WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Meta Infos necessary in links?

for

From: glen walker
Date: Feb 19, 2019 1:53PM


Yes, meta info is more about usability and user experience.

And you are correct that if something is inaccessible to everyone, then
it's not an accessibility issue, ironically. If no one can get to the
information, then it's a bad experience for everyone. That doesn't mean it
shouldn't be fixed, but it would be under the umbrella of usability rather
than specifically about accessibility.

For links that open a new window or new tab, that would fall under 3.2.5
(AAA). While a click on a link is a strong request for change, if that
change also includes opening a new tab, that's an unexpected change. When
a new tab opens, my "back" button won't work. If I'm not aware that a new
tab opened, then it could be very confusing why I can't go back.

Whether JAWS or another screen reader announces that a link goes to another
location on the same page is somewhat irrelevant. Sometimes screen reader
users get more information than sighted users. For example, when
navigating to a combobox (<select> element), jaws will tell you how many
items are in the dropdown list. Sighted users don't have that benefit.
They have to open the list and count the items. But that doesn't mean we
should display the number of items in the list in the combobox's label just
because a screen reader provides that information. I feel the same about
links. If a screen reader tells you it's an in-page link, that's fine, but
it doesn't mean there needs to be a visual indicator that you have an
in-page link.

Now, I should have caveated all my comments that they are just my opinion.
There are a lot of smart people on this list that might have a
contradictory opinion. But your original question did ask for "opinions".

Glen