RE: Skipping navigation tactics

"Skip navigation links" does not mean that the navigation links are not
present on the page. It is simply a link allowing one to shift the focus
directly to the start of the text without having to go through the
navigation links (usually above the text) first.

As such, a "skip navigation links" is of no use to a user accessing the page
visually. But for someone using a screen reader or self-voicing browser
(which reads the page in linear fashion), the "Skip Navigation Links" or
"Skip to Text" link saves them the hassle of having to listen to the same
navigation links again and again with each page they visit.

If the navigation links are not above (code-wise) the text in the document,
then a skip link is not necessary. If a user *has* used the skip link to
skip to the text, then he/she can always back up to the navigation links.

Make sense?

Charles F. Munat
Seattle, Washington



-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-ig-request@w3.org]On
Behalf Of fgaine@frontend.ie
Sent: Monday, April 09, 2001 2:43 PM
To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: RE: Skipping navigation tactics




Isn't accessibility about equality of access and choice  ? Forgive me if I
have misunderstood but if style sheets are used so that navigation links are
not seen or heard then this defeats this objective of being able to choose.
Remember, 'skip navigation' links are a priority three checkpoint and is
more of a convenience issue rather than a barrier to access. Using style
sheets in this way could plausibly deny access to navigational information
if it is the case that they're not shown elsewhere on a page. Am I wrong ?
If so, could someone please tell me how style sheets can be used effectively
here ?

Regards
Frank

Received on Monday, 9 April 2001 17:56:16 UTC