Reading order
Reading order is the sequence follows through a page or PDF — not necessarily the order things look arranged on-screen.
On a two-column layout, the visual eye may scan down the left column then the right; the reading order must do the same. If it walks left to right across both columns instead, a hears interleaved nonsense even though the page looks fine.
In PDFs, the reading order lives in the structure. Silktide authors and verifies it during remediation; you can also step through it yourself on the document's Review tab.
Learn more
- Understanding Meaningful Sequence - the WCAG success criterion for reading order on the web