WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Flashy dilemma

for

From: Dimitris Grammenos
Date: Apr 15, 2005 3:56AM

Hi Glenda,

Another usability (but not accessibility) problem of the homepage are the 2
links that start with "Click here..."

Anyone who has used hypertext just once knows that blue underlined text is
something that "affords" clicking (i.e., that can be clicked). Also a person
who listens to the page (e.g., using a screen reader) will listen that this
is a link.

Thus, the words "click here" are already "embedded" in the semantics of the
interaction object (i.e., the link) and do not have to be repeated, since
they create unnecessary visual (and acoustic) clutter. As an extreme
example, imagine a keyboard that each key is labeled as: "Press this key to
type A", "Press this key to type B", etc.

The link text should just describe the link's destination (i.e., where the
user will be transferred upon clicking the link).

Additionally, from another point of view, "click here" is not a politically
correct term, since there are many users who may not be using a mouse to
"select" the link :-)

Dimitris