Content after the Start button referenced on website

[selfthinker]

This issue is from the accessibility audit of the Design System website by DAC in July 2024.

DAC's description

• Page: Start using a service – GOV.UK Design System
• WCAG reference: none (Usability)
• Issue ID: DAC_Placement_of_Information_Usability_01

The placement for information that users may need to complete the service is located after the button used to start the service. Many users, including those who rely on screen reading software or enhanced screen magnification, navigate web content sequentially. If essential information is placed after the button, they might miss it because they are not aware they need to keep navigating beyond the button.

DAC's proposed solution

Consider placing the ‘Before you start’ heading and its following information to be placed before the control to start the service, so that all users can access it.

Background information

This is a known issues for start pages on www.gov.uk, nothing directly to do with the GOV.UK Design System, so nothing we can change directly.
But what we can do, though, is to update screenshots and update the guidance to reflect the best practice.

Related issues

• Start using a service govuk-design-system-backlog#111
• There are also several GOV.UK-internal issues that we don't have access to

Additional instances

This is a specific content issue that only appears on this page.

Needed roles

Content designer, designer

[selfthinker]

Transaction pages have the start button. A choice of three pages that have no content underneath it:

• Sign in to your Universal Credit account
• Check the MOT history of a vehicle
• Get information about a company

That would be a replacement for the first screenshot.

But the second screenshot is for a guide that has multiple pages. There is only one suitable example under the first 10 example pages and that is:

• Prove your right to work to an employer

But I'm not sure if that is a good example because there is a sizeable amount of text before the start button, so not great for a screenshot. I guess we could just use a screenshot from the middle of the page?