Site footer
The footer provides links, social icons, and other information about your service.
Site footer example
A screenshot of the SDI footer
How to use the site footer
The footer should appear at the end of every page. It should contain:
- A link to a contact page
- A link to email signups if there is one for your site/service
- Social logos and links
- Links to the accessibility statement, cookie policy, privacy notice, terms and conditions, and beta page
- Logos of any partners associated with the service
- The brand logo of the site or service
- Copyright
You can also include other useful links such as:
- Main navigation pages
- Corporate pages
- Sitemap
- Information for non-key audiences, such as press or partners
Adding a site footer in the CMS
If you’re building a page in the CMS, you don’t need to manually add a footer. The footer will be automatically applied across the site to every page.
You can edit the global footer in the CMS, under ‘site settings’. This will affect the footer on every page.
Accessibility
The footer is marked up as a footer so assistive technology can differentiate this content from other content on the page.
We’ve used aria labels across different parts of the footer so users with assistive technology can understand how all the different links are grouped. For example, the navigation links are labelled ‘Main landing pages and sitemap’, while the ‘stay in touch’ links are labelled ‘Contact information and newsletter sign up’.
Make sure any logos or icons in the footer have appropriate alt text. In most cases, this won’t need to describe how the icon or logo looks, but what it does – for example, ‘Go to our Facebook page’ or ‘Go to the South of Scotland website’.
Evidence and research
We have updated the layout of the footer. In testing users found it clear and easy to read.