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Re: Skip links and SEO

for

From: John Foliot - Stanford Online Accessibility Program
Date: May 2, 2007 11:40AM

Patrick Lauke wrote:
> unless you're trying to get to #1 rank for the term "skip" or
> something :)
>

LOL - a Google Search for "Skip Navigation" returned the usual cast of
characters, in order:

* Jim Thatcher
* WebAIM
* Mark Pilgrim (diveintoaccessibility)
* Joe Clark

... So even then, it seems Google is already ignoring "Skip Navigation" as a
link at the top of your document(s).

>
> Secondly, it's not really a problem to have a hidden skip link, as
> long as it's visible (in an obvious place, where the user would
> expect it...if it's the first link in the tab cycle, this would be
> top-left of the page) when it receives focus - I did this ages ago on
> Molly's site www.molly.com, and the same technique was adapted for
> the WaSP site www.webstandards.org

I tend to agree as well. While a 'visible' link may help some, there are
also visual/branding considerations that must be acknowledged - to do so is
to ignore other users/content creators "needs". Place a skip nav that
appears on focus, is to me anyway, a workable compromise.

JF
---
John Foliot
Academic Technology Consultant
Stanford Online Accessibility Program
http://soap.stanford.edu
Stanford University
560 Escondido Mall
Meyer Library 181
Stanford, CA 94305-3093
Tel: 650-862-4603