu + footer-sitemap) and flags single-mechanism storefronts for merchant action. Auto-fix adds a footer site-map block when only the menu is present.
Primary source: W3C — WCAG 2.0 Understanding 2.4.5