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Re: Best way to set up links to documents

for

From: Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis
Date: Oct 5, 2008 3:40AM

Keith Parks wrote:
> One way I've seen would be something like...
>
> Disability Verification Form (MS Word file, PDF file)
>
> Disability Questionnaire (MS Word file, PDF file)
>
> Application for Services (MS Word file, PDF file)

<li>Disability Verification Form (<a
href="disability-verification-form.doc" type="application/msword"><span
class="extra-context">Disability Verification Form in </span>Microsoft
Word format</a>,<span class="extra-context"> or </span><a
href="disability-verification-form.pdf" type="application/pdf"><span
class="extra-context">Disability Verification Form in </span> Adobe<abbr
title="Portable Document Format">PDF</abbr> format</a>)</li>

span.extra-context {
position: absolute;
left: -9999em;
}

would achieve that visual presentation in browsers applying your CSS and
allow forms to be easily found in a list of links.

The aural presentation would be verbose if you simply read through the
list, but if you pressed a key to move from list item to list item it
would not be so.

Compare:

http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-WCAG20-TECHS-20080430/C7.html

There are plenty of alternatives to doing this however. For example:

1. Have a list of available forms where each link takes you to a page
offering a choice of formats for that form.

2. Have a page listing forms in (say) Word format, with a single link to
the same list in PDF format.

I'd probably prefer (2).

--
Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis