Landmark Navigation: How Users Jump Around
Experience moving region-to-region with a screen reader.
Landmark Navigation: How Users Jump Around is a free Web Accessibility Academy lesson on CoddyKit — lesson 4 of 4. You can read the complete lesson below for free — then practise it hands-on in the browser with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. It is part of the Web Accessibility Academy learning path, one of 4 lessons in the course, and your progress syncs across the web and the CoddyKit app.
Jumping, Not Scrolling
A sighted user glances around a page. A screen reader user instead jumps region to region using landmarks you defined.
The Landmark Shortcut
Most screen readers offer a key to cycle landmarks. In NVDA the D key hops to the next region without touching the mouse.
A List of Regions
Users can also open a landmarks list, a menu of every region on the page, and pick one to leap straight there.
Skip the Repeated Stuff
The big win is skipping. Users jump past the header and nav they have heard before, landing right on fresh content.
VoiceOver Rotor
On a Mac, VoiceOver users open the rotor and choose Landmarks to navigate your regions by name and role.
Why Names Pay Off
In that landmark list, your aria-label values become the menu items, so good names are what make jumping useful.
<nav aria-label="Main">...</nav>Order Follows the DOM
Landmarks are visited in source order, so a logical HTML order means a logical jump order for everyone.
Too Many Landmarks Hurt
If every box is a region, the list becomes noise. Use landmarks for true page sections, not for general layout.
Cover the Whole Page
Ideally all visible content sits inside some landmark. Orphan content outside any region is harder to reach by jumping.
Test It Yourself
Open a screen reader and press the landmark key. If you can jump cleanly through your page, your regions are working. 🎧
Faster Than Tabbing
Landmark jumps beat pressing Tab dozens of times. A few keystrokes replace a long, tiring crawl through every link.
Quick Check
What is the main benefit of landmark navigation for screen reader users?
Recap: Jumping Around
You learned how users hop between landmarks with a key or rotor, why named regions and DOM order matter, and to test by ear. 🙌
Frequently asked questions
Is the “Landmark Navigation: How Users Jump Around” lesson free?
Yes — the full text of “Landmark Navigation: How Users Jump Around” is free to read here on the web, and the Web Accessibility Academy course includes 4 lessons in total. To practise it interactively (a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor) and unlock the rest of the Web Accessibility Academy course, upgrade to CoddyKit PRO.
What will I learn in “Landmark Navigation: How Users Jump Around”?
Experience moving region-to-region with a screen reader. You practise Web Accessibility Academy with hands-on code you run directly in the browser, and a 24/7 AI tutor answers your questions as you work through the lesson.
Do I need any experience to start Web Accessibility Academy?
No prior experience is required. Web Accessibility Academy on CoddyKit is structured for beginners through advanced learners; this is — lesson 4 of 4, so you can start here or from the beginning and move at your own pace.
How long does the “Landmark Navigation: How Users Jump Around” lesson take?
Most CoddyKit lessons take about 5–10 minutes. Each one is bite-sized and interactive, so you make steady progress and pick up exactly where you left off across the web and the app.
Can I write and run code in this Web Accessibility Academy lesson?
Yes. Every Web Accessibility Academy lesson includes a built-in code editor, so you write and run real code right in your browser and get instant AI feedback — no local setup required.
All lessons in this course
- header, nav, main, footer: The Big Four
- Putting Content in main and Only One main
- Naming Multiple Regions With aria-label
- Landmark Navigation: How Users Jump Around