A sitemap is an HTML page that lists all the sections and subsections of a website in the form of clickable links. Its role is to provide an overview of the structure, accessible in one place, without forcing the user to explore each menu or tab through interactive elements.
The WCAG accessibility guidelines classify it among the recognized means to help users find content, just like a search bar or a breadcrumb trail.
HTML sitemap and XML sitemap: two files, two distinct functions
The confusion between these two elements often arises. The XML sitemap is a technical file intended for indexing bots from Google or Bing. It never appears in a browser and serves no human visitor.
The HTML sitemap, on the other hand, is a visible page designed for navigation. It is aimed at people looking for a specific section, who use a screen reader, or who navigate exclusively via keyboard. The two files can coexist without replacing each other.
To see a concrete example of a navigation-oriented sitemap page, the Wallstore sitemap illustrates this logic of a hierarchical list grouping all categories at a glance.
Designing a robust sitemap for redesigns and evolutions
Most sitemaps become outdated after a few months because they have been created manually, frozen at a specific moment. As soon as a new section appears or a page changes its URL, the sitemap no longer reflects the reality of the site. This is the central problem.
Automatic generation or manual construction
An automatically generated sitemap by the CMS (WordPress, Prestashop, Drupal) updates with each publication or deletion of a page. This is the most reliable method for sites that change frequently. An auto-generated sitemap remains synchronized with the actual structure, without human intervention.
Manual construction remains relevant when the site contains sections that are better excluded from the sitemap: conversion tunnel pages, thank-you pages after forms, duplicated content, or administration pages. The choice depends on the frequency of changes.
Pages to include and pages to exclude
- Structural pages (home, main sections, subcategories, service or product pages) form the foundation of the sitemap. They must all appear.
- Blog or news articles should be grouped by category rather than listed individually, especially beyond a few dozen publications.
- Pages without navigational value (T&Cs, cookie policy, redirect pages, temporary landing pages) clutter the sitemap and dilute its readability. It’s better to omit them.
Anticipating legal changes and WCAG requirements
Accessibility guidelines are evolving. The WCAG interpretation documentation published by the W3C positions the sitemap as a compliance tool, not just a comfort tool. Integrating the sitemap into accessibility criteria from the design stage avoids having to rebuild it for each compliance update.
Specifically, this means that the sitemap must remain navigable via keyboard, that each link must have an explicit title (no “click here”), and that the hierarchy of titles in the sitemap page itself must respect the logical order H2, H3, without skipping levels.
HTML structure of a readable and accessible sitemap
An effective sitemap relies on a structure of nested lists. Each main section corresponds to a first-level list item, and the subsections fit into child lists. This structure allows screen readers to understand the depth of the hierarchy.
Three levels of depth are sufficient in most cases. Beyond that, the page becomes a wall of links that no one navigates. If the site architecture requires four levels or more, it often indicates that the hierarchy itself would benefit from simplification.
The link titles must exactly match the titles of the destination pages. A visitor reading “Our Commitments” in the sitemap and landing on a page titled “CSR Policy” loses trust in the navigation. This consistency between the sitemap and the actual pages is the most often overlooked criterion.
Maintenance of the sitemap: the check that most websites lack
Publishing a sitemap is not enough. A broken link in the sitemap degrades navigation more than the absence of a sitemap. The visitor relies on this page to access a section directly. Encountering a 404 error from the sitemap destroys that trust.
Regularly checking the links in the sitemap can be integrated into the same process as checking the internal links of the site. Crawling tools (Screaming Frog, Xenu, or the checkers built into CMSs) can detect dead URLs in minutes.
- After each redesign or migration, run a complete crawl and compare the URLs in the sitemap with the pages that are actually accessible.
- When adding a new section, check that the automatic generation system has properly integrated it into the sitemap, or add it manually.
- At least once a quarter, verify that the titles in the sitemap still correspond to the actual titles of the pages.
- Remove from the sitemap any de-indexed or redirected pages, to avoid redirect loops from the navigation page.
A well-maintained sitemap acts as a permanent safety net for navigation. When a menu becomes complex, when a search bar returns vague results, when a keyboard user cannot reach a section via the usual path, the sitemap remains the last reliable resort. This reliability depends on one condition: that the page reflects the reality of the site at the moment the visitor consults it.
