Structure & headings
The Page Has More than One Site Footer Landmark
Screen reader users jump to the footer to find contact or legal links, but two footers make them guess which one is the real one.
landmark-no-duplicate-contentinfoBest practiceBest practice — not a WCAG requirement, but it helps people all the same.
- Status
- ModerateModerate — An annoyance, with a workaround.CurrentScanners run this rule today.
- Owner
- DesignDevTest
- Audit
- AutomatedA scanner finds it, and a clean scan means it's fixed.
Why it matters
A landmark is a named region of the page that screen readers can jump straight to. The "content information" landmark is the site footer — where people expect contact details, privacy and copyright links.
When two regions both claim to be the site footer, people hear the same name twice. They must check each one, which wastes time and breaks trust in the page's map.
Who it affects
| Who | What they experience | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Screen reader users | They hear "content information" listed twice and must visit both to find the real footer. | Partial impact |
| Low-vision users (magnification) | Affected only if they also use a screen reader, as many do. | Partial impact |
| Keyboard-only users | Some use landmark-jumping browser extensions and get two identical targets. | Partial impact |
Business & product impact
| Area | Why | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Legal | This is a best practice, not a WCAG 2.2 requirement. On its own it is unlikely to support a complaint under the Disability Discrimination Act. | Low impact |
| Conversion | Slower access to contact and help links can lose a few people, but the effect is small. | Low impact |
| SEO | Search engines don't reward this. Don't sell it as an SEO win. | Low impact |
| Brand trust | A clean, predictable page map shows screen reader users you've thought about them. | Moderate impact |
| Cost to fix | Usually a small change in the page template. Fix it once and every page benefits. | High impact |
Fixing it in code
A cookie banner built with a footer tag
Don't
<body>
<main>…</main>
<footer>© 2025 Acme · Privacy · Contact</footer>
<footer class="cookie-banner">We use cookies. <button>OK</button></footer>
</body>A screen reader says: “Landmarks: main, content information, content information”
Do
<body>
<main>…</main>
<footer>© 2025 Acme · Privacy · Contact</footer>
<div class="cookie-banner" role="region" aria-label="Cookie notice">We use cookies. <button>OK</button></div>
</body>A screen reader says: “Landmarks: main, content information, Cookie notice region”
Only the real site footer uses a top-level <footer>, so there is one footer landmark.
A footer for a blog post
Don't
<body>
<main><h1>Post title</h1>…</main>
<footer>Posted by Sam · 3 comments</footer>
<footer>© 2025 Acme · Privacy</footer>
</body>A screen reader says: “Landmarks: main, content information, content information”
Do
<body>
<main>
<article><h1>Post title</h1>…
<footer>Posted by Sam · 3 comments</footer>
</article>
</main>
<footer>© 2025 Acme · Privacy</footer>
</body>A screen reader says: “Landmarks: main, content information”
A <footer> inside an <article> is not a site footer landmark, so only one remains.
Designer's handoff note
Mark one area in your designs as "Site footer". Label any other bottom-of-section areas, like post details or cookie banners, as something else.
Annotate landmarks on page templates so developers know which <footer> is the real one.
Quick test
Tool
VoiceOver (opens in a new tab) (on every Mac)
Checklist
- Pass
- You find exactly one "content information" landmark.
- Fail
- You find two or more "content information" landmarks.
What a green scan still misses
A scanner can count footer landmarks. It can't tell whether the one left is the right one, or holds the links people expect.
Reference
- Rule ID
landmark-no-duplicate-contentinfo- Raised by
- axe-core: “Document should not have more than one contentinfo landmark”
- WCAG
- Best practice — not a WCAG requirement
- Last reviewed
- 14 October 2026