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Re: The title attribute and screen readers

for

From: Moore, Michael
Date: Jun 26, 2007 7:10AM

Jared:

> Most screen readers now indicate when new windows open. This does not
> remove the need to identify that they will open, but it's important to

> know that most screen reader users will be alerted when the window
> does open.

Paul:

Very good point. Perhaps you are right about the WCAG Samurai
considering it not vital to put it in the text then. Still, if you were
going to warn one group of users by putting it in the title, perhaps we
should warn everyone, but then it seems impossible to please everyone :)

Mike:
There are a few groups, other than those who use screen readers, who may
benefit from providing some type of visible indication that the link
will open in a new window. People with certain congitive disibilities
may benefit, novice users may benefit, and people who are multitasking
may benefit. Basically, anyone who may caught by surprise when their
back button stops working. The Samurai do no attempt to address issues
for people with cognitive disabilities, or for those whose expertise or
for others for whom clearer expectations/explanations of site behavior
might be benificial. The following is a quote from the "Introduction to
WCAG Samurai Errata for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0"

<blockquote>
No new guidelines for cognitive disabilities: WCAG 1 and 2 are both
inadequate to address the needs of people with cognitive disabilities
like dyslexia (though that is only one of many such disabilities, which
often have conflicting needs). We couldn't bring ourselves to delete the
only guideline below Priority 3 that attempts to address cognitive
disabilities ("Use the clearest and simplest language"), but we also
haven't devised a full suite of new guidelines. Nobody else has, either;
it requires considerably more research and, importantly, user testing.
Nor do we trust much of what we've read from alleged experts in the
field. We are leaving WCAG 1 almost exactly as it is and, separately, we
require that compliance with WCAG+Samurai cannot be a claim of full
accessibility to people with cognitive disabilities.
</blockquote>