WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Visible Skip Nav Link

for

From: Jared Smith
Date: Feb 16, 2012 9:36AM

The arguments against a visible "skip" links are that most sighted
users don't know what they do, they intrude significantly on visual
design (by their nature, they have to be at the top of the page and
visually apparent), and they provide very little utility for mouse
users. There's little that can be done to overcome these arguments.

The arguments against a hidden "skip" link are that sighted
keyboard-only users may not know that it is there or they might
quickly 'tab' past it. I think these can readily be overcome. I have a
very simple demo that uses basic CSS3 transitions to animate the
"skip" link into view when it receives keyboard focus. See
http://webaim.org/temp/skipcss3.htm It is very visually apparent,
difficult to miss even if you are navigating quickly, and could be
styled to fit right into the visual design.

In short, no, I don't think visible "skip" links are a battle worth fighting.

Vincent's example where it pops into view when the mouse moves is very
distracting and could render navigation of the page impossible for
users with high distractability.

Jared