WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Question about links opening in new tabs/windows

for

From: Rick Hill
Date: Dec 3, 2013 11:45AM

I don't usually chime in, but I'm gonna. I wanted to add (and pardon if I'm redundant) that forcing the user to open a new window/tab removed choice. If the external link open in the existing window/tab by default, the user has the option (if they know how rouse their browser) of opening the link in a new window or tab. However, if the link opens in a new window/tab by default, the user has no choice in the matter. Maximizing user options is a better path in general. Sometimes forcing an new window/tab might be necessary circumstantially. But not as a default behavior.

Rick Hill
UC Davis

From: Jonathan Metz < <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >>
Reply-To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >>
Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2013 at 10:33 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >>
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Question about links opening in new tabs/windows

I don¹t subscribe to the Cult of Nielsen, so I have to respectfully
disagree. Yes, people know where the ŒBack¹ button is, but I doubt most
people use that as much anymore, since modern browsers have embraced tabs
as the future of window management. I wonder if Ctrl+W has become more
popular than pressing a back button. If that¹s the case, you end up with a
bunch of users closing a site that it was intended for them to stay on. I
make that mistake all the time these days since I¹ve transitioned from
FireFox to Chrome¹s terrible tab management.

Personally, I prefer to let people know that accessing external links will
leave the site, similar to the way Wikipedia does it. This way it¹s like
saying, ³feel free to look around, we¹ll still be here when you tire of
that other site.²




On 12/3/13 12:01 PM, "Jared Smith" < <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >> wrote:

Greg Gamble wrote:
I'd think this would be the preferred way of handling links, especially
for those concerned with web site marketing.

I disagree. If this were "the preferred way of handling links", all
external links would automatically open in new tabs/windows and you'd
have to program them not to.

Forcing new windows/tabs has consistently been in Jakob Nielsen's top
mistakes lists since 1999:
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/top-10-mistakes-web-design/
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/the-top-ten-web-design-mistakes-of-1999/

If you're concerned about folks not knowing they are leaving your site
(it is 2013, I think folks can tell sites apart these days and they
know how to use the Back button), I think a better approach is to use
an icon indicator to designate external links and give the user the
option of opening the link in a new window rather than forcing this
upon them.

Some other resources:
http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2008/07/01/should-links-open-in-new-w
indows/
http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/new-bro
wser-windows.shtml
https://managewp.com/should-you-open-links-in-new-windows

Jared