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Re: [External] Links vs. static text URLs

for

From: Wright, Eric [USA]
Date: Jul 25, 2016 12:43PM

>> I'd say it's a problem that affects all users, not just those users with
>>potential disabilities, so not a specific WCAG failure, more of a
>>general usability issue.
>>P

Thanks Patrick, makes sense to me.

>> And I'd want to see the context.

Mostly webpages and PDFs. For the latter, it seems like if you're going to go to the trouble of tagging a PDF then adding a [Link] and [Link-OBJR] tag to a string of text that resembles (is?) a web address is trivial. For webpages, I couldn't imagine a scenario where I'd type a URL to a website without linking it (until you pointed one out below!), but it's distressingly common.

>>For example I've seen situations where the active link is on a more descriptive set of words, but the URL is provided for visibility if printed.

That's clever! Strikes me as a "best of both worlds" scenario. Provided that the plain URL is associated with the link (through proximity, reference, or another structure), I'd be inclined to call this a non-issue. The link is still there (on the descriptive words) for folks who want an easy way to retrieve the linked content.

Eric Wright
Lead Technologist
Mobile 802-310-9138
www.boozallen.com

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of whitneyq
Sent: Monday, July 25, 2016 1:49 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: [External] Re: [WebAIM] Links vs. static text URLs

And I'd want to see the context. 
For example I've seen situations where the active link is on a more descriptive set of words, but the URL is provided for visibility if printed.


Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
-------- Original message --------From: "Patrick H. Lauke" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > Date: 7/25/16 11:02 AM (GMT-05:00) To: <EMAIL REMOVED> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Links vs. static text URLs
On 25/07/2016 15:59, Wright, Eric [USA] wrote:
> It seems intuitive that when working with authoring tools that allow
> you to create hypertext, active links should be preferred to static
> text URLs. The text
> <p>https://www.example.com</p<https://www.example.com%3c/p>> is not
> focusable or actionable. It basically requires a user who wants to
> reference that URL to understand a string of text as a URL, and then
> copy and paste it into a browser's address bar. That said, would it
> be fair to fail such a construction under the WCAG 2.0 Parsing
> success criteria? Is there a better way to map this failure - or am I
> wrong to presume it a failure?

I'd say it's a problem that affects all users, not just those users with
potential disabilities, so not a specific WCAG failure, more of a
general usability issue.

P
--
Patrick H. Lauke

www.splintered.co.uk | https://github.com/patrickhlauke
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