Pointer & touch

A Button or Link Is Too Small to Tap Easily

Tiny or tightly packed buttons and links are hard to hit, so people tap the wrong thing or give up.

target-sizeWCAG 2.2Introduced in WCAG 2.2.Level AAAA — the Australian baseline (WCAG 2.2 AA) most laws and policies ask for.

Status: SeriousSerious — Significant friction, or information that is lost.CurrentScanners run this rule today.
Owner: DesignDevTestProduct
Audit: Automated+ManualA scanner finds it; a person confirms the fix.

Save as PDF

Why it matters

Many people don't have precise control of a finger or mouse. Tremors, arthritis, a shaky bus or a big thumb all make small targets hard to hit.

Each target should be at least 24 by 24 pixels. Smaller ones are fine only if there's enough space around them that a miss doesn't land on another control.

Who it affects

Who it affects, and how much
Who	What they experience	Impact
Motor and dexterity	They miss small targets, hit the one next door, and have to undo mistakes again and again.	High impact
Low-vision users (magnification)	Tiny icons are hard to see and aim at, especially when zoomed in on a phone.	Partial impact
Cognitive and neurodivergent users	Accidental taps on the wrong control can be confusing and hard to recover from.	Partial impact
Voice control users	When they use a numbered grid to click, small packed targets are hard to pick out.	Partial impact

Business & product impact

Business & product impact, with how much each claim weighs
Area	Why	Impact
Legal	Target size is part of WCAG 2.2 Level AA, which Australian Disability Discrimination Act complaints point to. EN 301 549 doesn't include it yet, but newer versions are expected to.	Moderate impact
Conversion	Mis-taps on quantity, close or checkout buttons cause wrong orders and abandoned carts, especially on mobile.	High impact
SEO	No real search benefit — don't sell it as one.	Low impact
Brand trust	Fiddly controls make a site feel cheap and frustrating for everyone.	Moderate impact
Cost to fix	Cheap if set as a minimum in the design system. Costly to retrofit screen by screen.	Moderate impact

Fixing it in code

A small icon button

Don't

.icon-btn {
  width: 16px;
  height: 16px;
  padding: 0;
}

A screen reader says: “No change for screen readers — the problem is aiming, not hearing.”

.icon-btn {
  min-width: 24px;
  min-height: 24px;
  padding: 4px;
}

A screen reader says: “No change for screen readers — the button just gets easier to hit.”

Padding grows the tappable area while the icon stays the same size.

Page number links packed together

Don't

.pagination a {
  width: 18px;
  height: 18px;
  margin: 0;
}

A screen reader says: “No change for screen readers.”

.pagination a {
  min-width: 24px;
  min-height: 24px;
}
.pagination {
  display: flex;
  gap: 8px;
}

A screen reader says: “No change for screen readers.”

Each link is big enough, and the gap stops a miss landing on its neighbour.

Designer's handoff note

Set 24 by 24 pixels as the smallest tappable area in your design system. Aim for 44 by 44 for main actions on mobile.

Draw the tappable area, not just the icon, in your specs so developers build the right size.

Quick test

Tool

Browser developer tools (opens in a new tab) (free in Chrome, Edge, Firefox)

Checklist

Step 1: Right-click a small icon, close button or link and choose Inspect.
Step 2: Hover over the element in the code panel.
Step 3: Read the width and height shown on the page.

Pass: It's at least 24 by 24 pixels, or has enough space that a 24-pixel circle on it doesn't touch another target.
Fail: It's smaller than 24 pixels and sits right against another control.

Check these at the same time

A button has no name a screen reader can say button-name
A link has no text a screen reader can read link-name

What a green scan still misses

A scanner measures boxes. It can't tell if a target is exempt, like a link inside a sentence, or whether real people can comfortably hit your main actions.

Reference

Rule ID: target-size
Raised by: axe-core: “All touch targets must be 24px large, or leave sufficient space”
WCAG: 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) (opens in a new tab) · Level AA · since WCAG 2.2
Read more: Deque University: target-size (opens in a new tab)
Last reviewed: 14 October 2026