any way to jump directly to the main content of a webpage?

By Mert Ozer, 22 May, 2025

Forum
macOS and Mac Apps

Folks,

I was wondering if there’s any way to jump directly to the main content of a webpage. One case where this could be useful is when you want to quickly get to the YouTube search results. The results are marked as heading level 3, but so are the “Subscriptions,” “Explore,” and “More from YouTube” sections. So navigating by level 3 headings doesn’t help you reach the results quickly. However, the results are within the main landmark. I know there are shortcuts to move between landmarks, but is there a way to jump specifically to the main landmark? Thanks!

Options

Comments

By TheBlindGuy07 on Thursday, May 22, 2025 - 13:44

I don't think there is one as far as I know. I just use the regular landmark shortcut (ehen it works) to move quickly.

By Bruce Harrell on Thursday, May 22, 2025 - 17:44

Look for a link near the top that says something like jump to main content, or jump to content, or jumpt to context or something like that. It'll tkae you right to the place why you went to the page, e.g., in response to a google search.

By PaulMartz on Thursday, May 22, 2025 - 20:44

The skip to main content link is typically broken or poorly implemented. Such links often do nothing, in my experience. Or they jump me somewhere, but additional navigation is still required to reach the main content.

I believe there's a disconnect between what screen reader users need and how sighted web developers implement the skip to content link. I believe they add a link target that is visually near the start of the main content with little regard for the sequential ordering of HTML content. I administer a few Wordpress sites, and I have reached out to theme developers to correct their implementation of the skip to content link. I don't think the developers have any idea that their skip to content links are broke.

An H1 heading at the top of the main content for every web page would eliminate the need for the unreliable skip to content link, and it would be trivial to implement. Yet many web developers avoid HTML headings altogether, in clear violation of WCAG guidelines.