microsoft/hve-core

---
title: "Objective 2 - Help Users Find What They Need"
description: "Objective 2 covers patterns that make important tasks, features, actions, and information easy to locate."
---

# Objective 2 - Help Users Find What They Need

Objective 2 covers patterns that make important tasks, features, actions, and information easy to locate. The user need is "Findability": users with cognitive and learning disabilities benefit from prominent placement of primary tasks, predictable site hierarchies, clear page structure, segmented media, and tolerant search facilities.

Source: W3C, Making Content Usable for People with Cognitive and Learning Disabilities, Objective 2, <https://www.w3.org/TR/coga-usable/#objective-2>.

## control-make-it-easy-to-find-the-most-important-tasks-and-features-of-the-site

**Control 2.1 Make it Easy to Find the Most Important Tasks and Features of the Site**

The site's primary tasks must be discoverable without exploration. Users should not have to hunt through menus to find what the site is for. Prominent placement of the top three to five tasks lets users reach their goal quickly.

**Design patterns**:

* Identify the top three to five user tasks and surface them on the home page.
* Place primary calls to action above the fold on common viewports.
* Use clear, action-oriented labels for primary tasks.
* Avoid burying core tasks behind multi-level menus.

**Assessment heuristics**:

* Confirm the site's primary tasks appear on the home page without scrolling.
* Confirm task labels use the same vocabulary the audience uses.
* Confirm users can reach the primary task in three clicks or fewer from the home page.

Source: <https://www.w3.org/TR/coga-usable/#objective-2>.

## control-make-the-site-hierarchy-easy-to-understand-and-navigate

**Control 2.2 Make the Site Hierarchy Easy to Understand and Navigate**

Site navigation must mirror how users think about the content, not how the organisation is structured. Shallow, intuitive hierarchies let users predict where to look. Breadcrumbs and consistent menus help users keep track of their location.

**Design patterns**:

* Group content by user need rather than internal team structure.
* Keep the hierarchy shallow; aim for content to be reachable within three levels.
* Provide breadcrumbs showing the user's current location.
* Maintain the same navigation across all pages.

**Assessment heuristics**:

* Confirm navigation reflects user mental models, not the organisation chart.
* Confirm breadcrumbs are present on every page below the home page.
* Confirm navigation labels and structure are identical across pages.

Source: <https://www.w3.org/TR/coga-usable/#objective-2>.

## control-use-a-clear-and-understandable-page-structure

**Control 2.3 Use a Clear and Understandable Page Structure**

A page's regions must be visually and programmatically distinct so users can scan and skip. Dense, undifferentiated layouts force users to read every word to find what they need.

**Design patterns**:

* Divide pages into visually distinct regions using whitespace, borders, or background variation.
* Use semantic landmarks (`<header>`, `<nav>`, `<main>`, `<aside>`, `<footer>`).
* Provide descriptive headings at each section level.
* Avoid wall-of-text layouts; chunk content into scannable blocks.

**Assessment heuristics**:

* Confirm landmarks divide the page into named regions.
* Confirm heading structure is hierarchical and reflects content organisation.
* Confirm visual region boundaries match the programmatic structure.

Source: <https://www.w3.org/TR/coga-usable/#objective-2>.

## control-make-it-easy-to-find-the-most-important-actions-and-information-on-the-page

**Control 2.4 Make it Easy to Find the Most Important Actions and Information on the Page**

Within a page, the primary action and the most important information must stand out. Users should not have to read or scan extensively to find the call to action. Visual hierarchy and prominent placement direct attention.

**Design patterns**:

* Place the primary action prominently, typically above the fold and styled distinctively.
* Place the most important information near the top of the page.
* Use visual hierarchy (size, weight, colour) to indicate importance.
* Avoid competing primary actions that dilute focus.

**Assessment heuristics**:

* Confirm the primary action is visually distinct from secondary actions.
* Confirm the page has at most one primary call to action.
* Confirm key information appears in the first viewport on common viewports.

Source: <https://www.w3.org/TR/coga-usable/#objective-2>.

## control-break-media-into-chunks

**Control 2.5 Break Media into Chunks**

Long videos, podcasts, and tutorials overwhelm users who need to find or revisit specific content. Chunking media into chapters or segments, providing anchored transcripts, and offering summaries lets users navigate to the part they need.

**Design patterns**:

* Provide chapter markers within long videos and audio.
* Offer transcripts with anchored headings users can jump to.
* Split long media into shorter standalone episodes when feasible.
* Provide a brief summary alongside long media so users can decide whether to watch or read.

**Assessment heuristics**:

* Confirm videos longer than approximately five minutes have chapter markers or segmented playback.
* Confirm transcripts include anchored headings.
* Confirm a written summary accompanies long-form media.

Source: <https://www.w3.org/TR/coga-usable/#objective-2>.

## control-provide-search

**Control 2.6 Provide Search**

Users who cannot remember exact navigation paths benefit from search. Search must tolerate typos, recognise synonyms, and provide suggestions. Search without these affordances frustrates users who cannot spell technical terms or recall exact product names.

**Design patterns**:

* Provide a site search in a conventional location.
* Tolerate common typographical errors and offer "did you mean" suggestions.
* Recognise synonyms and related terms.
* Show recent searches and suggested completions.

**Assessment heuristics**:

* Confirm site search is reachable from every page.
* Confirm search returns useful results for common misspellings.
* Confirm search supports auto-suggest and recent queries.

Source: <https://www.w3.org/TR/coga-usable/#objective-2>.

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