Reading order

Reading order refers to the order in which content is accessed, for example when read out by a screen reader, or navigated to using sequential navigation methods such as tabbing through links or buttons. By default, the reading order of a webpage is defined by the document source order.

Generally, the source order should express a sensible reading order for the content, and this should also be reflected by the visual order of the content layout. However, sometimes the visual order goes out of sync with the source order. For example, you might apply different layouts to a document based on media queries to suit various device or user requirements, or adjust tabbing order via tabindex.