Re: Consistent ID (3.2.4), Link Purpose (2.4.4), and Multiple Ways (2.4.5)

Chris Reeve write:
". . . My boss does not want me to show "PDF", "Text", "Word", 
"Powerpoint", in the text link."

hmm, why do you want to hide the text "PDF", "Text", "Word", or 
"PowerPoint"?  Do not all users need to know which format they are 
clicking on? 

Are you talking about replacing the text with icons for "PDF", "Text", 
"Word", or "PowerPoint"? 

Or did you mean to say you want to hide the repetitive part of the 
resource title, such as "history of the Web" in the link text in more than 
one link such as "History of the Web in PDF format", "History of the Web 
in Word format", :"History of the Web in PowerPoint format", etc.?

Using technique C7 to hide the repetitive part only of the text in the 
resource title would seem to meet the success criteria to me for 2.4.9 
Level AAA.
 C7 http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20081211/C7.html

My concern is that what is the measured benefit of using C7?  I would 
think (though I have no data) that the bigger problem is this and most 
examples is with the user's understanding of the difference between PDF, 
Word, and HTML.  Microsoft PowerPoint or any other presentation format 
would look and feel different, but kinda hard to tell the difference 
between the same content in PDF, Word or HTML - the only difference is 
usually in the chrome around the content.   I believe we offer different 
format types because many user do in fact know the difference and want 
that particular format for assumed reasons that are later verified upon 
downloading and examining the resource. In my opinion adding repetitive 
link text does NOT make the difference between the format types any 
clearer or help the user any more to decide which to click on.   Good 
thing 2.4.9 is level AAA.

Regards,
Phill Jenkins