WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: The buttons verses links debate

for

From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Jan 25, 2013 1:30PM

Technically a link should take you to other document content, be it
page or parts of your own page, whilst buttons initiate an action
(submit, download, open external document .. though this one is a grey
area of course).
Make a button something that is the main "action" on a page, and make
it stand out.
For instance, I like "previous" and "next" to be buttons, same with "search".
There is a formal discussion on this here:
http://www.zuschlogin.com/?p=18
It is somewhat lengthy, but I find it a good read.
One may not necessarily agree with all of it, but it definitely made
me think, which is good ..not everything can these days.
hth
-B

On 1/25/13, Corbett, James < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> 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
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >