Visual Skimming

The rapid visual process of scanning a page to quickly identify relevant content, key information, and areas of interest without reading every word. Sighted users can typically assess a webpage's relevance in about five seconds through visual skimming, guided by visual hierarchy, typography, color, layout, and spatial organization. Screen reader users cannot perform visual skimming and must instead use sequential navigation or heading/landmark shortcuts, creating a fundamental accessibility disparity in web browsing efficiency.