Structure & headings

The Page Footer Landmark Sits Inside Another Landmark

Screen reader users jump between page areas by landmark, and a footer buried inside the main content is hard to find or seems to belong to the wrong area.

landmark-contentinfo-is-top-levelBest 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: DevTest
Audit: AutomatedA scanner finds it, and a clean scan means it's fixed.

Why it matters

Landmarks are labelled areas of a page, like header, navigation, main content and footer. Screen reader users list them and jump straight to the one they want.

The footer landmark, called contentinfo, is meant to be the site-wide footer. If it's nested inside main content, it looks like part of that content. People may miss contact details, legal links or help that usually live there.

Who it affects

Who it affects, and how much
Who	What they experience	Impact
Screen reader users	They find the footer listed inside the main content, or not at the top level, so jumping to it is confusing.	Partial impact
Low-vision users (magnification)	Affected only if they also use a screen reader to move around the page.	Partial impact

Business & product impact

Business & product impact, with how much each claim weighs
Area	Why	Impact
Legal	This is a best practice, not a WCAG 2.2 requirement. It supports good structure but won't fail an audit on its own.	Low impact
SEO	Search engines don't reward landmark nesting — don't sell it as an SEO fix.	Low impact
Brand trust	A clean landmark layout shows care to people who rely on screen readers.	Low impact
Cost to fix	Usually a small template change. Fix it once in the shared page layout.	High impact

Fixing it in code

Move the site footer out of the main content

Don't

<main>
  <h1>Our services</h1>
  <p>…</p>
  <div role="contentinfo">© 2025 Acme · <a href="/contact">Contact</a></div>
</main>

A screen reader says: “Main landmark… content information landmark (inside main)”

<main>
  <h1>Our services</h1>
  <p>…</p>
</main>
<footer>© 2025 Acme · <a href="/contact">Contact</a></footer>

A screen reader says: “Main landmark… then, separately, content information landmark”

A footer placed directly in the body becomes the top-level site footer.

A footer for one article, not the whole site

Don't

<article>
  <h2>News item</h2>
  <div role="contentinfo">Posted 3 May</div>
</article>

A screen reader says: “Content information landmark”

<article>
  <h2>News item</h2>
  <footer>Posted 3 May</footer>
</article>

A screen reader says: “Posted 3 May (no extra landmark)”

A footer inside an article is not a landmark, so it can't be mistaken for the site footer.

Designer's handoff note

In page layouts, mark the site footer as its own area, outside the main content. Developers can then build it at the top level.

Quick test

Tool

NVDA (opens in a new tab) (free, Windows)

Checklist

Step 1: Turn NVDA on and open the page.
Step 2: Press NVDA + F7 and choose Landmarks.
Step 3: Look at where the content information landmark sits in the list.

Pass: Content information appears at the top level, next to main, not inside it.
Fail: Content information appears nested under main or another landmark.

What a green scan still misses

A scanner sees where the footer landmark sits. It can't judge whether the right content is in it, or whether there should be one at all.

Reference

Rule ID: landmark-contentinfo-is-top-level
Raised by: axe-core: “Contentinfo landmark should not be contained in another landmark”
WCAG: Best practice — not a WCAG requirement
Read more: Deque University: landmark-contentinfo-is-top-level (opens in a new tab)
Last reviewed: 14 October 2026