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Re: Question on "skip to main content"

for

From: Geof Collis
Date: Sep 26, 2009 7:00AM

Thanks J

That's good to know, is there any articles/info on how people use head wands?

cheers

Geof




At 08:33 PM 9/25/2009, you wrote:
>Geof: If the head wand user is accessing the page in a linear
>fashion by repeatedly invoking a Tab key equivalent, they shouldn't
>have problems activating the link--unless, of course, for some
>strange reason it uses an inaccessible event handler, which means
>keyboard users can't activate it either. If they're able to access
>links in a non-linear fashion, skip-nav is a non-issue.
>
>--- On Fri, 9/25/09, Geof Collis < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
>From: Geof Collis < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Question on "skip to main content"
>To: "WebAIM Discussion List" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>Date: Friday, September 25, 2009, 3:47 PM
>
>What about head wands and such, do they activate "focus" for skip
>links or is it a keyboard action?
>
>
>
>At 02:39 PM 9/25/2009, you wrote:
> >A few thoughts:
> >
> >- Section 508 does not directly require "skip" links. It does require
> >"a method" of skipping repeated navigation.
> >
> >- Heading or document structure could be considered "a method", but
> >this has little benefit for sighted keyboard users because browsers
> >(except Opera or Firefox with an extension) do not support keyboard
> >navigation by headings or other elements (despite the fact this has
> >been a requirement of the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines since
> >2002).
> >
> >- Thus, a "skip" link is currently the best way of addressing the
> >needs of sighted keyboard users. As such, using the "visible on focus"
> >approach (http://www.webaim.org/techniques/skipnav/#focus) is
> >acceptable, so long as the "skip" link is readily visible when it is
> >'tabbed' to. An always-visible "skip" link does convey a pretty strong
> >statement of commitment to accessibility.
> >
> >- ARIA landmarks provide a MUCH better solution to all of this because
> >they not only provide targets for keyboard navigation, but the areas
> >of the page are given descriptive identifiers (search, main,
> >navigation, etc.). But again, ARIA landmarks are not yet supported in
> >browsers, except with the use of screen readers - so they do not yet
> >benefit sighted keyboard users.
> >
> >In short, we could kiss "skip" links goodbye forever if there were
> >simply better browser support for keyboard navigation for sighted
> >users (which would naturally remove the need for screen readers to
> >duplicate this functionality). Opera does a splendid job of doing
> >this, and other browsers should follow suit. But until such support is
> >widespread, I'm afraid that the best solution to keyboard
> >accessibility remains "skip" links.
> >
> >Jared Smith
> >WebAIM
> >