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Re: Actionable roles vs behaviors

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From: Tim Harshbarger
Date: Jun 20, 2017 1:59PM

I guess I will add my own thoughts to the discussion.

Whether an element is a link or a button really is a design decision--not a development decision. My own thought is that, if you have access to the designer, the designer should be the one to explain their intent with regards to what that element is. If the designer is not available, then I go with the appearance.

My observation is that designers (in modern web design) seem to have a variety of approaches and thoughts on how to use buttons and links. I do not think it is as simple as links take you to another page and buttons perform other types of actions.

One way I look at UI's is as a conversation between the "author" and the "user". My role as an accessibility consultant is to ensure the communication is as accessible as possible to the user while maintaining the author's full intent. So I tend to be uncomfortable with interjecting my own biases on the design (even if I disagree with the design choices.) The time for me to debate design choices is during design. That is also why I feel strongly that accessibility must be a consideration during design.

Of course, if I am involved in design discussions, one of my goals would be to persuade the designers to use elements in a consistent manner that matches potential user expectations. Of course, I suspect that good designs typically try to ensure that appearance and behavior support one another.

Just some thoughts for whatever they are worth.

Thanks,
Tim