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Re: The buttons verses links debate

for

From: Corbett, James
Date: Jan 25, 2013 1:14PM

What about a bare horse?

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Lucy Greco
Sent: January 25, 2013 3:11 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] The buttons verses links debate

Hello:
I don't have a clear answer to this ether but the one thing I would say as
a screen reader user is sites that use links and then make it look like a
button or even add the word button drive me crazy if it looks like a horse
it's a horse not a bear smile

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Tim Harshbarger
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2013 12:08 PM
To: Sarah Ward; WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] The buttons versers links debate

Sarah,

I was in a meeting with several interface designers where the topic of links
and buttons came up. I think it was also unclear to them exactly when to
use either buttons and links. Like you, they felt quite certain about some
situations, but there were others they were less certain about.

Based on the way you view the usage of links and buttons, I would think
buttons would be what you want to use in both situations. Neither situation
leads to the user going to another page. The first situation just is a
quick side trip to complete a task which ends up leading you back to the
same page. The other situation seems just to perform actions on the page.
If you are using ARIA though, you may want to look over the design patterns.
It is possible that your second situation may fit better with another design
pattern--like accordions.

I've not seen or heard a clear concise description of when to use links or
buttons. In fact, the reason the designers ended up discussing the topic is
because I asked them how they made that decision.

My own opinion tends to be that , if it is unclear, that would be a great
time for user testing. However, if you can't conduct user testing, another
good approach is to come up with your own approach and apply it consistently
across your application interface. If it turns out the approach is not
quickly intuitive, it at least means that once the user figures it out one
place that they will know how it works across the rest of the application.
And if you can't get the data you need to make the decision now, at least
you can do something to lessen the impact if the guess is wrong. Also, it
means if you have to fix it later, you will find it easier to locate where
you need to apply the fix.

I wish you the best of luck with your button-link dilemma. I would be
interested in hearing how you decide to resolve it.

Thanks,
Tim



-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Sarah Ward
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2013 3:25 AM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: [WebAIM] The buttons versers links debate

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to clarify when we should use a button rather than a link so that
we can use the two consistently and provide the most appropriate experience
to AT users.

Most of the time this is pretty simple: Use a link when it takes the user to
another page, and use a button where the action is creating, adding, editing
or deleting something. But there are a few scenarios I'm still struggling
with and would like your advice on, particularly from what a screen reader
user would expect or look for in these situations.

Situation 1) 

We have an 'Email to a friend' button (or link?) which opens an overlay
which acts like a modal dialog. The user can then enter the appropriate
details to send their information to a friend and submit
(which definitely should be a button). Selecting the link that triggers this
overlay is not actually editing any data at this point, its just showing
some additional view/content and moving focus, so would this be classified
as an internal link, or a button because the user is making an action to do
something even though it is not modifying any data?

Situation 2)

We have a long form that is split into sections, and these sections collapse
and expand as the user moves thorough the process on a single page. However
the user can edit a section already completed using an 'Edit' link (or
button?) Upon selecting this, the section expands and allows the user to
edit the information they originally provided. My concern here is that all
that happens by pressing this button did is expand information and display
the appropriate form fields again. The user has not actually at this point
edited any data. I don't think this can be considered an internal link
either. The page unfortunately would not work at this point without
JavaScript (a decision out of my control) in case this would be a deciding
factor.

I would be interested to know which you think would be best in each case.
Does anyone know of a good resource that defines when to use a link or
button. My google searches have so far had mixed results. There's also the
'close' link debate to add to the overall confusion.

Thanks,
Sarah