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Re: Skip to content links, what is the current best practice?

for

From: Jeevan Reddy
Date: Jun 30, 2011 11:51PM


Though "Skip" links has good advantages, most of the web sites doesn't have
visible skip links that helps everyone . if you are targetting only screen
reader users for easier navigation, i prefer ARIA landmarks instead skip
links! with ARIA landmarks, the Screen reader user can navigate to different
sections of page rather only to content.
you should consider two scnerios to follow skip links or not. if your
developing web site according to new standards or your web site is
semantically marked with headings, you can avoid invisible skip links. the
worst case, if your web site was developed in older technologies and has no
semantic headings, skip links are useful!

On Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 8:58 PM, Jim Allan < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> and interesting discussion. Tied into this discussion of should we use
> 'skip links' should be the question...do they even work?
> it depends on your browser and how things are coded and how the
> browser is configured. This is appalling. we have been telling authors
> for years to create skip links...only to find that unless things are
> just right -- they don't work. How frustrating for the developers.
> see
> http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/work/wiki/User_Agent_issues_effecting_A11y#In-page_links_broken
> for a small discussion and links to other resources.
>
> there are many such Accessibility issues see
> http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/work/wiki/User_Agent_issues_effecting_A11y
> additions welcomed.
>
> Developers should have a base level of expectation that certain things
> should function on all browsers.
>
> The User Agent Working Group is collecting these, and using them to
> check our guidelines
> (http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/2011/ED-UAAG20-20110609/).
> comments welcome.
>
> Jim Allan, Co-Chair User Agent Working Group
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 30, 2011 at 9:51 AM, < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> > Some, yes. I always use "main" in conjunction with "content".
> >
> > Vincent Young
> > User Experience, Web Accessibility Specialist
> > Nationwide Corporate Marketing
> > Nationwide®
> > o | 614·677·5094
> > c | 614·607·3400
> > e | <EMAIL REMOVED>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From:
> > Angela French < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> > To:
> > 'WebAIM Discussion List' < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> > Date:
> > 06/30/2011 10:48 AM
> > Subject:
> > Re: [WebAIM] Skip to content links, what is the current best practice?
> > Sent by:
> > <EMAIL REMOVED>
> >
> >
> >
> > Vincent - are you saying that screen readers actually pronounce
> "content"
> > differently if the word "main" is in front of it? How interesting.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [
> > mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of
> > <EMAIL REMOVED>
> > Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 7:44 AM
> > To: WebAIM Discussion List
> > Cc: WebAIM Discussion List; <EMAIL REMOVED>
> > Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Skip to content links, what is the current best
> > practice?
> >
> > Another quick note... try to avoid using "Skip to Content" as "Content"
> > will be pronounced in some assistive technology as the state of being.
> > Instead, I always use "Skip to Main Content". This seems to take care of
> > the issue.
> >
> > Vincent Young
> > User Experience, Web Accessibility Specialist Nationwide Corporate
> > Marketing Nationwide(r) o | 614*677*5094 c | 614*607*3400 e |
> > <EMAIL REMOVED>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From:
> > <EMAIL REMOVED>
> > To:
> > WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> > Cc:
> > WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >,
> > <EMAIL REMOVED>
> > Date:
> > 06/30/2011 10:38 AM
> > Subject:
> > Re: [WebAIM] Skip to content links, what is the current best
> practice?
> > Sent by:
> > <EMAIL REMOVED>
> >
> >
> >
> > It depends on your user base. If you require backwards compatibility I
> > would suggest not removing the skip link as older assistive technology
> can
> >
> >
> > not interpret modern day mark-up such as ARIA roles. Also, you need to
> > determine your requirement for compliance; Section 508 1194.22 (o) leads
> > me to believe that removing the skip link could cause you to be out of
> > compliance.
> >
> > I really like what Drupal is doing with their skip link:
> >
> > http://drupal.org/
> >
> > I'd be interested to know as well, how useful a visual skip link is and
> if
> >
> >
> > Drupal's technique is valid.
> >
> > Vincent Young
> > User Experience, Web Accessibility Specialist
> > Nationwide Corporate Marketing
> > Nationwide(r)
> > o | 614*677*5094
> > c | 614*607*3400
> > e | <EMAIL REMOVED>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From:
> > ihenix < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> > To:
> > WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> > Date:
> > 06/30/2011 10:17 AM
> > Subject:
> > Re: [WebAIM] Skip to content links, what is the current best
> practice?
> > Sent by:
> > <EMAIL REMOVED>
> >
> >
> >
> > In an ideal world we'd have browsers implement Spatial Navigation [1]
> > in the same way that Opera does. This would mean that sighted,
> > keyboard only users would not need visible (on focus) skip links and
> > screen reader users could continue to use headings, landmarks, links
> > etc to navigate. If this were the case we could all go home happy,
> > devs and users alike. Webkit have nightly builds with Spatial
> > Navigation in and apparently Firefox has an experimental build (but I
> > am yet to verify this).
> >
> > My belief is that the days of Skip Links are numbered [2] however for
> > sighted keyboard only users they're still relevant and as such Skip
> > Links have a valid purpose. That said, I've not heard from many
> > sighted keyboard only users who do use skip links. I wonder if this is
> > because Skip links are typically invisible or they're all Opera users ;)
> >
> > Henny
> >
> > [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatial_navigation
> > [2] http://www.iheni.com/the-shelf-life-of-a-skip-link/
> >
> > On 30 Jun 2011, at 14:57, Birkir R. Gunnarsson wrote:
> >
> >> Hi everyone
> >>
> >> Another question, but I think it may be an interesting discussion
> >> point for all.
> >> Btw, thanks for great response on AJAX/ARIA, I am just waiting for the
> >> website admin to clear up two minor matters with me before I ask the
> >> relevant questions.
> >> I have been contemplating accessibility and "skip to content"
> >> practices.
> >> It used to be that screen reader users (myself included) relied on
> >> these links to get me to the interesting area of the page. As a screen
> >> reader user today I much prefer a sensible heading structure, and I
> >> find myself typically exploring a page using the "n" key or "skip to
> >> next element of different type" in Jaws. I am not sure if that is just
> >> me or if users generally use this method.
> >> However, I have done some reading on it and it is confusing.
> >> On the one hand there is discussion on people who need to use keyboard
> >> simulation and canot navigate through html elements like screen reader
> >> users do. Therefore a "skip to content" link is still necessary for
> >> them. On the other hand a large part of same discuussion focuses on
> >> hiding the link by positioning it off-screen which would indicate that
> >> it is intended for screen reader use specifically, see
> >> http://www.jimthatcher.com/webcourse4.htm
> >> (excellent guide in my humble opinion, but may be a few years out of
> >> date in some respects).
> >>
> >> So, do you recommend a "skip to content" link for non-screen reader
> >> keyboard users, or shold it be entirely replaced by sensible us of
> >> html elements such as headings or landmarks?
> >> Cheers
> >> -B
> >>