WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

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Re: Open in new window

for

From: Moore,Michael (DARS)
Date: Apr 13, 2010 8:33AM

Nancy asked
Today's standard is to open non-html pages as well as pages outside
the current website in a new window. How does that impact the
visually impaired and mobility impaired? Is it difficult to return to
the original page?

[Mike's Comments] For non-html content, particularly PDF opening outside of the browser window is important to accessibility, particularly with screen readers. The same often holds true for video content since the embedded players are often inaccessible while most of the stand alone players work well. With PDF, the users can control this behavior with the Adobe reader forcing the content to open in the stand alone player.

As for returning to the original page, it is not difficult to use the keyboard to get back to the original browser window. The biggest barrier is an awareness that a new window has opened. Modern technologies notify the user when a new window opens. That being said, when moving from html page to html page, I prefer not to break the users back button and do not open the content in a new window even if it is off of my site.

Mike