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Re: Links open in new tab / window

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From: Rheaume, Geneviève (CHRC/CCDP)
Date: Oct 4, 2022 1:37PM

Hi,

Here are the links to the WCAG techniques that actually mention the best way to open a page in a new browser window. This technique is related to the success criteria 3.2.1 and 3.2.5
Opening new windows and tabs from a link only when necessary : https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Techniques/general/G200

Here is the proper way to apply this technique if you want to open a new tab or a new window :
Using the target attribute to open a new window on user requests and indicating this in link text : https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Techniques/html/H83

Geneviève


-----Original Message-----
From: glen walker < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Sent: Monday, October 3, 2022 3:44 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Links open in new tab / window

If a link opens in a new window and there isn't a visual clue that it will do so, then there isn't a WCAG requirement to specify it. It's generally a good UX practice to do so but it's not strictly required.

NVDA will say clickable if the element (or a parent or other ancestor
element) has a mouse click event handler. It's a clue to the screen reader user that the element is probably missing an appropriate role but is still interactive. It's not always an automatic failure but there's a good chance it's a problem. You'll have to inspect the code.