WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: advice on page with Non-distinguishable links

for

From: Jonathan Cohn
Date: Dec 4, 2016 9:04AM

Thanks, my exact situation is a list of questions that have been answered, CSS has been used to add a graphic indicating the question was marked by the user to go back to. Also, the list of questions just is numerical values. The developer had added a Title attribute to indicate this CSS and I just suggested using ARIA-LABEL instead. Do you see any issues with this?

Thanks,

Jonathan Cohn



> On Dec 4, 2016, at 7:03 AM, Birkir R. Gunnarsson < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> The accessible name calculation algorithm maps a link's title
> attribute to its accessible description property if there is another
> source of accessible name.
> Screen readers choose (correctly in my opinion) to only announce
> accessible description in forms mode or when element receives focus.
> In this case, if you are exploring the page in browse mode you see the
> heading before the link list, so you know the context of the links and
> don't need the description.
> If you traverse the page with the tab key you have a harder time
> seeing the headings (though you can easily) so additional title
> attribute may be helpful.
> aria-label is tricky. It overrides the visible link text, and creates
> potentially a different experience for screen readers (also remember
> the first rule of ARIA). Only use it if the link has no visible text
> (.e.g. links with CSS background images).
> As Jared pointed out, including a large blob of visually hidden
> explanatory text in links does not equate to a good screen reader
> experience.
> General recommendation for effective link text is to keep it short,
> same applies when users listen to the link text.
>
>
>
>
> On 12/3/16, Jonathan C. Cohn < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>> When using the title attribute most screen reader browser combinations speak
>> title and screen text when tabbing between links but not when using screen
>> reader navigation.
>>
>> Is there a disadvantage to aria labels in text links?
>>
>> Best wishes,
>>
>> Jonathan Cohn
>>
>>> On Dec 2, 2016, at 3:28 AM, Julie Chan Watson
>>> < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi
>>> I read a great article about the use of the title attribute on links, and
>>> how screen readers handle them.
>>> Advice was to not use them as they are not read out by screen readers,
>>> unless there is no link text at all.
>>> Recommendation was to add all the text you need as the link text, and put
>>> <span> around the screen reader specific bits. and hide from other users
>>> with css.
>>>
>>> https://silktide.com/i-thought-title-text-improved-accessibility-i-was-wrong/
>>> <https://silktide.com/i-thought-title-text-improved-accessibility-i-was-wrong/>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Julie Chan Watson
>>> Web Developer
>>> Corporate Information & Computing Services (CiCS)
>>> The University of Sheffield
>>>
>>>
>>>>> On 30 Nov 2016, at 19:46, Jonathan Avila < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> That's correct. SC 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) does not require the
>>>>> link text itself to determine its purpose.
>>>>
>>>> The thinking behind this was that a screen reader user could keep their
>>>> focus on the link and use other common screen reader commands to access
>>>> other contextual information. For example, screen readers often provide
>>>> commands to read the header, sentence, paragraph, and list item without
>>>> requiring the user to move focus.
>>>>
>>>> As for the links list -- I'd consider that a feature request to screen
>>>> reader vendors. As far as I know even if title is used JAWS will only
>>>> display the title in the list of links if there isn't link text there
>>>> already. Aria-label should work.
>>>>
>>>> Jonathan
>>>>
>>>> Jonathan Avila
>>>> Chief Accessibility Officer
>>>> SSB BART Group
>>>> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>>> 703.637.8957 (Office)
>>>> Vis Visit us online: Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Blog
>>>> Don't miss Trends in Accessibility & Electronic Documents on Wed 12/7!
>>>>
>>>> The information contained in this transmission may be attorney privileged
>>>> and/or confidential information intended for the use of the individual or
>>>> entity named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended
>>>> recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination,
>>>> distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>