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Re: should 'skip to content' be the first element onthepage?

for

From: John Foliot - Stanford Online Accessibility Program
Date: Feb 15, 2007 6:00PM

<EMAIL REMOVED> wrote:
> I have several speech users that I've discussed the skip to content
> link
> with. They said they like it to be first, especially on pages they
> are
> re-visiting.
>
> However, I want to explore using headers as the main navigation,
> something
> that was discussed at the Assistive Technology conference by both Jon
> Gunderson and Shawn Henry.

The use of headers as a navigational tool is something that many, but not
all users deploy as they navigate through your site. Similarly, some users
scan a sites' navigation block, others go straight for a site map, yet
others still use the search box (you know, the one Jakob Neilsen says should
be in the top right corner) to seek what they are looking for.

Generalizing that *all* users of Adaptive technology do this, that or the
other is simply unfair, unrealistic, and completely misses the point.

> I'm hoping to set up a usablity test and
> have
> two pages set up one with the skip and one without, both having the
> header
> tags formated correctly ready by March.

Ok, and by all means share the data - but I suspect that if you have a large
enough pool you'll find that there are few "absolutes". I would further
suggest that while using heading tags is the logical way of doing things,
given that the Section 508 checklist infers that a "skip nav" link should
(must?) be present, and that for many, many sites the initial link *is* a
skip nav link, that user behaviour is reaching the point that many "expect"
this convention, logic or practicality aside. If non-sighted users are
starting to 'expect' this form of navigation aid, why should we stop?
Conventions are emerging for visual layouts (left hand navigation being one
of them), why should it be any different for non-sighted users?

> My main content is always
> header 1 to see if the folks miss the skip content. I have two users
> that hate
> sites that over "link" skip to content, skip to local navigation,
> ect. But
> the others never said much either way, and I never thought to ask.

Exactly.

JF