Planning tools

Planning a structure is mostly thinking, but a few small tools make the thinking faster. They turn a rough outline into something you can see, check a list of labels for duplicates, or collect scattered answers into a brief. None of them replace research with real users, and none of them look at your live website. They work on whatever you type or paste.

What each tool does

Sitemap builder. Type an indented outline of the pages you plan. The builder suggests a readable address for every page, draws the tree, and exports a spreadsheet and a draft sitemap.xml. It follows Google's address guidance: readable words, hyphens between words and lower case throughout.

Taxonomy planner. List your categories and tags, paste a few sample items, and the planner points out items without a category, tags nobody uses, labels written two ways and terms that act as both a tag and a category.

Hierarchy visualiser. Paste an outline and see it redrawn as a nested tree, with page counts per level and flags for sections that hold more direct children than a limit you choose.

Information architecture worksheet. Answer questions about purpose, audiences, tasks, content types and constraints. The worksheet turns your answers into a plain-text brief you can share or attach to a request for quotes.

Internal linking checklist. Sixteen checks across navigation, in-content links, hubs and maintenance. Tick what is already true; download the rest as a to-do list.

How the tools handle your data

Each tool is a small script that runs on the page. When you press a button, the script reads the form, works out the result and shows it on the same page. Downloads are created in your browser from that result. There is no server step, no account and no tracking of what you type. If you close the page, your input is gone, so download anything you want to keep. The privacy notice has the full detail.

The tools need JavaScript. With JavaScript turned off, each tool page still shows the written method so you can do the same work on paper or in a spreadsheet.

Using the tools together

The tools are designed to be used in sequence, although each works on its own.

1. Start with the worksheet to pin down who the site is for and what they come to do. Tasks are the raw material for everything else.
2. Draft a structure in the sitemap builder, using the tasks to decide the sections.
3. Paste the same outline into the hierarchy visualiser to check depth and section sizes.
4. Plan how content will be classified with the taxonomy planner.
5. Once pages exist, work through the linking checklist to connect them.

What the tools cannot tell you

A tool can show that a section holds fourteen pages; it cannot tell you whether your visitors will understand its label. For that you need people. Card sorting, which Digital NSW describes as participants "organising topics into categories that make sense to them", shows how people group content. Tree testing shows whether they can find things in a proposed structure. Our guide to card sorting and tree testing explains both methods and how to run them on a small budget.

The tools also cannot check your live site. They do not crawl pages, read your analytics or test addresses. If you need that, an information architecture audit is the right step.

Accessibility of the tools

Every tool can be used with a keyboard alone. Errors are listed in a summary at the top of the form that receives focus, with links to each field. Results receive focus when they appear, and a status message announces what changed. If you meet a barrier, please tell us through the contact page so we can fix it. Our accessibility statement describes how we tested.

Tools and accessibility testing are different jobs

The hierarchy visualiser flags depth and crowding, and the linking checklist covers consistent navigation, but neither tool tests your site against WCAG. If accessibility is part of your project, treat structural checks as one input alongside proper accessibility testing, including testing with assistive technology and with disabled people. Our accessible navigation guide explains which WCAG 2.2 criteria depend on structure.

Questions about the tools

If a tool behaves unexpectedly, or you would like it to handle a case it does not, tell us through the contact page. The tools are maintained alongside the guides, and suggestions from people using them are how they improve.

The tools

Sources checked 4 November 2026 for tools

1. Sitemaps, Google
2. URL structure, Google
3. Card sorting, Digital NSW