Skip Link Checker
Paste your page HTML and confirm keyboard users get a working “skip to main content” jump — present, first in the tab order and pointed at a real landmark.
What this tool gives you
Check the skip link
Paste your page HTML. Analysis runs locally in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere.
Paste the full body so the checker can find the first link, its target id and the main landmark.
What this checker looks for
A skip link is the one-line fix that lets keyboard users jump past the menu on every page.
Skip link present
An in-page anchor like “Skip to main content” as the first body element (WCAG 2.4.1).
Target id exists
The href points to a real id — a dead target makes the jump a no-op.
Target is a landmark
Landing on <main> or role=main so assistive tech announces the region.
First Tab stop
The link sits above the navigation so the first Tab press reaches it.
Keyboard visibility
Hidden is fine off-focus, but it must surface on focus — never display:none.
Main landmark
A <main> wrapper gives the skip link somewhere meaningful to land.
How to add a skip link
Three lines of markup turn repeated navigation from a keyboard trap into a two-key jump.
Add the anchor
Place <a href="#main-content">Skip to main content</a> as the first element inside <body>.
Name the target
Give the content wrapper a matching id: <main id="main-content">.
Show it on focus
Visually hide it off-focus with CSS, but surface it on :focus — never display:none.
Why answer engines care about skip links
Skip links signal the same structural discipline that makes pages easy to parse and quote.
| Signal | What engines infer | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Bypass blocks pass | The page separates chrome from content deliberately. | Crawlers weight the main region over menus. |
| Clean main landmark | One unambiguous primary content region. | Extraction tools lift the right text, not the nav. |
| First-tab skip link | Accessibility was designed in, not bolted on. | Correlates with other quality signals engines read. |
| Dead-target-free anchors | In-page navigation is maintained, not abandoned. | Reduces crawl waste on broken fragment jumps. |
| Visible-on-focus pattern | The site follows established a11y conventions. | Consistent conventions make parsing predictable. |
Related GEO pages
Skip links pair with landmarks and headings to make the page navigable for people and parsers.
Skip link FAQs
What is a skip link?
A skip link is a small anchor — usually “Skip to main content” — placed as the first element in the body. It lets keyboard users jump straight past the repeated navigation instead of tabbing through every menu item on every page. It is the standard fix for WCAG 2.4.1 (Bypass Blocks), and sites that fail it bleed engagement from every keyboard and screen-reader visit.
Why does the target id matter so much?
The most common skip-link bug is a href="#main" with no id="main" anywhere on the page. The link appears in the tab order, gets focus, and does absolutely nothing when activated. Point it at an id that exists — ideally the <main> element — and the jump lands where users expect.
Where should the skip link sit in the markup?
First in <body>, before the header and navigation. It should be the very first Tab stop so a keyboard user hits Enter on it immediately. Visually hidden by default is fine as long as it becomes visible on focus — display:none removes it from the tab order entirely and defeats the purpose.