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Re: Title attributes on images and links

for

From: Caleb Tang
Date: Aug 5, 2009 11:50AM

In terms of opening new window, it depends on user settings and browser. It
could open in one of the following:
1) New window - full screen
2) New window - last closed window size
3) New tab

I think it is ok to open in a new window as long as the user aware about it.
WebAIM website uses icon and title attribute to inform user if it opens in a
new window or link to another website. To support screen reader user, each
icon has a hidden text eg:
<a href="http://www.google.com" title="Link to External Site"
class="external"><img src="external.png" alt="" /> Google<span> - External
Link</span></a>.

Caleb Tang
Accessibility & Usability Consultant



On 05/08/2009 17:52, "Karl Groves" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

>> I'm a developer (not a manager), and I use targets in the two instances
>> you
>> mentioned. Reasoning is this:
>>
>> 1. It's bad business to take people away from your site
>
> Actually, what I (and others) have found during usability testing is that
> opening new windows is just as likely - if not more - to cause lost
> visitors. Here's why:
> What happens when a new window is opened via target is that the new window
> overlays the old window in exactly the same size that the old window was
> opened. Because statistics show that users' browser window size is
> typically 87% or greater of the available screen space, the new window
> which appears is essentially "full screen" and overlays the old window.
>
> In usability tests what we found was that the new window opens and users
> don't notice the new window appeared. They interact with this new window,
> clicking around and such, and then when they're done (and want to go back
> to *your* site), they begin clicking the "Back" button repeatedly,
> eventually reaching where the initial location when the new window
> appeared. In other words, they're not back at your site.
>
> In frustration, they begin closing the browser. Now, what you might
> expect is that they'd close this "new" window and realize along the way
> that your original site is there underneath in the "original" window.
> What actually happened, surprisingly, is that they somehow got to thinking
> that the only way they could get back to your site was to start over
> entirely from the beginning - shutting down all browser windows entirely
> and starting anew.
>
> The bottom line: Opening new windows via 'target' causes lost, frustrated
> users. Frustrating users is really bad business.
>
> I haven't worked out a solution, but one previous co-worker hypothesized
> that we could avoid this problem by purposely making the new window
> significantly smaller (something like 60% of full window size) via
> JavaScript. The working idea here was that making the window
> significantly smaller would grab the user's attention. It would require
> them to resize the window manually and therefore make them fully aware
> that the new window exists so that, when they decide they want to go back
> to your site, they remember the new window appeared and that all they need
> to do is close the new window.
>
> We never got a chance to do a real A+B test with this approach, so I don't
> know whether it solves the problem.
>
> Personally, I'm averse to new windows anyway, but it seems an interesting
> idea.
>
> Karl
>