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Re: source order

for

From: Jared Smith
Date: Apr 7, 2008 5:00PM

On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 4:30 PM, Viable Design < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> I've seen several sites using both "Skip to Content" and "Skip to
> Navigation" links, along with other "skip" links to other pertinent areas.

I prefer "Skip to Content" because it informs the user where they are
going, not what they are skipping. It just seems to be slightly more
informative, to me at least.

I think you need to be careful to not provide too many "skip" links.
For most sites, just one link that skips to the content is sufficient.
Remember, keyboard and screen reader users have to navigate
through/listen to these links on every page. Many of these users can
navigate in other ways (by heading, forms, paragraphs, etc.) beyond
just the links your provide and will probably find a much more
efficient way to get to important page elements. For instance, the key
sequences F, TAB or B, Shift + Tab will get you to the Search box on
most sites. Because "skip" links are almost entirely useless to
non-keyboard users, providing a bunch of them could introduce
additional cognitive load and page clutter. There really are no
die-hard rules here, but the feedback I've received from keyboard
users is that less is often more in this area.

I've always wondered - if you have 4 "skip" links on each page, would
these qualify as "repetitive links" and thus require their own "Skip
the skip links" link according to Section 508? ;-)

Jared Smith
WebAIM