How to Make Mega Menus More Accessible

A mega menu is typically a large, two-dimensional panel that appears when a user interacts with a top-level navigation item. It’s often used by eCommerce stores or websites with many different product categories or content sections. Because it can display a wide variety of links in a single view, a mega menu helps visitors explore your site quickly—no endless drilling down into submenus.

But here’s the catch: while mega menus make navigation simpler for many users, they can also create barriers for some. For example, hover-triggered mega menus might be useless for someone relying on a keyboard. Or, if the menu isn’t properly labeled, a screen reader user might get stuck in a confusing loop of unlabeled links.

These barriers matter because web accessibility is not just about following rules—it’s about ensuring everyone can use your site. If you leave people out, you risk alienating customers who want to purchase your products or read your content. So, let’s dive into some common accessibility issues and how to fix them.

Overcoming Common Accessibility Challenges

Improving Hover Functionality

Most mega menus open when you hover your mouse over the navigation item. However, hover-based menus can cause big problems for keyboard users (or anyone who can’t use a mouse).

Inaccessible for Keyboard Users: People who navigate with the keyboard use the Tab key to move from link to link. If a menu only opens on hover, these users can’t open the submenu.
Overly Sensitive Interactions: Sometimes, mega menus can pop open or shut at the slightest movement of your mouse. This makes them frustrating to use for everyone.
The “Diagonal Problem”: If you move the mouse at an angle, you can sometimes trigger submenus you didn’t intend to open.

Best Practice: Use a click to open the submenus instead of relying on hover. This way, both mouse and keyboard users have a more predictable experience. A click is a clearer signal of intention, reducing accidental openings or closings.

Making Menus Easy to Close

A menu that’s hard to dismiss can trap users, especially if it covers a large portion of the screen. On the other hand, a menu that closes too quickly can frustrate users who accidentally hover away for a split second.

Solutions:

Escape Key Support: Let users close the menu by pressing the Escape key. This is a standard expectation in many UI patterns and helps keyboard users exit quickly.
Delayed Closing: If you decide to keep some hover functionality, add a slight delay before the submenu disappears. This grace period prevents the menu from closing by mistake if a user’s pointer drifts outside the panel for a moment.

Enhancing Keyboard Accessibility

Logical Keyboard Navigation

Keyboard navigation is a critical part of web accessibility. You want the user’s Tab key presses to move in a clear, intuitive order:

First Tab: Highlight the first top-level navigation item.
Enter Key: If the focused top-level item has a submenu, pressing Enter opens that submenu. Pressing Enter again on any submenu item activates the link.
Tab Within a Submenu: Moves focus to the next item in the submenu.
Escape Key: Closes the submenu and returns focus to the parent menu item.
Shift + Tab: Moves backward through the items, letting users navigate in reverse.

This logical flow ensures that people who rely on the keyboard won’t get lost or stuck.

Providing Clear Focus Indicators

When users press Tab, they should be able to see exactly which menu item is highlighted. This means using visible focus indicators:

A change in background color, an underline, or a bold outline helps users quickly spot the focused item.
Make sure the color contrast meets accessibility guidelines. Avoid using color alone—some users might not see color differences clearly. An underline or border is a more reliable visual cue.

Optimizing Screen Reader Support with ARIA

Choosing the Right ARIA Roles

Using role= "menu" for all navigation is a common mistake introduced in development. This role should only be used if your navigation behaves like a desktop application menu. For most website mega menus, it’s better to use simpler roles.

Recommended roles and attributes:

role= "navigation": Declares that this section is a navigation landmark, which helps screen reader users quickly find or skip it.
role= "menuitem": If you have interactive items that function like menu items (though for basic links, standard <a> elements might be enough).
aria-haspopup= "true": Indicates that a button or link has a submenu.
aria-expanded= "false": Tells screen readers if a section is closed. Switch it to true when the submenu opens.

Labeling and Describing Elements Properly

Screen readers need helpful labels to convey what the link or button does. If your button opens a “Products” submenu, label it clearly:

Use aria-label= "Products Menu" or aria-labelledby=" [ID_of_label]" to associate a descriptive label with the menu.
Provide descriptive link text. Instead of “Click here,” use something like “View our latest products.” This helps all users know exactly where the link leads.

Implementing Accessible Mega Menus with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

Using Semantic HTML for Proper Structure

Below is a simple example showing how to structure an accessible mega menu:

<nav aria-label= "Main Menu">
  <ul>
    <li><a href="#">Home</a></li>
    <li>
      <button aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true">Products</button>
      <ul>
        <li><a href="#">Product 1</a></li>
        <li><a href="#">Product 2</a></li>
      </ul>
    </li>
  </ul>
</nav>

Here’s why this works:

<nav aria-label= "Main Menu">: The <nav> element is a semantic way to mark the navigation area. The aria-label helps screen readers identify it.
<button> vs. <a>: Using a button for expandable menus is more accessible because it’s an interactive element by default and can easily handle the aria-expanded state.
aria-expanded: Indicates whether the submenu is open or closed (true or false).

Styling Menus for Visibility & Interaction

Accessible styling goes beyond making things “look nice.” It ensures that focus states are clear. For instance:

nav button:focus {
  outline: 2px solid #005ea2;
  background-color: #f1f1f1;
}
nav ul ul {
  display: none;
}
nav button[aria-expanded="true"] + ul {
  display: block;
}

The outline property and background-color change help users see the focused button.
By default, submenus are hidden (display: none).
When aria-expanded= "true", the submenu appears (display: block).

Enhancing Usability with JavaScript

A small amount of JavaScript can make your menus more accessible. Here’s how you can toggle the aria-expanded attribute:

document.querySelectorAll('nav button[aria-haspopup]').forEach(button => {
  button.addEventListener('click', () => {
    const expanded = button.getAttribute('aria-expanded') === 'true';
    button.setAttribute('aria-expanded', !expanded);
  });
});

This code finds every button with aria-haspopup.
When clicked, it checks if aria-expanded is currently true, then toggles it.
This prevents menus from randomly opening on hover and gives users control.

Accessible Navigation Is an Ongoing Commitment

Building an accessible mega menu isn’t a one-and-done project. It takes careful planning, coding, and constant testing to make sure all users can move through your site with ease. However, the payoff is huge: better usability for everyone, including people with temporary or permanent disabilities, and compliance with accessibility standards like WCAG.

Remember, accessibility benefits everyone. Even a user with a short-term injury or someone on a small mobile device can benefit from keyboard-friendly and screen-reader-friendly menus. By making small changes to HTML, CSS, ARIA attributes, and JavaScript, you can open up your site to a larger audience and provide a smoother experience for all.

If you need expert guidance on web accessibility or want a thorough audit of your online store, 216digital can help. We specialize in creating inclusive, user-friendly experiences that keep your customers coming back and keep your website on the cutting edge of accessibility best practices. Don’t let your mega menus become mega barriers—start making them accessible today!