🔹 Needed for NSW Government Branding
The NSW Government network masthead displays across the top of all NSW Government sites. It helps users see which service they are using.
The Masthead displays across the top of all NSW Government sites and clearly identifies your site as part of the NSW Government. The Masthead component includes a Skip Link accessibility feature that allows users to jump to the main content of the page.
Depending on your Brand classification there are rules for which Masthead should be used:
Masterbrand corporate must use the Default Masthead (Blue 01) to maintain a strong and consistent connection to NSW Government.
Masterbrand non-corporate and co-brand is preferred to use the Default, however a Light Masthead (Off-white) is available if Blue 01 is not suitable to use with your Brand Colours.
The Skip Link component helps keyboard-only and screen-reader users skip to the main content on a page, this includes skipping over the header and navigation. The Skip Link is visually hidden until a keyboard press focuses and activates it.
Important: The Skip Link component should be at the top of the page as the first interactive child. In a standard setup there is no special logic to make the skip link the first focussable element — this comes from its position in the DOM. When you integrate the Quick Exit component, keep your existing skip links as they are; the Quick Exit script will insert a separate screen-reader-only announcement message immediately before the Skip Link container.
When the Quick Exit component is used on a page, you should conditionally render a screen‑reader‑only announcement message directly in your Masthead template, immediately before the Skip Link container. This ensures the message is available for users without JavaScript. When JavaScript is enabled, the Quick Exit script will also inject this message automatically, but this should be treated as progressive enhancement, not the primary method.
You do not need to add a separate "skip to Quick Exit" link. Instead, ensure your Masthead template includes the standard Skip Link navigation in the correct position so the Quick Exit script can prepend its announcement message reliably.
For full details on how the Quick Exit banner behaves, including placement and keyboard shortcuts, see the Quick Exit component. Use that documentation alongside this Masthead guidance when implementing safety controls on your site.
All components are responsive and designed to comply with WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards. Full compliance depends on using and configuring the components correctly.