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Re: click here?

for

From: John Farrie
Date: Sep 4, 2001 10:48AM

> "View map" would be sufficient and preferable, in my opinion. The
> words "click here" are not necessary, and in any case it is wise to
> avoid device-specific language (remember, there are many devices that
> people can use to browse the web, and not everyone follows links by
> "clicking" with a mouse).
Exactly. Taking it to extremes to illustrate the point, you could either
have "View map", or you could have "Click here to view map. If you are
using a keyboard, TAB here then press Enter to view map. If you are using
voice command...." (I won't go on).
In real life, a click here link is equivalent to having "Open door and enter
to access the office" instead of just "OFFICE" on an office door.
One reason why people may feel obliged to add the dreaded "click here" is
because they have disguised the hyperlinks by changing the style of the
anchor tag. The answer to that is to make sure that links are still easily
recognisable as links.
Another reason is that a site may use menus for most links, and just have
the occasional link within the text. Because the link is unexpected, the
designer/author may feel obliged to add the "click here" prefix to draw
attention to it. A solution to this may be to either use links in the text
as a matter of routine (so that they are expected), or to take the link out
of the text and add it as a navigation item on the page. (Consistency being
the key).
John Farrie
Accessibility by Design
http://accessibilitybydesign.co.uk