The <nav> Element

Technical Summary

Definition / Categories

Item	Specification summary
Meaning	A section containing links to other documents or places in the current document
Categories	Flow content, sectioning content, and palpable content
Context	Where sectioning content is expected
Content model	Flow content
Tag omission	Neither the start nor end tag can be omitted
DOM interface	HTMLElement
HTML-AAM implicit role	navigation (a landmark role)

The definition makes nav a section for navigation. It does not require a list element or set a minimum number of links.

Meaning and scope

The HTML Standard defines nav as a section containing links to other pages or places within the current page, and says it is primarily intended for major navigation blocks. Not every group of links on a page needs the element.

A site's main menu, an article's table of contents, and breadcrumbs are common examples. A short footer list of links to terms or copyright information usually does not need to be nav just because it contains links. Judge by the purpose of the group, not only by how it looks.

nav is sectioning content, but it does not create a heading or generate links. Add a heading separately when the content needs one. The child a elements and their href attributes provide link navigation.

Content model and DOM

The content model is flow content. Ordered lists are useful when order matters, and unordered lists are useful for parallel links, but a list is not required. Other flow content, including paragraphs, is permitted.

The DOM interface is HTMLElement. The element does not define its own navigation API or special keyboard interaction. Users interact with the links or controls inside it in the usual way. CSS controls visual layout and color; those styles are separate from the element's meaning.

const nav = document.querySelector('nav');

console.log(nav instanceof HTMLElement); // true
console.log(nav.localName);              // "nav"
console.log(nav.getAttribute('role'));   // null: no role attribute was set

No explicit role attribute does not mean no role is exposed in the accessibility tree. Inspect the HTML-AAM implicit role separately from the browser's observed accessibility tree.

Accessibility / Landmark Names

HTML-AAM 1.0 Working Draft (2026-10-21) maps the implicit role of nav to WAI-ARIA's navigation role. In WAI-ARIA, navigation is a landmark. Landmarks help assistive technology users find and move to major page areas.

A landmark name describes what that area helps users find. The WAI-ARIA APG says a name is optional when a page has only one navigation landmark and recommends names that distinguish multiple landmarks by purpose. Repeated navigation areas with the same links can share the same name. Treat this as APG author guidance, separate from the HTML Standard's content model.

Use aria-label or aria-labelledby to provide a name. In HTML-AAM name computation, a referenced label takes precedence over other naming sources. Because assistive technology announces the role separately, the name does not need to repeat the word "navigation". Screen-reader speech was not part of this browser observation.

The native HTML element already communicates the navigation role. Usually there is no need to repeat it with role="navigation".

Fact / Evidence

Normative HTML definitions, HTML-AAM role mappings, and APG author guidance are recorded as separate claims.

Evidence

1. HTML Living Standard, §4.3.4 The nav element — meaning, categories, context, content model, and scope of navigation sections.
2. HTML Accessibility API Mappings 1.0 Working Draft, 2026-10-21 — implicit role and accessible-name mappings.
3. WAI-ARIA 1.2, navigation role — role definition and landmark semantics.
4. WAI-ARIA APG, Navigation Landmark — author guidance for one or multiple navigation landmarks and repeated link sets.
5. WPT at revision 68d964a5f292bc4b2c2eba2f21e2b916190b6ad2: html-aam/roles.html — the el-nav computed-role test.
6. WPT at the same revision: html-aam/names.html — navigation accessible-name sources and precedence.

Implementation Evidence

On 2026-10-25, 188 selected WPT checks ran in Chrome 155. A local Chrome 156 browser checked all four pages at 1280×720 and 390×844, including light/dark switching, page-level horizontal overflow, and landmark names. Each result is limited to the recorded browser and scope. Screen-reader speech and Windows platform accessibility APIs were not measured.

Dedicated fixture: All 12 checks in nav-v1 passed. The landmark role/name queries, four-page viewport and theme observations, and WPT conditions and scope are recorded in docs/atlas/nav-evidence-2026-10-25.md.

Coverage / Open Issues

• Specification checkedMeaning, categories, context, content model, and sectioning-content boundaries
• AAM checkedHTML-AAM navigation-role mapping and APG guidance for named and repeated landmarks
• Selected WPT files runroles.html and names.html at one pinned revision
• OpenOther browsers, Windows UI Automation and other platform APIs, screen-reader speech, and the remaining HTML-AAM/WPT coverage

Related surfaces

• Yugien: a beginner-friendly guide to nav
• Atlas日本語版: nav要素
• main: primary content and placement rules