Re: proposal for wording re: grouping links (WCAG techniques document)

Visually the bypassing text ([<A href="#how">Bypass navigation bar</A>])
takes too much space. Can we hide it when links are shown on a screen?

Maybe the link is not even needed later if the ua can skip over structures
with different hierarchical levels. Should that be mentioned in the text?

Also I think it would be good to say that the ultimate goal is to be able
to mark-up the central content and the navigation bars so that the user can
jump between them. For instance, a user trying to create a mental model of
a site or searching something might want to read the content or part of the
content, and jump to a named navigation bar every now and then to get to
other parts of the site (or page) or to find out at what part of the site
he is at the moment.

Marja

At 07:20 PM 8/27/99 -0400, Charles McCathieNevile wrote:
>Sounds OK to me, except that <map>....</p> needs to be changed in the
>example.
>
>Actually I would suggest that we review our examples and make them into XHTML
>examples, or provde equivalent XHTML examples, in the event that XHTML
>becomes a recommendation.
>
>Charles
>
>On Fri, 27 Aug 1999, Wendy A Chisholm wrote:
>
>  per yesterday's discussion, here is my proposal for rewording the section
>  in the techniques document that discusses grouping and bypassing links.
>  
>  4.6.1 Grouping and bypassing links
>  
>  When links are grouped into logical sets (for example, a navigation bar
>  that appears on every page in a site) they should be marked up as a unit.
>  Navigation bars are usually the first thing someone encounters on a page.
>  For users with speech synthesizers, this means hearing the same links on
>  every page before reaching the interesting content of a page. Other
>  keyboard users, such as some users with physical disabilities, will have to
>  tab through all of these links to reach links further down the page.  Note:
>  this is not true for all browsers.
>  
>  We suggest using the MAP element with the title "attribute" to group and
>  label the links.  There are  a number of ways to allow users to jump past
>  the group of links.
>  
>       The first link in the group skips over the set of navigation links
>  when selected.     
>       Provide a style sheet that allows users to hide the set of navigation
>  links.
>       Provide a script that shows or hides the set of navigation links as
>  desired by the user.
>  
>  The first option seems to be compatible with yesterday's, today's, and
>  tomorrow's browsers.  The other two options are not as backwards compatible
>  but may be more useful in the future. 
>  
>  In the future, user agents will allow users to skip over elements such as
>  navigation bars. 
>  
>  Example.
>  
>  In this example, the MAP element groups a set of links, the "title"
>  attribute gives it a human readable label, the "class" attribute identifies
>  it as a navigation bar (e.g., for style sheets), and a link at the
>  beginning of the group
>  
>  links to the anchor after the group. 
>  
>     <HEAD>
>     <TITLE>How to use our site</TITLE>
>     </HEAD>
>     <BODY>     
>       <MAP title="Navigation bar" class="nav">    
>         [<A href="#how">Bypass navigation bar</A>]
>         [<A href="home.html">Home</A>]
>         [<A href="search.html">Search</A>]
>         [<A href="new.html">New and highlighted</A>]
>         [<A href="sitemap.html">Site map</A>]
>       </P>     
>       <H1><A name="how">How to use our site</A></H1>
>     <!-- content of page -->     
>     </BODY>     
>  
>  End example.
>  
>  
>  
>  the current wording in the techniques document
>  (http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-TECHS-19990505/#group-bypass):
>  
>  4.6.1 Grouping and bypassing links
>  
>  When links are grouped into logical sets (for example, in a navigation bar
>  that appears on every page in a site) they should be marked up as a unit.
>  Navigation bars are usually the first thing someone encounters on a
>  page. For users with speech synthesizers, this means having to hear a
>  number of links on every page before
>  reaching the interesting content of a page. There are several ways to allow
>  users to bypass groups of links (as
>  users with vision do when they see the same set on each page):
>  
>       Include a link that allows users to skip over the set of navigation
>  links. 
>       Use the HTML 4.0 "tabindex" attribute to allow users to jump to an
>  anchor after the set of
>       navigation links. This attribute is not yet widely supported. 
>       Provide a style sheet that allows users to hide the set of navigation
>  links. 
>  
>  In the future, user agents will allow users to skip over elements such as
>  navigation bars. 
>  
>  In HTML, use the DIV, SPAN, P, or FRAME elements to group links then
>  identify the group with the "id" or
>  "class" attributes. 
>  
>  Example.
>  
>  In this example, the P element groups a set of links, the "class" attribute
>  identifies it as a navigation bar (e.g.,
>  for style sheets), "tabindex" is set on an anchor following the group, and
>  a link at the beginning of the group
>  links to the anchor after the group. 
>  
>     <HEAD>
>     <TITLE>How to use our site</TITLE>
>     </HEAD>
>     <BODY>     
>       <P class="nav">    
>         [<A href="#how">Bypass navigation bar</A>]
>         [<A href="home.html">Home</A>]
>         [<A href="search.html">Search</A>]
>         [<A href="new.html">New and highlighted</A>]
>         [<A href="sitemap.html">Site map</A>]
>       </P>     
>       <H1><A name="how" tabindex="1">How to use our site</A></H1>
>     <!-- content of page -->     
>     </BODY>     
>  
>  End example.
>  
>
>--Charles McCathieNevile            mailto:charles@w3.org
>phone: +1 617 258 0992   http://www.w3.org/People/Charles
>W3C Web Accessibility Initiative    http://www.w3.org/WAI
>MIT/LCS  -  545 Technology sq., Cambridge MA, 02139,  USA
>

Received on Saturday, 28 August 1999 00:28:15 UTC