Search: Provide a search capability.
An exception is provided for small organizations and for small websites that include simple links to each page from the home page.AA
A small organization is defined as not more than 50 employees, or the definition within your jurisdiction.
A small website is a site with less than 15 pages
Principle 3, Guideline 3.3
or Guideline 3.2 Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable waysSearch capabilities enable a user to conveniently find and access information.
Having a search capability allows users to find the content they need even if they cannot determine how to navigate a site. Search is a method that you can learn one time and reuse on all sites.
User studies have shown the aging population tend to rely on search to locate information rather than navigating menus or surfing.
Menu systems, and most site navigation require the user to understand the categories of the pages that the content provider has created for general use. Users with impaired executive function may be unable to identify the correct categories
In some cases, users identify the correct category via memory, rather than logic. For example, most users remember that the print function is often found under the file menu. Users with impaired memory will be disadvantaged at finding menu items based on recall.
Navigating a site and going to many pages to look for content, is also bad for people with impaired short-term memory or for people who are easily distracted, as they may lose focus and forget what they are looking for.
Search is most useful when it allows for common misspellings, yet still finds the appropriate content or provides suggested auto-corrected versions of the search terms that the user can choose from.
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See also