SH007 – Breadcrumb Structure Check
Overview
Checks for breadcrumb navigation and semantic/accessibility markup: nav, ol, li, aria-label, aria-current, links.
Probability that AI systems use this signal: Crawlers and generative AI pipelines consume structured and visible page signals for training and inference. Assessment-specific signals (e.g. schema, canonicals, trust cues) affect how likely a page is indexed and surfaced. The probability that this assessment's signal influences AI behavior is high when the page is in a product or compliance context.
Impact on geo compliance: Passing this assessment supports geo compliance by ensuring machine-readable and visible content meet standards that reduce the risk of wrong locale, pricing, or trust in AI-generated answers. Failing can lead to non-compliant or misleading surfacing.
What We Check
- **_find_breadcrumb_navigation:** nav[aria-label*="breadcrumb" i], .breadcrumb, .breadcrumbs, [class*="breadcrumb" i]. No nav: −40.
- **_validate_breadcrumb_structure:** nav element (not nav: issue); ol inside nav; ≥2 li; ol direct child of nav. Each −20.
- **_check_breadcrumb_accessibility:** nav has aria-label; element with aria-current="page"; at least one link. Each −15.
Pass / Fail and Score
- **PASSED** if score >= 60.
How to Fix When It Fails
- Add breadcrumb nav; use nav, ol, li; add aria-label and aria-current="page"; include links to parent pages.
Common Issues
- No breadcrumb; div/span instead of nav/ol; missing aria; no links.
Dependencies
None.
How to Verify
- Find breadcrumb region; check markup and ARIA.
Additional Resources
- schema.org BreadcrumbList; ARIA breadcrumb