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Re: [EXT] Opening PDF, Word Documents or other sites like Dropbox, One Drive or Google Drive in a new window ...

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From: Bishop, Jeff - (jeffbis)
Date: Aug 14, 2023 5:02PM

Thank you Patrick. I knew these were advisory but I was just curious on what people's thoughts were on these types of links was all. Thank you.

Jeff


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From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Patrick H. Lauke
Sent: Monday, August 14, 2023 3:58 PM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: [EXT]Re: [WebAIM] Opening PDF, Word Documents or other sites like Dropbox, One Drive or Google Drive in a new window ...

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On 14/08/2023 23:21, Bishop, Jeff - (jeffbis) wrote:
> Hello Everyone,
>
> I have of course read the guidelines posted by the W3C as it relates to the use of opening pages in a new window<https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/G200.html>, that being refrain from doing so unless there is a primary reason to do so. These reasons are very well documented in the supporting articles<https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/G201.html>.

Note that those are non-normative *techniques*, not *guidelines*. Plus,
G200 is only an *advisory technique* (meaning it may or may not be sufficient to pass a criterion) for 3.2.1 On Focus (A) and 3.2.5 Change on Request (AAA) - but 3.2.1 definitely doesn't apply to links that
*don't* trigger on focus. And G201 is only an *advisory technique* for
3.2.1 On Focus (A) (which again won't apply here) and 3.2.2 On Input (A), which also doesn't apply to links since activating a link is not considered an "input".

Long story short, you're not necessarily in WCAG failure territory here, but rather best practice.

P
--
Patrick H. Lauke

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