Consistent Help: The Metric That Measures Whether Help Is Where Shoppers Expect It

A shopper is stuck at checkout and looks for the help link. On the product page it was in the header. On the checkout page it is in the footer. On the cart page it is a floating chat icon in the bottom right. Three pages, three places, one confused shopper.

The criterion in one sentence

WCAG 3.2.6, Consistent Help, is a Level A criterion in WCAG 2.2. It says that if a web page offers a help mechanism, and the same help mechanism appears on other pages, it must appear in the same relative order on every page where it appears. Help here means human contact details, a way to contact a person such as a chat, a self-help option, or a fully automated contact mechanism. The criterion only applies if you offer help. If you offer none, there is nothing to keep consistent.

The bar is deliberately low, which is why it is Level A, the floor of conformance. You do not have to add help. You just have to keep what you have in the same place. A contact link in the header on one page and the footer on the next is a fail. A chat icon that floats bottom-right on the homepage and bottom-left on the contact page is a fail. The shopper who learned where help lives on the first page should find it in the same place on the second.

The reason is cognitive, not cosmetic. People with cognitive disabilities, and people under stress, which includes anyone stuck at checkout, rely on learned positions. They remember where the help link was, and they look there first. When it has moved, they have to search again, and searching again at the moment they need help is the worst time to make them do it.

How to measure it

The metric is a template audit. List every help mechanism on the site: the contact link, the phone number, the chat widget, the FAQ link, the support email. Then open each page template, the homepage, the product page, the cart, the checkout, the account pages, and note the relative order of those mechanisms on each one. The score is the share of templates where the order matches.

The failure mode is almost always a template drift. The checkout template was built by a different team, or a different year, and the help link ended up in a different place. The chat widget was added to the storefront templates but never to the checkout template. The footer on the account pages has the phone number first, and the footer on the product pages has the FAQ link first. Each one is a small inconsistency, and together they mean the shopper cannot rely on position.

Automated scanners cannot catch this, because it requires comparing the same mechanisms across pages. It takes a human with a list and five minutes per template. Heading order has the same shape: a structure that looks right on one page and breaks on the next. Focus visibility is the same kind of cross-page check: the indicator has to work everywhere, not just on the homepage.

The fix is a template rule, not a redesign

Pick one order for help mechanisms and write it down: contact link first, then phone, then chat, then FAQ, or whatever order fits the store. Then apply it to every template, including checkout, which is the template most often forgotten. The fix is a line in the design system, not a project.

And check it after every template change. A new checkout flow, a new account page, a redesigned footer, each one is a chance for the order to drift again. Contrast ratio needs the same discipline: a scanner that runs on every deploy, not once a year. Consistent help is a metric you measure after every template change, because that is when it breaks.

Frequently asked questions

Does WCAG 3.2.6 require me to add help to my site?

No. The criterion only applies if you already offer help. If you offer none, there is nothing to keep consistent. But if you offer a contact link, a chat, or an FAQ on multiple pages, those mechanisms must appear in the same relative order on every page.

What counts as a help mechanism?

Human contact details, a way to contact a person such as a chat, a self-help option like an FAQ link, or a fully automated contact mechanism. The criterion covers the mechanisms you offer, in whatever combination your site uses.

What does same relative order mean in practice?

If the contact link comes before the chat widget on the product page, it must come before the chat widget on the checkout page too. The absolute position can differ, a header versus a footer, but the order among the help mechanisms must stay the same.

How do I measure the consistent help metric?

List every help mechanism, then check each page template and note the order of those mechanisms. The score is the share of templates where the order matches. Any template that differs is a fix: move the mechanisms into the agreed order.