Re: Skip Nav Ideas

aloha, katie!

rather than use a spacer gif, i have used CSS to "hide" skip navigation
links -- for example: 

1. define a class using the CSS property/value set display:none in the
"@media screen" section of the stylesheet --
   hide { display:none } 

2. apply the class to the "skip" link, either directly or using span -- 
   <a class="hide" href="#main">Skip Navigation Links</a>
or <a href="#main"><span class="hide">Skip Navigation Links</span></a>

advantages over the spacer.gif technique:
a) user-over-rideable
b) degrades "gracefully" (it's there, whether or not support for CSS is
implemented or turned off)

disadvantage: this technique is aurally-biased, in that, unless support
for CSS is turned off, or unless a user's UA allows him/her to block
invisible text via a configuration setting, the "Skip Nav" link will be
invisible, and, hence, not readily available to the photon-dependent...

so, i suppose that, in summation, i agree with kynn -- while some
techniques may be better/more interoperable than others, any technique
using currently implemented technology is bound to be a hack with inherent
limitations... 

gregory. 
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ABSURDITY, n.  A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's
own opinion.                -- Ambrose Bierce, _The Devils' Dictionary_
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Gregory J. Rosmaita, oedipus@hicom.net
               Camera Obscura: http://www.hicom.net/~oedipus/index.html
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Received on Monday, 4 June 2001 16:18:16 UTC