Accessibility finding
Controls differ between the desktop and the mobile rendering
Accessibility Warning Severity: Medium
Part of the audit Desktop and mobile give different access. Finding id: accessibility.desktopVsMobile.
What it costs you
Visitors at one width miss a function the others have. People with low vision who zoom in on a computer get the mobile layout, so they are hit as well as phone users.
What to do
Worth checking on a phone; we assume both widths should offer the same. Open the menus at both widths and look for the control. If it is missing at one width, add it there.
What it checks
- Control reachable on one device only
- Accessible names differ between devices
- Zoom blocked on mobile
- Duplicate hidden menus both exposed
How to fix it
Hide the unused menu from everyone and allow zoom
How to check: Recrawl. Then open the page on a phone with the screen reader on and swipe through the header: each menu item is read once.
A real case
The UK Government Digital Service monitored 1,203 public sector websites from January 2022 to September 2024. The most common problems were low colour contrast, missing visible focus, parts that cannot be used with a keyboard, and layouts that do not adapt to screen size or zoom.
Thresholds
| Name | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
min_scanners | 2 | How many scanners must report blocked zoom before it counts as a failure. |
min_hidden_duplicates | 3 | From this many invisible controls that repeat a visible one, a page counts as reading a hidden menu aloud. |
How to verify by hand
A person on a phone with a screen reader.
What this relies on
Both should offer the same content and functions.