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From: Kynn Bartlett
Date: Feb 16, 2006 11:15AM

On 2/16/06, ben morrison < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> On 2/16/06, Kynn Bartlett < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> > Another example is people who have been convinced that "click here" is
> > somehow destructive to the web. No, that's slang again, and yes, we
> > know full well that not all everyone uses a mouse -- but how many
> > blind, keyboard-using web users have actually sat there and gone "gosh
> > it says to click here, but I can't click, WHAT DO I DO??"

> There is a very good reason for not using "click here" as link text -
> make sure that links make sense when read out of context.

Wrong. That's an argument against using "click here" as the only link
text, but even still it's a poor argument.

> So if i was using a screenreader and asked for all the links on a page
> what is more helpful:

This is a faulty assumption. Links in web pages aren't meant to be
yanked out of context. It's hypertext, and it's structured context
for a reason. Removing that context is harmful, and screenreaders
which do this are harmful, long-term, to the accessibility of the web.

It makes no sense at all to demand that web pages make sense when
individual links are read out with all structure stripped.

And, yes, there are many cases in which "click here" alone is just
silly, but it's not a huge accessibility problem, and yet I've been
amazed how many web accessibility folks seem to think that, oh my
gosh, we'd better fix that right away, it's a major error.

It's not. It's insignificant if someone uses the terminology "click
here" versus "follow this link."

Compare/contrast:

1. click here for "alt text,"
2. here for "alt tag",
3. and here for "alt attribute."

versus

1. follow this link for "alt text",
2. this link for "alt tag",
3. and this link for "alt attribute."

They're all identical, but you'll find people who would swear up and
down that "click here" somehow ruined everything, as if blind folks
using the web would have no idea what this alien "click" concept could
possibly ever mean.

--Kynn