Provide a search option Usability Guideline

Description

Provide a search option on each page of content-rich web sites.

Help

A search option should be provided on all pages where it may be useful - users should not have to return to the homepage to conduct a search. Search engines can be helpful on content-rich web sites, but do not add value on other types of sites.

Applicable standards

Note: The guidelines.usability.gov website has been down since July 2020, although www.usability.gov is still operating and the PDF version of the guidelines is still available.

Change history

  • 5.30 Jul 2018 Fixed false positive.
  • 5.20 Jan 2016 Fixed false positive.
  • 5.5 May 2014 Detect HTML5 search fields.
  • 4.0 Jun 2010 Fixed false positive.
  • 1.0 Feb 2007 Added.

This page describes a web site issue detected in HTML documents by SortSite Desktop and OnDemand Suite.

Rule ID: UseGov17.4