Access by Design: A Guide to Universal Usability for Web Designers

Chapter 8. Lists

The web is full of lists, including elements that we might not normally think of as lists, such as navigation. A navbar is essentially a list of links. Indeed, most navigational elements could be considered lists from a structural standpoint. In addition, Web text is peppered with lists because they are easy to scan. Users can form an overview and find information more quickly when it is presented in list format.

Visual users have cues that provide context for lists. Lists are often set off from surrounding text with spacing and indents. Items customarily appear one to a line, preceded by a bullet or number. These markers tell visual users where a list begins and ends, and delimit each item.

These visual attributes can be established ...