Skip to main content links: Crawl Audit check 178

Short answer: a skip link is a hidden link at the very top of the page that appears when you press Tab and jumps straight to the main content. Without it, keyboard users tab through the whole menu on every page. Check 178 warns if it can't find one.

What Crawl Audit checks

• Pass: a link to an anchor on the same page (href="#...") whose text includes "skip", "main content" or "jump to".
• Warning: none found.

It checks the link exists, not that it works. Test it: the target must exist, and the link must become visible when focused.

What the sources say

• WCAG 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks, level A: "A mechanism is available to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple web pages." Landmarks and headings can also meet this, but WebAIM still strongly recommends a skip link.
• WebAIM's 2026 survey found a skip link on 17.1% of top home pages, and about one in ten of those was broken: hidden in a way keyboard users couldn't reach, or pointing at a target that wasn't there.
• WebAIM says the link should be hidden by default, reachable by keyboard, "become prominently visible when it is focused", and move focus to the main content.

Building one

<a href="#main" class="skip-link">Skip to main content</a>
...
<main id="main">...</main>

• Make it the first focusable thing on the page.
• Hide it off-screen, not with display: none, and show it on :focus.
• Point it at your <main> element (check 181).

On devmarde.com

Our pages start with a "Skip to content" link to #main, which appears when focused. It passes.

Sources

• W3C, Understanding 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks.
• WebAIM, "Skip Navigation" links and The WebAIM Million (2026), checked 6 October 2026.