How to Make Website Navigation Work on Mobile
A beginner, hands-on guide to make website navigation work on mobile with browser inspection, exact code-level changes and verification.
By the end: You will implement and verify make website navigation work on mobile on a real local/staging page.
You will implement and verify make website navigation work on mobile on a real local/staging page.
Key terms before you start
These definitions make the steps easier to follow and help distinguish controls, files and concepts that can look similar at first.
What you need before starting
- A page you are allowed to edit
- Access to the HTML/CSS/JS or CMS/template that renders it
- A modern browser with Developer Tools
Step-by-step tutorial
Every step is shown below. Work through them in order and use each checkpoint to confirm the result before moving on.
Work on a local or staging copy
Open the project containing the website source. If this is a production site, use a staging copy or backup before structural changes.
A browser page is rendered from source files/CMS output; DevTools edits do not save back to the server.
Move it into the actual source and reload.
Open the page in a modern browser
Load the page, then press F12 or Ctrl+Shift+I (Windows/Linux) to open Developer Tools.
DevTools lets you inspect the DOM, applied CSS, computed sizes, requests and console errors.
Move it into the actual source and reload.
Write real links first
Use <nav> containing <a href> links to the actual destinations.
Navigation must exist independently of animation.
Move it into the actual source and reload.
Add a real toggle button
Use <button type="button" aria-controls="primary-menu" aria-expanded="false">Menu</button>.
A button has native keyboard activation.
Give the menu an id
Set id="primary-menu" on the controlled navigation container.
aria-controls should refer to a real element id.
Implement open/close state
In JavaScript toggle a class/hidden state and update aria-expanded true/false.
Accessibility state must match visual state.
Keep focus visible
Style :focus-visible for the toggle and links.
Do not globally outline:none.
Test Escape if using an overlay/dialog
If the navigation behaves like an overlay, provide expected close behavior and sensible focus return.
Complex overlays require more focus management than an inline collapsing list.
Test long labels and zoom
Use 200% zoom and long navigation text.
A fixed-height menu can clip enlarged text.
Test the public/staging URL logged out
Open the final URL in a private/incognito window.
CMS/admin sessions can hide caching, permission or styling differences.
Check caching, loaded asset URL, theme/template and logged-out view.
Document the changed file/rule
Record the file/template/component and purpose of the change in the project notes or version-control commit.
Future maintainers should not have to reverse-engineer why a rule exists.
Check caching, loaded asset URL, theme/template and logged-out view.
Reload the real page and reproduce the result after all temporary DevTools edits are gone.
Concrete examples
Copyable example
<button type="button"
aria-controls="primary-menu"
aria-expanded="false">Menu</button>
<nav id="primary-menu" aria-label="Primary">
<a href="/">Home</a>
<a href="/services/">Services</a>
</nav>Troubleshooting
Move it into the actual source and reload.
Check caching, loaded asset URL, theme/template and logged-out view.
Use the Styles/Computed panels to trace the final value instead of adding stronger selectors blindly.
The change has a traceable reason/location.
Continue with these tutorials
Documentation and references
Use these primary and supporting sources to verify current controls, browser behavior and product-specific details.