WCAG 2.2 – Criterion 3.2.6 – Consistent Help (Level A)

WCAG 3.2.6 Consistent Help

This criterion refers to the availability and ease of accessing help for the user.

When designing and developing a website or mobile application, ensure that user support is placed in an intuitive location. Accessing it should be easy and not cause significant problems.

How Can We Ensure This?

Ensure the help tab or chat button is in the same place on every subpage.

Furthermore, if there are various help mechanisms on the site, they should be arranged in the following order, unless the user can change this order:

• Contact Information: like email address, phone number, or working hours. Diverse forms of contact are essential. Remember, for example, a deaf person will not use a phone.
• Option to Contact a Human: live chat, contact form, social media channels.
• Self-help Options: such as frequently asked questions (FAQs).
• Fully Automated Help Mechanism: such as a chatbot.

Interesting Facts about WCAG 3.2.6 Consistent Help

Have you ever seen an accessible chat? Here is an example of quite an accessible chat.
We believe this is one of the more challenging elements to implement correctly in an accessible way, and we have seen very few well-implemented examples.

As an Addition

This is a pleasant article with tips on what to pay attention to when creating an accessible live chat.
Remember, consistently located help will be a lifesaver for all users, not just those with special needs.