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Re: headings for links list

for

From: Hoffman, Allen
Date: May 18, 2011 12:21PM


If the intent is to ease keyboard navigation, and associated screen reader output of topic text, you could always use multiple skip-nav and anchors to allow ease of jumping around. I think one of the best examples of a multi-format and multi-implemented example is the bookshare.org listing of books--you can view it at bookshare.org without logging in, just search for something and see that listing.



-----Original Message-----
From: Angela French [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 12:40 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] headings for links list

I wonder why they got rid of the list header that existed in html 3? Seems handy.
Angela French

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of David Farough
Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 12:41 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] headings for links list

Hi Angela:
Given the context you are describing, One approach might be to provide a Generic heading that might be used consistently throughout the site.
This way a user might be able to move directly to the heading to see the provided resources. I am thinking of something like "relevant documentation". I think that there are also ARIA Landmark roles that might be used for this purpose..

David Farough
Application Accessibility Coordinator/coordonateur de l'accessibilité Information Technology Services Directorate / Direction des services d'information technologiques Public Service Commission / Commission de la fonction publique Email / Courriel: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Tel. / Tél: (613) 992-2779

>>> Angela French < <EMAIL REMOVED> > 03:18 PM Tuesday, May 17, 2011
>>>
Thank you JF for your contribution. I do want to clarify, in case it makes any difference, that I am not referring to a navigation list; navigation list being defined as a list of links to other web pages/sites. I am referring to a list of links to PDFs, Word, Excel, etc.

Angela




Hi Angela,

THE GOAL:
The goal is to convey to the non-sighted user that a collection of links, usually an unordered list, is in fact a navigation menu.


<div role="navigation">
<ul>
<li>Home</li>
<li>Menu item</li>
</ul>
</div>

...instead of *HAVING* to do this:

<div>
<h2 style="position:absolute; left:-999px; top:-999px;">Navigation Menu</h2>
<ul>
<li>Home</li>
<li>Menu item</li>
</ul>
</div>

********

3) Moving forward (and I would caution a bit of restraint as what I am going to suggest does not have widespread support yet, but it's coming)...
anyway, moving forward, HTML5, realizing the importance of providing concise and unambiguous "landmark" roles (which is what the solution above
is) are introducing a new series of landmark elements, including <nav>, so that in the near future we will be able to do something like this:

<nav>
<ul>
<li>Home</li>
<li>Menu item</li>
</ul>
</nav>

...and once again the important information (that the list is for
navigation) will be mapped to the Accessibility API, and passed on through to the user and their AT. However, not all of the current browsers are parsing <nav> as a discrete element today, and so it's a bit early to use <nav> alone. However, if you want to think about moving towards HTML5 in your development, you can use a "belt and suspenders"
approach and write:

<nav role="navigation">
<ul>
<li>Home</li>
<li>Menu item</li>
</ul>
</nav>


CONCLUSION:
Informing non-sighted users (screen reader users) that a particular list of links is intended to be a navigation list (as opposed to, say, a list of recommended reading titles) is an important goal to meeting POUR.
Insisting that such a list be preceded by an <h2> is simply a reactionary, 'tickbox' solution that doesn't really think about the problem, but rather just seeks to reach some form of "Bobby icon" status with no thought on the part of the author. If that kind of mandate is what you require in your environment, then you are of course free to adopt it, but as Patrick Lauke noted earlier, it is a "made-up" rule, and not something that you will see attached to WCAG 2.

Hope this helps.

JF