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Re: Skip Links and ARIA Landmarks for Sighted Users

for

From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Aug 10, 2016 12:00PM

There are a couple of things going on here:
1. If we ask this question from a WCAG compliance perspective, any one
of a skip link, headings, or landmarks is enough to pass SC 2.4.1,
bypass blocks.
So you cannot fail someone for lack of WCAG compliance unless their
page is missing all 3.
Of course what we want is not compliant content, but awesome content,
and often we work with or for people who share our passion.

2. It is not that hard to get developers to implement the banner, main
and contentinfo landmarks correctly any more. It is getting easier
because people are beginning to use the HTML5 <header> <main> and
<footer> elements correctly (when direct discendants of the <body>
element, these are mapped to the correct ARIA roles by the browser).
If I had to choose to recommend implementing just one correctly, it
would be the <main> landmark. All the developer has to do is to add
role="main" to the container element that is also the target of the
"skip to main" link.
So I try to get developers to implement a skip link and landmarks
together, and I use headings from the context of 1.3.1, because
headings are tied to the page content, skip links and landmarks are
tied to the page structure.

But, yes, sadly, browser vendors have so far failed to do their part
to ttranslateARIA landmarks into something useful.
There are browser add-ons that people can install and enable them to
navigate by landmarks, but often people work in corporate environments
that are locked down and browser add-ons are not available, plus this
really should be a core function of the browser.
The beauty of landmarks over headings is that, at least when we are
discussing the main 3, they are predictable and consistent. Headings
can be used in so many different ways that using them for navigating
can end up causing confusion.
Let's push back on the browser vendors.
Skip links are still valuable, especially when the page has a large
header that is not implemented as a menu structure or expand/collapse
sections.
PayPal created a skip to widget that is a listbox of links with a "go"
button if you want to add many skip links using only two tab stops. It
is a cool idea, but if you find that is necessary for your page you
may want to consider using other widgets to categorize and simplify
the page.
Cheers
-B





On 8/10/16, Jennifer Sutton < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Since we have been having this discussion here on WebAIM, for many years
> now ...
>
>
> And as far as I know, browser vendors don't read this list . . .
>
>
> What can be done to productively advocate for this change to have
> browser vendors include methods for navigating by headings and
> landmarks, for all users?
>
>
> Have there been bugs filed against all browsers, for example, so that
> people who follow such things more closely than I do could post such
> links, and people who want to can comment on the bugs/vote them up, or
> whatever where browser vendors will see?
>
>
> For example, what about Edge, since Microsoft seems to be being so
> visible with its accessibility efforts, of late?
>
>
> As far as I can tell, repeating ourselves here on the list is not helping.
>
>
> Jennifer
>
>
>
> > > > >


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