Consistent Navigation
Navigational mechanisms that are repeated across multiple pages occur in the same relative order each time, unless the user changes them.
What it requires
WCAG 2.0 SC 3.2.3 requires that the main navigation, footer links, search, and breadcrumb appear in the same relative order on every page that uses them. Switching the order of links between the home page and a product page (or hiding the search on some pages) confuses users — particularly screen-reader users who navigate by landmark.
The criterion does not require identical layouts; it requires the same *order*. A page may collapse the nav into a hamburger on mobile while showing it inline on desktop, but the order of items inside the nav must match.
Common Shopify failure
Theme that reorders the main nav between desktop and mobile (Account before Cart on desktop, Cart before Account on mobile). Footer link groups appearing in different orders on home vs collection pages.
How to fix it
AccessComply detects nav-order divergence between rendered breakpoints and pages and surfaces it for theme-source correction.
Primary source: W3C — WCAG 2.0 Understanding 3.2.3