List structure helps screen reader users to navigate to the related items quickly. A well-defined list structure
helps screen reader users to understand the number of related items. List mark-up SHOULD be
given to the items which are related to each other. HTML5 allows 3 types of lists to be used such as
“Ordered list”, “Unordered list” and “Description list”.
Avoid providing list mark-up for single item unless it’s required to convey the list of items within each
group or a section.
NOTE:
New to accessibility or uncertain of requirements, it will be helpful to review all sections below.
Already familiar with requirements, skip to the “Working Example” section for sample HTML, CSS
and JavaScript (when needed), along with a working demo.
Ordered list mark-up SHOULD be given to the items which need to follow some
sequential order. It is also known as “Numbered list”.
The ordered list items displays numbers such as “1”, “2”, “3”, “I”, “II”, “III” and so on.
Implementation
Ordered list SHOULD be marked up using <ol> element.
The items inside the ordered list SHOULD be marked up using <li>
element.
For example,
<ol>
<li>Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.</li>
<li>In another bowl, mix eggs, milk, and oil.</li>
<li>Stir both mixtures together.</li>
<li>Fill muffin tray 3/4 full.</li>
<li>Bake for 20 minutes.</li>
</ol>
Unordered list mark-up SHOULD be given to the items which don&8217;t follow any
such sequential order. It is also known as a ”Bulleted list“.
The unordered list items are marked as bullets (small black circles) by default.
The default bullets CAN be modified to a custom icon through CSS.
Implementation
HTML
The unordered list SHOULD be marked up using <ul> element.
The items inside the unordered list SHOULD be marked up using
<li> element.