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RE: Visible skip navigation links, was: good example

for

From: Jim Thatcher
Date: Nov 13, 2003 8:14AM

Has anyone tried the visible skip link at, say, http://www.acb.org? Tab to
"skip navigation links," press enter to follow the link and then tab again.
Oops! My version of IE on Windows XP puts the selection back on the skip
link. I believe it is a fundamental bug in IE. Basically, in-page links
don't work correctly.

It seems, as we discuss solutions like skipping navigation, we ought to be
sure they work as expected. The frustration of navigating the web must be
heightened and aggravated when presented "solutions" just don't work.

There are a couple of work-arounds that I know about. Make the named anchor,
actually an empty link - this is annoying for some but most reliable. It
seems also that when the named anchor is in a table cell, then tabbing
works.

Jim
Accessibility, What Not to do: http://jimthatcher.com/whatnot.htm.
Web Accessibility Tutorial: http://jimthatcher.com/webcourse1.htm.


-----Original Message-----
From: Stephanie Sullivan [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2003 8:29 AM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: Re: Visible skip navigation links, was: good example

on 11/13/03 8:19 AM, Karl Groves at <EMAIL REMOVED> profoundly spewed
forth their very articulate thoughts:

> You're saying that those with motor impairments can use the skip link as a
> method to more quickly get to in-context links?

That's what I've been trying to say... And Andrew said it SO much better...
;) Screenreaders (used mainly for sight impairment) can use both visual and
Tom Gilder-type skip links... So can people who surf by tabbing through web
pages (used mainly for motor impairment ... Or as someone else pointed out,
when you break your mouse. ;).

The people who DON'T have any use for a skip link are the elderly who use a
mouse and are trying to click on the 1 x 1 skiplink (as the original example
said)... That would not happen because a person, surfing visually, using a
mouse, will not have any use for a skip link. They will place their mouse in
the page at the place they want to go to (or link they wan to click)...

This is all I've been trying to say from the beginning... ;) Thanks Andrew.
:D

Stephanie Sullivan

Contributing Author .: "Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 Magic" :. New Riders
CommunityMX Team Member :: http://www.communitymx.com
Technical Editor .: "DreamweaverMX Killer Tips" :. New Riders
VioletSky Design :: http://www.violetsky.net

"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative
effort." --Franklin D. Roosevelt


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